In the 1920s the motion picture business was exploding in popularity, and across the country large movie "palaces" started being built. In Pittsburgh, the Loew's and United Artists' Penn Theatre opened in 1927 featuring more than 2,000 seats, and a Grand Lobby with a 50-ft high vaulted Venetian Ceiling, massive ornamental columns, marble staircase, bronze and crystal chandeliers and silk drapes. In 1964, the theater closed as television and the proliferation of smaller suburban theaters impacted business. The building was set to be demolished, but Henry J. Heinz II purchased the site and renovated it to be the home for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

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