Recently my son was invited to a birthday party at the Plaza Theater in Weirton. He had a wonderful time hanging out with his friends while enjoying popcorn and a drink while watching a movie on the big screen. He has attended a few parties there, and I appreciate that the theater offers these events for us in our community. Also his school has taken a few field trips to the place as a special treat to the students as well.

When I was growing up, the Plaza was the place to be. They often had a new movie on Friday, and it was shown at 7 p.m. and again at 9 p.m. I was always excited to drive past the marquee on Penco Road to see what the next movie would be.

Arriving at the theater, they would charge admission and issue you a small square ticket that they ripped in half and kept. I’ll never forget the smell of popcorn in that place. It has been years, but I still can smell it. Some things you don’t forget. I think the first movie I ever saw in a theater was there around 1991 or 1992. Truly it has a special place in our local history.

Going to the movie theater back in the day was a special event. And here in our area you had many to choose from. In Weirton alone, there were up to nine theaters operating in our city through the years based on a list compiled by Dennis Jones.

Even in Weirton’s earliest days of our community, there was a theater here, the first being the Weirton Theater at 266 Avenue B. The building shared a lot with a bakery in the rear of the property. It didn’t last long because in 1919 that theater was gone, replaced by a pool hall and a restaurant. A new theater shows up at 208 Avenue A. According to John Pandelios in his book “Memoirs of North Weirton,” that theater was known as the Olympic and later became the Colonial. This theater was owned by Charles Miller and Mike Stamatoulakis.

At 333 Main St., there was another movie establishment called the Rex Theater, owned by the proprietors of the Colonial in addition to Gus Vallas.

According to Pandelios, this establishment was right next to one of Weirton’s earliest bowling places called the Hayes Bowling Alley. The Rex shared space with the Vasilios Sofocleos Barber Shop, and on the second floor was the home of the Order of AHEPA. Also on that block was the Mike Psaros Barber Shop, Olympic Confectionary and the Frankovich and Sons Grocery Store.

On Main Street between E and F there were two theaters — the Manas and the State. These establishments were separated by an alley that went straight up to Weirton Elementary on County Road. The Manas was built by William Anas and was arguably the main theater in town. The State was built by the Rabinovich family, and according to Pandelios, this place was known as the “Ranch House” because it only showed westerns, especially on Saturday mornings.

Pandelios also recounted that on the stage of the State there was a wrestling match between two world-known professional wrestlers of the 1930s — Greek born Jim Londos and Polish born Stanislaus Zebisko.

On that same block was a laundry, barber shop, the Hub Men’s Store, Gus Caravas Variety Store, Bears Department Store and Barr’s Drugs. Later on, the Anas Theater opened on that same block at 1518 Main St. According to Jones, all the theaters eventually were owned by the same company called Weir-Cove Enterprises under Nick Anas.

The Strand Theater was located at 3216 Main St., just in the city of Holliday’s Cove, which started in the middle of Ferguson Avenue. The Strand would be located directly across Main Street from Greco-Hertnick Funeral Home. The manager in the 1930s was George Sturgeon.

The other theater in downtown Weirton was the Cove Theater, located at 3405 Main St., and it is the only theater building still standing in downtown today. It is located directly across Main Street from the Cove Presbyterian Church.

According to Jones, the theater was originally called the Lincoln Theater but was changed to the Cove before the 1940s. At Christmas time in the early 1940s, the Weirton Independent Union hosted free children’s Christmas parties at the theaters as a gift to the community. There are many pictures that exist showing eager children watching the show. By 1964, the Cove had closed and became the Weirton Market.

According to Jones, the Belle-Aire Drive-in was founded in 1949 by Joseph Yacos on Weirton Heights and was in Belle-Aire Addition today. I remember as a kid the old sign on Pennsylvania Avenue that looked like it stepped out of the 1950s. My mother Jolene remembers visiting the drive-in. “My friends lived by the drive-in. We would go in through the gate and told the gate attendant we just wanted to go to the concession stand. We would then watch part of the movie while sitting on the long bench in front of the concession stand/projection booth.” This theater also was owned later by Weir-Cove Enterprises.

In October of 1969, construction began on Weirton’s Plaza Theater. According to the Weirton Daily Times, the theater was estimated to cost around $125,000 and featured seating for 336 people. On hand for the groundbreaking were John Gardner, owner of Gardner Theaters Inc., who would own and operate the facility; Mike Starvaggi, president of the Weirton Shopping Plaza; Sam Schiappa of the F&S Construction Co.; and Al Bundy of Starvaggi Enterprises.

The Plaza was completed at the end of February 1970 and for the past 50 years, give or take a few, has been in operation.

The Plaza is a survivor in a world of streaming and on-demand movies. One simply can just ask their Smart TV to play a specific movie and presto, there it is. One may argue that watching a movie at home is more comfortable, but it’s just not the same as visiting a good old-fashioned movie theater.

Maybe you will find some time soon to see a matinee or feature presentation. Make sure to get a bag of popcorn and make some new memories, too.