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Hollywood Theater in Dormont showcases renovations

By Eric Seiverling for The Almanac writer@thealmanac.Net 3 min read
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Visitors and patrons of the Hollywood Theater in Dormont will soon see changes made to the venerable theater, which has stood in Dormont since the 1920s.

Dormont officials, neighboring business owners and members of the media were given a hard-hat tour recently of the borough’s landmark theater on Potomac Avenue, witnessing the renovations and upgrades being made to the theater, now owned by Pittsburgh’s Theatre Historical Society of America.

The society and its president and CEO, Richard Fosbrink, purchased the theater four months ago from Kelly-Rielly-Nell-Barna Associates, and the theater has remained open and operational during the renovation period.

“We’re about preserving theater buildings and things have been going really well since we took over here at the theater,” said Fosbrink.

Recent renovations include newly-painted lobbies and staircases, a digital projector, new concessions equipment and assisted and descriptive listening devices for the auditorium.

But the theater’s largest renovation includes patching the auditorium floor with a new coating and replacing 280 seats in the auditorium with 300 seats donated from Bow Tie Cinemas from Connecticut. The Hollywood Theater’s previous seats were donated to the Diamond Theater in Ligonier. Fosbrink said the auditorium’s new seats, paid for by a $10,000 grant from PNC Charitable Trust, were installed and ready July 22.

Fosbrink said future plans for the theater include an art deco-inspired interior, replacing the roof and installing a grand drape from the 1930s to open across the movie screen.

“People aren’t going to get that anywhere else,” Fosbrink said.

Currently showing first run Hollywood blockbuster films like “Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom,” the theater was once known for featuring indie, art and cult movies. Fosbrink said he’s looking to bring back events such as Exhibition On Screen, Breakfast and a Movie, film lectures and silent films.

“We’re reliant on what the studios put out,” Fosbrink said. “It’s hard to try to bring in cult movies with first-run films. Finding that balance is the hard part.”

The Hollywood Theater was designed by Pittsburgh architect Charles R. Geisler and opened in 1926, showing silent films. The theater underwent numerous renovations and has even closed its doors over the years.

From 2011 to this February, Friends of the Hollywood Theater operated the theater. That group is now known as Jump Cut Theater and operates in Carnegie. Other theaters in the South Hills include Carmike Cinema at the South Hills Village and AMC Theatres in the Galleria at Mt. Lebanon.

“It’s a small world and we’re not looking to take away from other people’s niche,” Fosbrink said of the competition. “We provide experiences that people can’t get anywhere else.”

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