Esquire Theatre
3016 E. Broad Street,
Columbus,
OH
43209
3016 E. Broad Street,
Columbus,
OH
43209
3 people
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Showing 26 - 37 of 37 comments
Was the Esquire operating through the 1950s/1960s?
Is there any chance that it ran Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” on its first release in 1959?
The letter Y in the company called F&Y Building Corp. stood for Leo Yassenoff who ran the company and the F stood for the architect of the firm.
I got the info from the 1963 motion picture almanac. It doesn’t give any addresses, unfortunately. I’ve noticed some errors but for the most part it seems accurate enough.
Where were the Boulevard, Cleve, and Westmont? Are any of them still standing?
Here is a list of Academy theaters in the early sixties, all in Columbus: Beechwold, Boulevard, Cleve, Esquire, University, Westmont, 17th Avenue Drive-In, South Drive-In. Owners were Leo and Milton Yassenoff.
Here is a 1948 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2nkzfa
The Esquire became the Carousel East in 1972, at the same time as the Beechwold became the Camelot North.
I’m in Columbus for a few days so I have some time to look at the Dispatch archives at a local library. The Esquire’s address was 3016 East Broad Street. That address is now a small strip mall which contains, among other things, the Bexley Kosher Market. I can’t tell whether the strip mall retains any of the structure of the old theatre, or is a completely new building. If someone has a photo of the Esquire, I might be able to tell.
I do not remember the Esquire’s exact address, but it was on the north side of East Broad Street, just west of Eastmoor Boulevard.
Academy turned this into the ‘Carousel East’ around the same time as they remodeled the Beechwold into the ‘Camelot North’ (which later became Drexel North).
This was the closest theater to my house when I lived in Columbus as a teenager. I remember watching ‘Airport’ here, among many other films.
One correction to the description: Eastmoor is a neighborhood within the city limits of Columbus. It is not a ‘suburb’.
The chain was called “Academy Theatres”. In the 1960s and 70s they ran many second-run theaters including the ones listed above.
The Esquire was located on East Broad St. It was part of the same chain that ran The Markham, The Clinton, The State, The Beechwold and The College (just to name a few). Sometime in the 70’s the Esquire was given a facelift and renamed The Carousel East. Most of the deco trappings were taken away, but it was still a nice neighborhood theatre. I’m not sure if the building is still standing, but the theatre is no longer in business.