Row House Preps for Expanded Dormont Opening
The Row House in Lawrenceville is one of the beloved haunts for Pittsburgh cinephiles. Back in 2023, Row House Cinema announced that they had acquired the Hollywood theater in Dormont and began the arduous refurbishment process. The theater was originally constructed in the 1920s and the group wanted to ensure that they retained much of that old glory as they could.
Row House Cinema has just announced that they are not tackling this massive project alone anymore. They have tapped the legendary design team, Needs More Fog, to create an art house theater like no other in Pittsburgh. Needs More Fog is most known in the area for their Scarehouse haunted house, but their reach goes far beyond the city. The designers have worked on escape rooms and amusement park rides with Kennywood and Universal Studios as some of their clients.
Photo courtesy of Dormont Borough
Now, armed with the might of Needs More Fog, the sky is the limit for Row House Cinema’s new home. The Hollywood theater will have two screens, one with 400 seats, the other with 46. They will be installing 70mm, 35mm, and 4th gen laser 4k projection. For cinephiles, this news is massive. When directors, mainly Christopher Nolan, shoot on 70mm, there is no theater in the area with equipment to play it. Audiences will be able to watch films as they were meant to be seen in a Metropolis themed atmospheric auditorium.
Beyond film, the Hollywood will also be home to The Repertory Room, the theater’s underground bar. If that’s not your thing, you can also browse their movie-themed bookstore or spend some time at the pinball and Japanese-style arcades. Last, but certainly not least, if crowds aren’t your thing, the theater will also have two private rooms for private karaoke, gaming, or movies.
An exact date for the Row House Hollywood’s grand re-opening has not been announced yet, but stay tuned as more details emerge!
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