Last week, I sat with my 6-year-old granddaughter to watch her first full-length movie, The Sound of Music. It brought back memories of my first date at the Lawrence Park movie theater in 1965, so I set off in search of its history.
The theater was a small but striking piece of a much larger vision. The Lawrence Park mixed-use development was built in the late 1950s on the
600-acre Robinson tract in Marple Township. Developer Ralph Bodek crafted the community to meet zoning rules that reserved land for industry, commerce, schools and parks. The project ultimately combined 1,200 homes, a shopping center, an elementary school and industrial parcels, making it one of the largest planned postwar communities in Pennsylvania.
The Lawrence Park Theater anchored one end of the original shopping center, in the space now occupied by Barnes & Noble. It opened on October 9, 1957, “With a fanfare of trumpeters stationed on high, marching band, color guard, Roman gladiator driving a chariot, and searchlights in true Hollywood style.” Local celebrities were there, including Wilbur Evans, Eddy DeLuca, Phil Sheridan, the Marple Newtown High School band, the American Legion and John Roberts of WFIL as emcee. The 1,200-seat theater featured a 42-foot curved Cinemascope screen—the largest in the Philadelphia area. The first film shown was Silk Stockings, starring Fred Astaire.
This was no Art Deco movie palace—it was Modern. The LP Theater, designed by David Weitz of Philadelphia’s Thalheimer & Weitz, broke from tradition with clean lines, bold materials and futuristic flair. Its most striking feature was a 60-foot glass façade stretching from pavement to roof, revealing a bright, geometric lobby. The surrounding concrete block walls featured rhythmic raised rectangles, while the oversized “LP” sign in linear block letters sealed its sleek, modern identity. At night, the illuminated marquee and glowing glass entry made the building a beacon for movie-goers.
For 34 years, the theater was a place of magic and memories. But times changed. The Marple 10 multiplex opened in 1990 with ten screens—not architectural charm, but a big box of choices. The LP Theater, by then divided into a twin, couldn’t compete. It closed on October 20, 1991. A year later, Barnes & Noble moved in.
But the theater lives on—in memories stirred by unexpected moments, like sitting beside my granddaughter yet thinking of that first date with Mette Olesen. I remember making my “move” to hold her hand and feeling the ring I had given her on her finger. Forty years later, at a high
school reunion, I asked if she remembered that night. She smiled and said, “Of course I do. I still have your ring!”
For more on the history of Marple, visit the Marple Historical Society website and Facebook page, and join the Society to learn about coming events:
MarpleHistoricalSociety.org.