Disaster averted as NJ theater ceiling collapses during showtimes

🚨 The ceiling collapsed into an empty theater, according to ABC 7 Eyewitness News

🚨 The building is off-limits for the time being

🚨 The theater first opened in 1926

CRANFORD — A nearly 100-year-old theater was evacuated after a suspended ceiling collapsed inside one of the building’s six auditoriums Wednesday night.

First responders were called to the Cranford Theater around 7:30 p.m. and found that everyone in the theater on North Avenue had been evacuated, according to Cranford police. No one in the theater or any of the firefighters was injured.

“It was a suspended ceiling inside the building in one of the theaters. That was actually the collapse, not the roof or the structure itself,” Police Chief Matthew Nazzaro told News 12.

ABC 7 Eyewitness News reported that the auditorium with the ceiling was not occupied at the time. Two tickets purchased for the auditorium were not used.

The building has been declared uninhabitable and the cause of the collapse remains under investigation.

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99 years old and still active

The theater opened in 1926 as the New Branford Theatre and changed its name a year later. It was one of two hosts for the Garden State Film Festival in 2024.

Cranford Radio podcast host and former New Jersey 101.5 traffic reporter Bernie Wagenblast was supposed to be at the theater Thursday night for a concert that has been postponed. She says the theater is still a part of the community with movie screenings and live shows.

The 11th Reel film festival was scheduled for Saturday.

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