The Colonial Theater is a former cinema and stage theater in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1920, for over 50 years, it was considered the glamour cinema in the central business district. It closed in 1982, and was torn down in 2005 after years of being vacant and deterioration. Today the site has been redeveloped as Three City Center, part of the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ).HistoryOriginsThe Colonial Theater was built on the site of the John D. Styles mansion, who was a lawyer and represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives (7th District) during the Civil War. He remained in politics until the 1870s when he returned to Allentown and practiced law until his death in 1896. Afterwards, his home was remodeled by his son, Charles Frederick (Fred) Stiles, in 1898 who turned it into the Hotel Hamilton.The Hotel Hamilton suffered a devastating fire during World War I and was later raised. When It was destroyed, it opened a prime real estate lot on Hamilton Street. The location for the new theater would be near the Lehigh County Courthouse and a short walk up the street from the trolley junction at 6th and Hamilton. The Hotel Hamilton was a gathering place for Lehigh County's legal minds and traveler since it was opened, making it a good place for an entertainment venue.The Colonial Theater was constructed on the site in 1919 when building materials became available again after the end of the war. Owned by Sidney Wilmer and Walter Vincent of Utica, New York, the owners had operated the Orpheum Theater in Allentown since 1906. The Orpheum was renamed The State theater in 1920 when it switched from Vaudeville acts to motion pictures, it had made money for Wilmer's and Vincent. They wanted to open another theater to increase their profits.
