I had the pleasure of speaking with Shannon, the manager of the State Theater, about how it became a non-profit organization. I thought that we would start by discussing some of the history behind the theater. It all started when The Lyric was built in 1912 after an idea was hatched to bring movies to Boyertown. It has gone through two additional name changes over the years. In 1934 the name was changed to The State and renamed again in 2008 to The State Theatre of Boyertown.
Growing up I spent a lot of time at the State snacking on popcorn and candy while watching hit movies. I enjoyed it there so much that I worked there in the summer of 2007 until about the beginning of 2009. I have always considered myself a movie buff and have a passion for history and the movie theater experience. That's why I was so saddened to hear about the closing of the Theatre in 2015 due to digital projector upgrade requirements for all theaters.
The passion of two people, Charles Haddad and Steve Maguire, gave the spark the Historic State Theatre of Boyertown really needed. It only took about 45 minutes to convince Steve to purchase the theatre and to lease it for one dollar a year and The State Theatre Preservation Society was born. This was a big step toward their goal of reopening the theater. Another major step was to come up with $100,000 to upgrade the film projectors to a digital projector which is an industry requirement. Through donations, The State Theatre Preservation Society was able to raise enough money to complete the upgrade in equipment. They have also been able to complete other upgrades and remodel the theater to bring it back to life while preserving its history.
The next step for the The State Theatre Preservation Society was to learn how to run a movie theatre as they didn't have experience in the field, only a true passion for this historic establishment. They visited other local movie theaters to get insight on how they wanted to run the State Theatre of Boyertown. In the beginning, they hosted live acts such as Stephanie Grace to help in raising the money to get the upgraded equipment. Once they were able to get the new equipment, they began showing films starting with "The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales." To this day, they continue to feature live acts along with first run films and community events like Bag Bingo and The Right Price Game Show. They also rent out the theatre for private use such as birthday parties or gaming parties to use the theater for your viewing pleasure.
Needless to say the theater going experience has been a staple here in Boyertown since 1912 and because of the passion, sweat and tears of the selfless group of people making up The State Theater Preservation Society it will be here for years to come. As a community, it's our mission to support local organizations like The State Theater of Boyertown to help our local areas thrive.
Now it's time to get out and explore the hidden treasures of our community!
Your neighborhood publisher~ Craig
