The Hanover Theater

 

If you drove past the Hanover Theater today, you would see a building that’s a shadow of its former self.  Once regal and stately, it is now broken and in disrepair.  But that’s not the end of the story. 

It all started back on September 21, 1928, the day the Hanover Theater opened, which at that time the Hanover Theater was known as the State Theater.  The theater was owned by Appell Amusement Enterprises and Fred Bitner.  The building used to be the Wirt Mansion, but it was demolished to make the theater.  The State Theater was going to be the biggest event in Hanover.  There was going to be a lot of plans for the theater such as: special lighting, heating and air conditioning, and lighting in the aisles. They also got a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ, which cost twenty-thousand dollars at that time.  The theater was able to have silent movies and stage shows.  They had the famous Arthur Brounet decorate the theater.  He also had his very own studio in New York.  It is believed that there are only three theaters left that Arthur Brounet decorated including the Hanover Theater. The architect of the theater was Thomas Lamb who was also very famous for his work.    At the time the State Theater was in business there were no concession stands.  The State Theater had its own candy store in a store front on the left side of the building.  The most expensive theater ticket was forty cents. 

        In the 1940’s the Wurlitzer pipe organ was taken out of the theater and put into a church called Fairview Baptist Church in Alabama.  Unfortunately, the organ was damaged by a restoration gone wrong and water damage from a leaking roof in the church.  The church then donated the organ to the Birmingham chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society.  It has also been said that the society is thinking about giving the organ back to Hanover.  In 1960 the theater got a little renovation. They had to put sound padding on the walls and replace the seats.  They had also put in a ticket booth from the Park Theater.  The Park Theater used to be the Hanover Opera House.  At the same time the renovation was being done the theater name was changed to the Hanover Theater.  In the 1980’s the Fox Brothers movie chain took over the Hanover Theater.  In 1986 the Fox Brothers sold the theater to a couple who were antique dealers.  They were planning on turning the theater into an antique shop.  They started on the renovations which meant everything needed to be taken out.  There is known to be only one seat left that didn’t get trashed from the renovations.  The owners got into a little bit of financial trouble and the renovations had to be stopped.  They then used the theater as storage for their antiques.   In June of 2007 a group of people who restored old buildings asked the owners if they would consider selling them the theater so they could restore it.  They said, “Ok”.  A few years have gone by and the restoration still hasn’t happened.  The restoration kept getting postponed which was a definite bad thing, because any more complications of getting the theater restored and they were going to lose the theater.  Finally, on January 17, 2012 the Evening Sun posted an article saying that the Hanover Theater was added to the Preservation Risk-List.  That means the theater will not be harmed, but also will be restored back to its original condition.   

     

The Hanover Theater in 1931 when it was known as The State Theater.  This photo is courtesy of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Found on this website on Google: http://dclucky.blogspot.com/2011/07/theater-mansionand-delays.html   

The Hanover Theater 2008. The theater looks the same today as it did in 2008. Nothing has really changed.  Picture was done by: Cinema Treasures.  Here is their link: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/14285  

If you want to see more photos and other info here is the Hanover Theater's website: http://www.hanovertheater.info/

 

The Musical Wire Company

When you go past the New York Wire Company you see a regular factory, but when you go there on Christmas Eve you hear a musical instrument that’s not even an instrument at all.  This musical history started back in 1925 with a York music teacher named Karl Alex Smyser.  Nobody knows why he was in the factory.  All they know is that he was making music with a…steam whistle?!  Yes, you heard me right, a steam whistle.  Little did anyone guess that just playing with that whistle would start a York tradition. 

Thirty years after this tradition started, Karl Smyser stepped down from the position to let Marlin L. Ryan and his son Donald E. Ryan takeover.  Thirty-five years later Marlin Ryan retired and Donald Ryan took over the job along with his children.  They have been performing the concerts ever since.  

In 2010, the factory switched from using steam to compressed air for the concerts.  The switch lowered the cost for the event with no noticeable effect on the performance.  Their bills for the steam used to be $15,000 dollars, but since they switched to compressed air their bills went down to $1,200 dollars. That is some BIG savings!

There has been only two times in the past years that they’ve had to cancel concerts, both occasions due to boiler problems.  On Christmas Eve of 2010 everyone thought it was going to be the York Factory Whistle Concert’s last year to ever play until Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area signed an agreement to make a York Factory Whistle Concert Fund. Now, the concerts will keep going on for generations.  If you want a new tradition for your family on Christmas Eve, I would recommend going to the New York Wire Company’s Whistle Concerts.  The concert starts at 12:15 am on December 25^th.  

Here are two videos on the New York Wire Company.  The first video is done by The York Dispatch. It gives you a behind the scenes on the Wire Company's concert.  The second video is the New York Wire Company playing Frosty the Snowman. Hope you guys like them!:)

 

Forest Park

Did you know that Hanover had an amusement park 100 years ago?  The amusement park was initially called Eichelberger Park and was later known as Forest Park.  Forest Park was located in the general vicinity of where The South Hanover Giant and Community Aid now sits.  Forest Park was owned by the Lusse Brothers and was opened in 1885.  This park was like any other park.  Forest Park had a roller coaster, bumper cars, a carousel, a roller skating rink, concession stands, and much more.  The park was also a very family-friendly park.  They would have all kinds of picnics going on at the park.

In 1964 the park closed down.  The abandoned park stood silent with no kids screaming on rides anymore and no parents chattering at picnics.  The park was like a ghost town.  A sign went up in front of the park in 1971.  The sign said Opening Spring 1972 South Hanover Shopping Center.  Not long after that, they started demolishing the park.  Everything came down except for one ride...the carousel.  The carousel was sold to Astroworld in Houston, Texas.  In 1975, Astroworld was acquired by Six Flags.  Six Flags wanted to keep the carousel, but also to show people the history behind it.  A plaque was added to the carousel detailing its history with Forest Park.  Even to this day, the carousel lives on in its current location, Six Flags over Texas, telling people the story behind the ride.  Here are pictures of Forest Park and The carousel. There is also a picture of the plaque. The first two pictures were from the York Blog. The last picture was done by Barbara Chronister. If you want to see more photos of Forest Park here is a link: http://hpsd.k12.pa.us/archives/chronister/forest_park/forest_park.htm