Category:Franklin Theater, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Object location	40° 36′ 48″ N, 75° 28′ 16″ W	View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap	40.613333; -75.471111

Franklin Theatre 

former movie theater in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States
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Instance of	movie theater
Location	Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Street address	429 W. Tilghman Street, Allentown, PA 18102
40° 36′ 48.61″ N, 75° 28′ 16.26″ W
Authority file  Q43381449 Reasonator Scholia Wikidocumentaries PetScan statistics WikiMap Locator tool KML file WikiShootMe OpenStreetMap Search depicted

The Franklin Theater was built as a neighborhood theater in the northeast side of Allentown (at the time) at 425-429 Tilghman Street in November 1914.

The theater was built by Frank F. Seiberling (1845-1932). Seiberling had purchased the lot at 421-429 Tilghman St. from the Rev. George M. Scheidy for $7,600. Shortly thereafter he contacted the contractors L.M. Kratz & Sons who began work on the project. According to newspaper accounts he spent $12,000 on the Franklin's construction. The theater had seven fire exits and when necessary, and could be emptied in less than a minute's time in case of a fire. The description of the theater noted that it had a frontage of 52 feet and was 86 feet deep. Seating capacity was 500. Inside, the Franklin had a metal ceiling in the auditorium that was 35 feet high and has a truss roof which is finished in herringbone concrete. The floor was concrete covered by wood. The interior decoration was described as "all in a pure white body with a pale green border, with the woodwork being all mahogany,"

Seiberling was to own and run the Franklin from 1914 to 1923. That year it was purchased by a young immigrant to Allentown who was just breaking into the local real estate business: Nicola Iacocca, the father of Lido "Lee" Iacocca, later one of the best-known figures in the American automotive industry. The elder Iacocca was to own the Franklin until 1928. In the late 1920s, the Franklin was purchased for an undisclosed price from Iacocca by Rubin Mainker.

Mainker was a contractor turned movie theater owner who at the same time was building Allentown's 19th Street Theater and the Capitol Theater at 1020 Hamilton St., where the American Automobile Associations office building is today, as part of his Penn Theaters Corp. In 1929, Mainker totally renovated the Franklin and installed the first sound movie system in both the 19th Street Theater and the Franklin. He went bankrupt in the Great Depression.

A Mrs. Minnie Friedman managed the theater in the 1930s and in the 1940s the manager was a Mrs. Minnie Levine. By that time the Franklin was a second run theater that was showing films at a cheaper price several weeks or months after they first were released. The Franklin served the families of the area for many years. It closed in 1956 due to a lack of attendance caused by television.

After sitting empty for about a year, in 1957, the theater was bought by Al Moffa, the owner of the Americus Hotel. Moffa renamed it the Jeanette Art Theater and began showing foreign made art films. Many of these films also were subtitled. However, the films were much more adult-themed than the Hollywood produced films made under the Hayes Code, containing adult themes and sexual situations not found in Hollywood-produced films. By 1965, the theater was showing only pornographic films, which became "X-Rated" in 1968. The porn era at the Jeanette ended in July 1992 due to the wide availability of porn on home video.

With the theater closed, Moffa spent about $100,000 to rehabilitate the theater with a new projector, sound system, a larger, curved screen, a new concession stand, a new roof, new electrical wiring and also 500 new seats. He also changed the name of the theater, returning it to the "Franklin Theater". The new Franklin Theater reopened on December 24th, 1992 as a $1 theater, showing several "PG" films. The $1 admission was a new trend in the movie business at the time, which brought in larger audiences, the theater making its real income though concession stand sales. Also film rental costs were reduced by showing older, second or even third run films, some several years old. After about a year, in 1994 it reduced it's showings and became a weekend theater, running films Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights only. Due to his advancing age, Moffa retired from the theater business in the late 1990s and his son took over ownership of the theater. In June 2000 he sold the theater to Doug Moore, a local movie enthusiast. Moffa died in October 2001.

On May 1st, 2008, the Franklin showed it's last film before the doors were closed for the last time when Moore was given the weekend shift at his day job as a plant technician. He previously had opened the Franklin Theater only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Moore couldn't afford to hire someone to run the theater in his place nor could he give up his job and lose his retirement benefits.

Since it's closure the theater has been vacant, although it is used occasionally for religious and other meetings of the public. Moore sold the property in April 2012 to a Spanish Christian Church congregation, and it was sold again in February 2014 to a private owner in Allentown. In 2017, the theater was purchased by Brandon Wunder, who tried to turn it into a space for experimental art and a community gathering space. Wunder's vision, however did not pan out as expected and the theater again closed

The former theater was again up for sale in July, 2018. Today, the marquee of the theater still there, looking a bit weathered.