Historic Newtown Theatre cuts ribbon to celebrate reopening after renovations

This is America's oldest continuously operating movie theater.
Saturday, December 11, 2021
Bucks Co., Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- After four months of construction, a ribbon-cutting was held on Wednesday, December 1, to commemorate the reopening of the Newtown Theatre in Bucks County.

The theater was constructed back in 1883 and is considered America's oldest continuously operating movie theater. The first movie was screened back in 1906.
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"The renovation is long overdue. It's been well over 50 years since the last renovations, so we've been talking about this for a few years," said Andrew Smith, executive director of the Newtown Theatre.

Some of the renovations include new hardwood flooring, vintage-style seats for the main floor, paint, a new wheelchair lift, and a handicap-accessible bathroom, along with many more upgrades.
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"I think what I'm looking forward to most is just having people stream in here again and see the smiles, hear people laugh at the movies, have people come in for a concert, laugh at the comedy shows and see live theater. I mean, this place really is the heart of the town," said Smith.

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