The Campus Theatre
It’s always been this way. One writer for the Lewisburg Journal noted how, “aside from the general modernization, the theater boasts a door that opens as one approaches it,” in December of the year that the cinema opened -- 1941.
Today, seven metal-framed doors with glass interiors stand in the place of that one automatic door (what happened?) and this change reflects how malleable the subjects of time are. Over the past 77 years, the building which now houses a 350-seat film auditorium has seen a number of renovations and a number of different owners.
Designed by Philadelphia-native David Supowitz and built by the Stiefel Brothers, the Campus Theatre quickly became, “the heart of this community,” as one Lewisburg resident notes. Supowitz modeled the building based on an increasingly popular architectural style of the era -- art deco. Hard-edged, low-relief designs including geometric shapes compose the facade of the cinema. This richly embezzled exterior provided an unlikely home to a civilian defense office and an air raid shelter during World War II.
In terms of ownership, the building at 413 Market Street was sold by the Stiefel family to Eric Faden, a Bucknell University professor, in 2001 and subsequently sold again to the university where he currently teaches a decade later. It was Professor Faden who began the non-profit organization that currently operates the theatre with the help of the university. Subsequent to this partnership much of the Campus Theatre’s schedule has been curated by professors for courses within the Film/Media Studies department during the Fall and Spring semesters. Given the nature of this arrangement, the theatre has transformed into a space in which more independent, more experimental and more foreign-language films might be projected in their original format. Free admission is granted to these course screenings while a small fee is charged for the films currently on a theatrical run that screen on the weekends.
The auditorium of the Campus Theatre is not restricted to only film exhibition, however. Over the years, the cinema has hosted a variety of events such as Oscar screening parties, guest appearances by noteworthy filmmakers, the Bucknell Intercollegiate Film Festival, and many more. During the Tuesday Night Film Series individuals are given the opportunity to introduce the film(s) being screened that night, often framing each work within a certain artistic movement or socio-political context. This is but one of many changes that has taken place since the acquisition of The Campus Theatre by the university.
It is a new era for the single screen art-deco theater. Despite this, the mission for the theater has always been and will always be the same -- to create a space wherein members of the community can congregate, watch films and hold discussions pertaining to the films (or to anything else going on.) For nearly eight decades, the images projected onto the screen overlooking the auditorium have transported theater-goers to different times and spaces. The theatre will undoubtedly continue this trend for generations to come.