Key Theatre Closes After 85 Years; Victim Of New Multiplex

posted by Ross Melnick on September 9, 2002 at 11:35 am

WEST HAZELTON, PA — The Key Theatre, which has been in operation since 1917, closed last week due to failing attendance. According to a report sent in by Jonathan M. Crist, the single screen movie house has been operated as a second-run theater over the past few years and “has suffered from dwindling attendance due to competition from a new Hoyts multiplex.”

“The former operator has turned the keys over to the Landlord. The building is in much need of repair and upgrade – making it unlikely that it will be reopened as a theater. There had been an attempt by a local woman earlier this past spring to purchase the building and convert the theater into a cinema restaurant/drafthouse, but these plans appear to have fallen through.”

(Thanks to Jonathan for the sad news.)