Loew's Rochester Theatre
130 S. Clinton Avenue,
Rochester,
NY
14604
130 S. Clinton Avenue,
Rochester,
NY
14604
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 44 of 44 comments
Great lnk Ken. It looks more like a land survey photo than an attempt to document the theater itself. What theater enthusiast worth his salt would take a photo that barely shows the facade and all but cuts off the marquee? But… when adequate photo history of a theater does not exist, we get excited about what little we have, eh? I would like to set up a website with those Rochester Schine photos because they really deserve to be seen.
Here is a photo from May 1941:
http://tinyurl.com/fzvrx
Hey there Rochester Pete: I have photos of most of the Schine theaters in Rochester (exteriors – just a few interiors) from the 30s if anyone is interested. They are originals that were given to me by a former Schine general manager. Email me for details.
Loew’s opened the Pittsford theatre in 1965. It had 1200 seats and although it wasn’t like the old palaces, it was the largest, nicest and most modern theatre in Rochester.
In 1971 Loew’s added a free standing theatre w/600 seats at the same location, and soon after, twinned the 1200 seater in front.
The theatres closed in 1999 because of competition from the slap dash megaplexes that popped up near every mall in town.
The Loew’s did not become the Marshall’s store. The larger theatre is now a privare athletic club and the smaler theatre behind it is now a furniture store.
Regal be damned!
You can see both interiors and exteriors of the Loews Rochester by going to the following address
www.wroctv.com/features/story.asp?id=170&f=News_8_Then
When you get to the destination you just have to click the video icon with the approproate speed for your computer set up.
Hope that helps!
Hi Ron –
The theatre listed on this page was torn down and replaced by Xerox Tower for the Xerox Company.
The Loew’s NEW Theatre built in 1965 was located in Pittsford (a suburb of Rochester) – across from what is today Pittsford Plaza. The building still stands but is now a retail outlet – Marshalls I think.
Sadly the only photos I have been able to find of the old Loews are the ones I found at the George Eastman archives.
From the 1965 Annual Report of Loew’s Theatres: “Loew’s new Theatre in Rochester opened in July, 1965.”
I guess this was a replacement for the theatre listed here. Was it erected on the same site? Is it still standing or operating today?
Wow, a very handsome and lavishly appointed theatre and spectacular photos too. Thanks for posting them Pete.
Hi Rochester Pete,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for those wonderful photos!!
Hi Ziggy et al —
Here’s a link with 8 photos of the interior of the LOEWS in downtown Rochester – does anyone know of an exterior shot?
View link
Enjoy these great photos — all I remember about the Loews is that I saw films like Cimmaron, The Gian Claw, Godzilla and Gorgo there and that Gone With the Wind came back in 1962 for the Centennial of the Civil War — there were also bats in the theater that added to the effects of a scary movie!
The movie theater was not as gorgeous as the RKO Palace down the street, but it was very impressive and HUGE!
I sure would love to hear your memories of this place Howard. If you read this, would you mind writing more?
I remember the Rochester as a palace being the mecca for kids on school holidays showing 20 cartoons for only a quarter. I remember going with my friends and having a great time.
I believe it was the Xerox corporation that tore down this treasure.
The Lowes Rochester Theater showed its last film on October 4, 1964. It was a Jerry Lewis flick. The 40th anniversary of this event will be featured on WROC TV’s “News 8 Then” segment on Monday October 4th 6pm News. There will be film footage of the theater’s exterior and interior. For those of you not living in Rochester, you will be able to see the segment via streaming video on the station’s web site. www.wroctv.com …click on “features”, click on “News 8 Then” should be available on the web by Tuesday the 5th
Does anybody know where I can get interior photos of this theatre? The local library has only a few shots of the back of the auditorium, and one shot of the lobby at the time of the theatre’s closing.
I think the purpose of this website is not to provoke controversy. I put the Rochester Theatre up because it used to be in my hometown. I find Warren’s comment an interesting one and do not feel insulted. In fact if Warren cares to contact me I would like to discuss matters of other theatres with him, he seems a knowledgeable person.
I’m just saying that theatre fans are good at making up stories. For example “many many theatre history circles”, how many could there possibly be, that aren’t all made up of the same people all talking to the same other people? When you talk to people who actually patronized this theatre they talk about how lovely it was. Even if it was considered the least attractive, that could only be by virtue of the competition. Compared to a modern cineplex (or compared to the hideous office building that replaced it)it is a definite improvement and it’s destruction a definite loss.
In many, many theatre history circles the Loew’s Rochester has the reputation as the most unfortunate-looking of theatres of that size. Warren’s comment above does not seem to be an opinion, rather a statement of fact. It did indeed have that reputation.
Hey Carl, I wouldn’t worry about Warren’s comment. For one thing it’s tactless, and for another thing I don’t believe it. Do you really think someone making the kind of investment it took to build a place like that is going to look at the plans and say “wow, that’s ugly” and then go ahead and build it? If anyone has a capacity for making up facts it’s theatre fans. I remember someone claiming that the clock on Loew’s Paradise was made in Venice in the 15th century and was bought especially for the theatre. Too bad the clock actually came from the Seth Thomas Co. of Connecticut. I’m sure this is more of the same. Warren thinks it’s ugly, so obviously it' now a matter of historical record. As my Mom use to say, before you say anything, think, “is it true, is it necessary, is it kind?”
I didn’t know it had a reputation like that. In the photos I’d seen it looked rather luxurious and impressive. Oh well, to each his own.