Audience Appreciation

How the century-old Colonial Theatre helped rescue Phoenixville.

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Andee Miskiewicz has more than a modicum of creativity running through her veins. That energy, along with a spirit of volunteerism, plays well in a suddenly artsy, once-industrial borough like Phoenixville. Miskiewicz is the creative force behind this month’s BlobFest, the Colonial Theatre’s annual tribute to The Blob, the 1958 sci-fi thriller that remains the century-old movie house’s claim to fame.
 

The first year Miskiewicz was on the BlobFest committee, she designed a game in which folks had to find stenciled meteors all over Phoenixville. Smaller plaster space rocks also hung in businesses, and the clues centered on trivia about the town’s history. She also conceived the fire extinguisher parade (a fire extinguisher saves the day in the film) and built the Blobflat (put your head through it, and have a picture taken of the Blob eating you).

Miskiewicz cast the blob trophies for the annual Shorty Awards, named in honor of the late Shorty Yeaworth who owned the Chester Springs company that delivered The Blob. She’s also designed posters and T-shirts and two floaty pens. “I’m the ‘Q’ of BlobFest,” she says, in reference to James Bond’s weapons and research-development guy. “It’s my great pleasure to dream up and execute wild projects for our hometown festival.”

The Colonial Theatre’s renaissance offers resounding proof that a reclaimed theater can have an enormous impact on a community’s economic, social and cultural well-being. A decade ago, the place was dark, and Phoenixville’s main drag, Bridge Street, remained largely quiet. But with each passing year—as more and more patrons flocked to the theater—restaurants, boutiques and galleries opened.

“There were already signs of the revitalization of the town,” says Kenneth Mumma, CEO of New Century Bank in town, and board president of the nonprofit Association for the Colonial Theatre, which owns the venue. “There was new, young leadership already taking responsibility for making changes. But if someone hadn’t taken on the Colonial, it would’ve been hard for the rest of the revitalization to happen. There still would’ve been just too much blight.”

The mid- to late-1990s saw the advent of Phoenixville’s growth as a bedroom community. As its neighbors along the Route 422 corridor witnessed unprecedented residential and commercial expansion, the old steel town was perceived as a place for good buys. As such, it became an attractive locale for investors looking to rehab and rent, luring white-collar tenants and homeowners looking for convenient entertainment options. Phoenixville was becoming hip.

“It was a convergence of factors,” says Mumma, who lives in Chester Springs. “The theater was one of the catalyzing influences that pulled it together. We were in the right place at the right time. It would’ve been tough to do what we did 10 years earlier. Twenty years ago, when I first came here, many didn’t want to say they were from Phoenixville. Now, it’s with pride that they say they are.”

ACT had two basic goals after acquiring the Colonial: to make the facility usable and attractive again, and then put it to use. “Once we had the building back in physical shape, it was a demonstrative, positive sign,” Mumma says. “It made the theater visible, and it started bringing people into town.”

First, it was just films. Then came live theater, music, dance, and other community and family-oriented events. “There was enough activity that we created a niche—an arts culture—and then a market for something to do before or after the theater,” says Mumma. “It helped our town gain a certain confidence.”
 

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