Elm Theatre
924 Quaker Lane South,
West Hartford,
CT
06110
924 Quaker Lane South,
West Hartford,
CT
06110
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 62 comments
It’s so sad to see it turned into another drug store. I remember the balconies and the inside was pretty nice. I remember all the movies I have seen there. Now there it stands a shell of it’s former self, it should have become a play house for theatre groups.
Looking at these pictures was like feeling as if someone knocked the wind out of me. Holy cow. Sad, sad, sad.
Go to http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=496 to view my photos of interior demolition last fall. I especially like where you can see the wall between the two auditoriums removed, but both screens still hanging. It was sad to see the Elm in such a state. It has been gutted further since then.
For the third or fourth time – THIS THEATRE IS NOT DEMOLISHED!
The interior has been gutted for reuse as a pharmacy. Change the status to merely CLOSED.
The marquee has been removed. Conversion to a pharmacy continues.
Sorry, I forgot to put my email in, it’s
dwodeyla, I’d be more than happy to share, however I can’t find your email anywhere.
C.M. Brown, I sent an email to that website, I don’t know if you got it.
I’d love to see the photos of the interior of the Elm, if you would care to email them to me.
Please send me the photos too. Click on my name for contact info.
Shel B – yes, please, the Save the Elm group would love copies. Please contact us at www.elmwoodrenaissance.org
As a former employee who worked there in the mid 90’s, seeing these pages breaks my heart. The Elm was my first job, and by far my most favorite. I not only made some of my very best friends while working there, I had a ton of fun.
I know it’s been closed for a while, and probably over-talked about, but working there was really the best time I ever had.
I have a fairly good amount of interior pictures, like the stair cases, the balcony, and auditorium shots if anyone is interested. Even pictures of the basement.
Where in West Hartford? And what other theatres does it mention?
A SHORT DOCUMENTARY ON THE ELM THEATER (and other closed theaters) AIRS FEBUARY 28 AT 10:00 IN WEST HARTFORD WITH OTHER SHORT FILMS.
Dean – If you go to the “Save the Elm” website, www.savetheelm.org, you can send an e-mail to the folks who fought this battle. They should be able to help youwith your paper.
its really sad seeing the elm theatre gutted completley. i live on the street behind the elm and i see it everyday, it really breaks my heart. Who needs another walgreens? we have a cvs and an arrow pharmacy right across the street, besides traffic on south quaker is bad enough.
I am writing an article for my school’s (Conard High School) news paper and if anyone who knows a good deal about this would like to be interviewed and quoted please reply to this. unfortunatley i do not have an email adress at this time but we can work something out.
Thank you
My name is Justin and I am an employee of Walgreens, Co. It is a fact that indeed, Walgreens DOES demolish any existing building that sits on land property that they wish to purchase because they want all of their stores to look the same, exterior wise. I will also say that it’s VERY difficult to stop a multi-billion dollar company from doing what they want (e.g. purchasing an abandoned theatre and turning it into a Walgreens drugstore). But good luck! Walgreens plans to have 7,000 drugstores by 2010!
Not exactly – the Central Theatre wasn’t replaced with a big box chain store which required additional surface parking. In that sitaution, the term “adaptive reuse” is more appropriate. It followed the livable / walkable communities model much more so than is happening in Elmwood.
It happened to the Central Theatre wich was in the West Hartford Center.
I can’t even bear to drive through Elmwood – a childhood memory has been destroyed. The Elm Theatre was where I first saw the Beatles' “Hard Days Night” (many, many times!) and hundreds of other films. I most fondly recall going there when it was still a single screen and sitting in the balcony was something special. How very sad that, despite all of our efforts, this landmark has been unceremoniously stripped of its former glory. This would never have happend if the theatre had been located in West Hartford Center.
The status on this says “Demolished” but I’m not sure it is going to be demolished. I think they may just gut the inside and reuse the building. We’ll have to see.
I was in the Elm Theatre today. It appears that while they have demolished the attached shopping plaza and are in the process of gutting the theatre that they will keep the actual structure. The twinning has been undone by removal of the wall that separated the two auditoriums, so for the first time I saw the entire interior of the Elm as it was in its days as a single screen. Sadly, all the chairs have been ripped out and many are piled on the floor, the balcony floor has been removed leaving only metal beams, the projectors are gone, and all rugs and ornementation have been removed. Still intact are both screens (it looks odd since both are now next to each other in one large auditorium), the platter, the toilets bathrooms (but the sinks are removed), and a few art deco light fixtures. I found the floor plan from when it was a single screen theatre inside a desk. I also took many photos of the interior before it is completely destroyed.
C.M. Brown,
A heart felt thank you for all your efforts on behalf of the Elm Theater. As a resident of West Hartford from 1957 to 1970, the Elm held many warm memories for me. I regret that I was unable to visit my home town before I got a chance to see the Elm one more time.
Sometimes, moving forward isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.
Paul Michaud
Yes, we lost the war.
At every step in the legal process the court found our case to be a zoning issue and, since no-one lives within 100 feet of the Theater (the legal measurement of “standing” to sue) we were unable to convince them to listen.
We were actually contesting an administrative decision by the Town’s Assessor, as any taxpayer should be able to do. She inappropriately undervalued the property (bypassing the Ordinance that would have prevented this type of development), saying that the property would be worth several hundred thousand dollars less after demo/reno and installation of a money-making Walgreens than when the developer bought it, empty and derelict. Go figure.
The developer won. The arts lost. Old, sad story.
Just watched the 6oclock news elm demolition started today
I added the address to the theater listing. Thanks for the link Roger.
Be sure to add to the link directory, and submit news on updates.
Also isnt this theater art moderne and not art deco?