Astor Theater was a historic

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

located in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Berks County, Pennsylvania Berks County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the coun ...

, United States. It was designed by architect William Harold Lee in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style, and built in 1928. The theater seated 2,478. It operated until 1975, then was demolished in 1998 to clear space for the

Sovereign Center The Santander Arena (formerly known as the Sovereign Center) is a 7,160-seat multi-purpose arena, in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was built in 2001. The arena sits on the former site of the Astor Theater; one of several grand movie and theater palac ...

arena (since renamed the Santander Arena). Some architectural details, such as the ornate chandelier and gates, were salvaged from the Astor Theatre and recycled in the Sovereign Center.Astor Theatre in Reading, PA - Cinema Treasures
/ref> It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1978, and delisted in 2000.

References

External links

Astor Theatre, Penn St., Reading, Pennsylvania
1 drawing of theater facade, at Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
The Astor Theater in Reading, PA, YouTube video
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Reading, Pennsylvania Art Deco architecture in Pennsylvania Art Deco cinemas and movie theaters Theatres completed in 1928 Theatres in Pennsylvania Former National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures demolished in 1998 1928 establishments in Pennsylvania Demolished buildings and structures in Pennsylvania Demolished theatres in the United States