Colonial Theatre opens new wing
Colonial Theatre opens new wing, 2 new theaters
The excitement is building as the Colonial Theatre gets ready to unveil its new wing to the public on Friday. The new wing adds two theaters and a new lobby area.
The opening follows several years of planning and just over a year of construction to incorporate the former Bank of Phoenixville building into the Colonial complex.
“We’re so excited,” said Mary Foote, executive director of the Association for the Colonial Theatre. “Our members and the community have been waiting so patiently for this day.”
She added that expanding into the building next door, which formerly housed The Phoenix newspaper, was the right thing to do.
“This is right here in our downtown and we feel we’re an important part of the revitalization of Phoenixville. We’re the perfect ones to take this building and reuse it. It’s an interesting building, it’s a gorgeous building and it has been so many different things. It’s a great story.”
The theater has planned a series of special screenings starting Friday with three new first-run features: “Their Finest,” “The Lost City of Z” and “Your Name” and a spe-
“This is right here in our downtown and we feel we’re an important part of the revitalization of Phoenixville. We’re the perfect ones to take this building and reuse it. It’s an interesting building, it’s a gorgeous building and it has been so many different things. It’s a great story.” — Mary Foote, executive director of the Association for the Colonial Theatre
cial 35mm screening of “Get Shorty.” On Saturday, the Colonial will also present the second annual Joel’s Fried Gold Film Fest featuring free screenings of “The Lego Movie,” “The Wild Bunch” and “L.A. Confidential.” On Sunday, the theatre presents free screenings of the classic films “Marty” and “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Foote said that by adding the new theaters, the Colonial can now show first-run art and independent films, something that wasn’t possible with just one screen.
“Now, not only will we have a variety, but we’ll have time,” Foote said, adding that a movie may start its run in the larger theater, moving to a smaller theater as attendance drops. “It’s going to offer more variety and more time to get here to catch things.”
The expansion officially began in 2011, when the Colonial Theatre purchased the building next door for $750,000. But Foote said it started even earlier as an idea — in 2008 — when the organization realized the theater had “plateaued in terms of attendance and membership.”
She said they brought in a consultant who said there were two options — expand downward or acquire a building next door. The Colonial raised the money for the purchase and obtained funds from the state that allowed them to do some work on the outside façade and lighting.
“We had a lot of inside work and planning to do to determine what to do with the building,” Foote said. “Then we went forward with the architect and business planning — working with the board and the staff to determine ‘what do we want to be when we grow up?’”
At the same time, the organization launched a capital fundraising campaign to raise the $8 million needed to complete the project. Foote said $5.5 million has been raised so far. The fundraising campaign continues.
The lobby of the new wing features a 30-foot concession stand that will be selling beer and wine before shows and at intermission.
“It’s a nice amenity for our patrons,” Foote said.
Brendan Carr, marketing director for the Colonial said the new concession stand will become the main location for snacks and drinks.
He added that patrons will notice a few new things as soon as they walk into the building.
“They’ll enter under the Colonial Theatre marquee. There are new glass doors and the box office had been redesigned and outfitted,” he said. “We will still use volunteers in the box office, but we have also added some part-time staff.”
Heading into the new wing, the concession stand is the centerpiece of the new lobby.
Foote said they were able to clean and restore the marble flooring in the vestibule, but weren’t as lucky in the lobby.
“The marble tile on the floor was too damaged. We wanted to recreate it if we couldn’t restore it. We have porcelain tile down now,” she said.
Construction in the new building was major and included structural steel, concrete, a new staircase and second floor walkway.
An elevator in the new wing makes the building completely accessible, according to Foote.
The second floor also features a garden room, which overlooks the lobby, and an outdoor rooftop patio with views of Phoenixville. Carr said that space is available to rent for parties, meetings or other events.
As for the theaters, the larger of the two can seat 174. A unique feature is that many of the seats are retractable, and can be moved out of the way to make room for different live performances.
The third theater, which Carr said is dubbed the “Luxe” theater, is located down a flight of stairs. The area features exposed brick and stone work from the building. The theater itself includes seating for 65, with plush, red seats.
It will include a piano for recitals or other performance.
“It’s designed like an old Hollywood theater. It’s a smaller space, more intimate and has a lot of character,” Carr added. Elegant light sconces rim the space, and an overhead lighting system has lights in the shape of stars.
The Phoenixville-based firm of Carnevale Eustis Architects conceived the adaptive reuse of the historic building, while the project was constructed by Caldwell, Heckles & Egan Construction Inc. of Lancaster. Special expertise was sought from Cosler Theatre Consultants of New York and Applied Video Technology of Kimberton.
For details, show times and ticket information about opening week programming, visit https:// thecolonialtheatre.com/ programs-categories/opening-week/
To donate in support of the capital campaign or to commemorate the new $8M wing’s opening with a gift, visit https://bankonthearts.org/support-thecampaign/. Contact Emily Simmons, development director, with questions at emily@thecolonialtheatre.com.
The 114-year-old Colonial Theatre is located on Bridge Street in downtown Phoenixville and is owned and operated by the Association for the Colonial Theatre, a nonprofit corporation.