Category:Towne Theater, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Object location	40° 36′ 29″ N, 75° 28′ 20″ W	View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap	40.608056; -75.472222

Towne Theatre 

former movie theater in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States
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Instance of	movie theater
Location	Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Street address	343 N. Sixth Street, Allentown, PA 18102
40° 36′ 42.18″ N, 75° 28′ 26.54″ W
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The Towne Theater was located at 343-345 North Sixth Street in Allentown.

Originally named the Lotus Theater, it opened in December 1921 being owned by Joseph and Thomas F Herrity at Sixth and Gordon Streets as a classic neighborhood theater. The Herrity brothers had originally purchased several lots at Ridge Avenue and Gordon streets for the theater in July 1919, however the location was changed to Sixth and Gordon streets which delayed construction for about a year at the new location. When opened, the Lotus had a ornate interior with gold-color walls and a gold color curtain in front of the screen. The theater was equipped also with a small orchestra pit to play silent film scores and also to performed concerts. In 1922 the theater was upgraded with an expanded lobby and concession area, a new electric sign made of ornamental iron and the theater organ was upgraded to a Mueller. The Great depression in 1930 took it's effect on attendance and in July 1931, the theater was closed due to the bankruptcy of the Herrity brothers and a death of Thomas Herrity.

The property was sold in bankruptcy court in August and reopened as the Towne Theater in November and a Western Electric sound system installed in December. Normal showtimes would be from about 12:00 noon until 11pm. On Saturdays, would open at 10:00am. Would show several serials, cartoons, and Movietone News narrated by Lowell Thomas, which was mostly current news related to World War II. It would also show serials which ended in suspense and made you want to come back the next week to see if the guy tied to the railroad track escaped or was really run over by the train. Many films were cowboy pictures which could have been one of many including Hopalong Cassidy, Johnny MacBrown, Tim Holt, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Buck Jones, Tim McCoy and Raymond Hatton, the Lone Ranger and Tonto, and others. For adults, the Towne was primarily a second-run theater which showed Hollywood films after their first run showing at the major theaters on Hamilton Street. Features would start at 5:00pm and be shown until the theater would close between 10 and 11pm. Would also show short features as well as Movietone News clips.

In 1952, the theater was closed due to lack of attendance caused by the popularity of Television. It was put up for sale and sold to Max Hess, the owner of Hess Brothers Department Store. Hess wanted to turn the theater over to the Civic Little Theater of Allentown, and use it as a new home for their stage productions. In December 1953, the CLT announced regretfully that they would not be able to use the Towne, as it could not be successfully adapted for stage productions. It was then again put up for sale and then purchased in mid 1954 by Al Moffa, owner of the Americus Hotel and two other theaters (Franklin, Nineteenth Street). According to Moffa, he put about $30,000 on renovations and reopened it as a second-run neighborhood theater. In the late 1950s, it also mixed in foreign films to its schedule along with second run features. For several years, it showed adult-themed "art" films during the week that were previously shown at the Jeanette Theater, and commercial Hollywood films on weekends. However the second-run Hollywood films ended in January 1963 due to a lack of attendance. It became Allentown's first "Adult" theater, showing adult themed films with sexual situations and limiting its audience to adults over age 21. With the advent of the MPAA films ratings in November 1968, in 1969 the Towne became an "X" rated film porno theater. It continued to show X-rated films until 1977 when it was finally closed due to wide availability of porn on home video. The decline of the theater began in 1972 when the local Call-Chronicze Newspaper stopped running advertisements for "X-Rated" films, calling them revolting and degenerate. The theater survived however with reduced profits until when May, 1978 when the profit became so low that it was closed.

After its years as a porno cinema, Moffa seriously considered a renovation of the theater in 1978 and turning it back into a second-run neighborhood theater, but the theater had aquired a bad name with the public and in October 1979 Moffa agreed to sell the theater to the Lehigh Housing Development Corporation (LDHC) who totally renovated the Towne after its purchase of the property. The former theater was reopened as a 14-unit apartment complex for low and moderate income elderly in July 1983.