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Theatre Historical Society Buys Hollywood Theater In Dormont

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DORMONT (KDKA) -- The Hollywood Theater has been showing all kinds of films on a single big screen for nearly a hundred years.

But its future was in jeopardy when the current owners couldn't find a buyer interested in keeping the theater open.

"They had potential offers to sell it to have it become something other than a theater," says Rick Fosbrink, executive director of the Theatre Historical Society of America.

That's when the Theatre Historical Society cut a deal to buy the theater.

"Our mission is saving historic theaters, so we said, we would love to purchase it and continue to find a way to work with the Friends of the Hollywood," Fosbrink told KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Monday.

The Friends of the Hollywood is a non-profit group that's operated the theater.

A representative of the Friends of the Hollywood, who would not appear on camera, expressed concerns that the new ownership would change the culture and the kinds of films that are shown at the Hollywood.

No worries, says Fosbrink.

"We hope it's a seamless transition," he says. "We do plan to move our administrative offices to the Hollywood so that we're there every day to continue the operation of the building. As for programming, we hope to continue doing a lot of the same things with the Friends of the Hollywood."

That means independent films, cult films, major films after they've run elsewhere, and even old classic films like "Ben Hur" and "Spartacus," best seen on the big screen.

And admission will remain lower than the for-profit movie theaters.

"It doesn't have to create a profit," he says. "Now it has to break even so that everybody can afford to continue doing what we're doing, but it doesn't have to generate profit."

The Theatre Historical Society recently moved its headquarters from Chicago to Pittsburgh, and it has worked closely with the Heinz History Center which houses the Society's archives.

Fosbrink says there's a reason why his organization is so committed to Pittsburgh.

"In 1905 on Smithfield Street across from Kaufmann's, Harry Davis and John P. Harris opened what was essentially the flashpoint of the movie theater industry," he says. "They put up 96 chairs, a projector, and they showed movies constantly, all day long, from 8 a.m. to midnight. That's the birth of the commercial movie theater."

Right here in Pittsburgh.

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