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A ceiling collapse inside the Savoy Theatre on Public Square that injured 16 people, some seriously, was blamed on vibrations of a motor used in the operation of the monster pipe organ on May 3, 1926.
				&ldquo;The accident occurred just after the first performance of the day had ended. This fact is responsible for the low casualty rate,&rdquo; reported the Times Leader Evening News the same day of the accident.
				Trouble was first noticed by those sitting in the front rows felt a fine mist-like fall of plaster dust before large slabs of plaster fell.
				&ldquo;Trapped by falling plaster and menaced by electrical wires that were carried down with the debris, patrons of the theatre were thrown into a panic by the accident,&rdquo; the newspaper reported.
				Policemen were quick on the scene to remove those injured.
				The Savoy Theatre was closed for two weeks for repairs, reopening May 10, 1926, the Evening News reported.
				Two years later, the theatre closed and the building demolished to make way for the Luzerne National Bank building that stands today.
				The Savoy Theatre opened in 1910 in the former First National Bank Building after that institution was moved into new quarters next door. The First National Bank Building still stands although it is vacant.
				Renovations took place for nearly a year creating two theaters inside the former bank building.
				Those renovations also caused alarm on March 5, 1910.
				&ldquo;A half dozen people rushed into the mayor&rsquo;s office this afternoon with their clothes spattered with white paint, which they said was caused by carelessness on the part of painters, who were painting the front of the new Savoy Theatre on Public Square,&rdquo; reported the Evening News the same day.
				A city building inspector and two policemen went to the building and ordered the painters to come down from scaffolding as they needed to appear before the mayor.
				Savoy Theatre owner Michael Blewitt instructed the painters to continue painting the building and he himself appeared before the mayor to settle the case, the newspaper reported.
				A large electric &ldquo;Savoy Theatre&rdquo; sign was placed on the front of the building illuminating most of Public Square on March 18, 1910.
				With the grand opening taking place March 21, 1910, the first two silent shows were &ldquo;Sirronje, the woman Raffles of the World,&rdquo; and &ldquo;The College Boy and the Man.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;Thousands of dollars have been expended by the firm in building the Savoy Theatre and when the doors were thrown open this afternoon and the public given an opportunity of inspection, they were certainly astonished,&rdquo; the Evening News reported on opening day.
				Bands often played in one of the theaters while a silent picture was played in the other for the next 15 years.
				Many silent films featuring Charlie Chapin and Wallace Reid were often played at the Savoy Theatre.
				&ldquo;Two stars of the motion picture firmament, Charlie Chaplin and Wallace Reid, shine brightly in a double feature bill at the Savoy Theatre today and tomorrow. Each one has his own picture and the hundreds of people who saw the program yesterday, when it was given for the first time, declare both pictures are superb,&rdquo; reported the Evening News Nov. 1, 1921.
				History was made when the Savoy Theatre was the first theater in the Wyoming Valley to play sound with movies on April 4, 1927
				A year later, the Savoy Theatre building was signed over to the Wilkes-Barre Deposit and Savings Bank on April 1, 1928.
				&ldquo;The Wilkes-Barre Deposit and Savings Bank today received bids from eight different contracting firms for the erection of its proposed 14 story bank and office building, which is to be erected on the site of the Savoy Theatre on Public Square,&rdquo; the Evening News reported June 6, 1928.

Lookback: First sound movie in area at Savoy Theatre