The way we watch movies has changed a lot over the years. During the first big wave in popularity live performance venues were being converted to movie houses. By the 1920s we entered the age of the "movie palace", which were ornate, purpose built movie theaters with enhanced sight lines, sound, and lighting. After the second World War a handful of factors saw a huge decline in the industry. Things wouldn't really come back around again until the 1960s when huge shopping malls began incorporating them as part of their entertainment array.
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The Penn Theater opened in February of 1966. The building was originally a single screen with space for 750 inside the auditorium.
By the end of the 1970s the single auditorium space was split into two separate rooms, and the theater rebranded itself the Penn Twin.
The theater underwent a massive modernization effort in the late 90's, reopening as Premier Cinemas in 1999.
Plans called for several more auditoriums to be constructed in the following years, but the theater never saw that level of demand. By 2006 the venue was permanently closed.
A news article from 2007 describes an arson attack that left the interior of the theater a total wreck. No attempts were ever made to reopen the building after that.
The building continued to languished for another 19 years, but it was ultimately demolished over the summer of 2026. With that, Salem County was entirely without a movie theater for the first time in 60 years.
