To the Bostonians on this site: Has there been a proposed floorplan published anywhere for the public to see? I’m curious to see how a theatre that originally had 1700 seats in one space will have, post-restoration, only 575 seats in two spaces. Has there been any indication of what architectural elements will be restored?
In the picture, before the ‘Chicago’ billboard was there there were boarded-up windows on both the Broadway side and the 46th St. side. They were painted with signs for the Gaiety, which I assumed was behind the former windows.
no, it’s a seperate building from the Duffy, not that big and only 2 stories (the billboards make it look taller). Howard Johnsons occupies the entire first floor, the Gaiety occupies the entire second floor.
The Howard Johnson’s on Times Square IS like walking into a time-warp, it still has the late 60s ‘Lamplighter Grill’ decor. It has clearly seen better days and getting rather shabby, but it reminds me of my youth. Plus they have regular food – not this stuff from some far-flung corner of the planet that has been artfully draped across a plate in quantities that wouldn’t keep a bird alive. So I guess I’m more comfortable in the time-warp. But that’s another story –
Times Square is getting to look like a suburban shopping mall – just stand at the corner of 48th and Broadway looking downtown, imagine no cars in the streets and a roof at the 4th floor level, throw in a couple of potted palm trees and you have “The Galleria of Manhattan” – how depressing….
it is in very good shape considering how long it’s been closed. Someone has been looking after it – they have installed sprinklers – and although the pipes are not concealed, at least the place has fire protection. There doesn’t appear to be any water damage from the roof.
Also, aside from Bloomberg’s little townhouse on 59th St btwn 3rd & Lex, there have not been any large-scale projects built in the area that would have the 75,000 sq. ft. needed for a megaplex.
That’s amusing that it was demolished for a supermarket – before the theatre was there the space had been occupied by an A&P.
When “Jaws” was originally released it played here – 1 print – interlocked – on all five screens – with frequent problems – I remember that I was glad I wasn’t working there.
National Theatre Corp. was part of the Blair Mooney’s mini-empire – he had his chain of theatres, maybe about 10 houses. He also had Co-Operative Theatres of Ohio, Inc., a booking agency that at one time booked every theatre in N.E.Ohio including General Cinema and Loews. And he also owned Academy Advertising, and they did the ad campaigns for all the theatres and studios. Up until about the mid-70s, anybody in the film or theatre business wanting to play ball in Cleveland had to play ball with him, or you didn’t play…
I’m hearing through the grapevine that the New York twin will close by the end of this month. Arrangements are being to remove some of the equipment from the booth, which leads me to believe that the space will no longer be a theatre. However, another scenario that I heard has Clearview relocating here after the Beekman closes. Knowing that landlord, it wouldn’t surprise me if Crown was on a month-to-month agreement for the space, and had a falling out with the beloved Mr. S, who probably invited them to get the hell out.
jrand412:
if you check with the pizza parlor just to the west of the theatre entrance, they will probably be able to tell you who the landlord is – they are also tenants of the theatre building.
Ron Newman- I wouldn’t call it a total ruin – the plaster walls and high ceiling look amazingly well after nearly 30 years of entombment – apparently someone has sort of maintained the roof over the years, otherwise the ceiling would be in a heap on the floor. It, the side wall and what you can see of the procenium appear to be largely intact. What makes it look so bad is that the paint and probably the skim-coat of plaster have fallen off, which would happen over time anyway, even if the roof was kept tight as a drum. The main thing is that there is something there to work with – and if sections of plasterwork were found to be unsound, molds can be taken and the unsound area removed and rebuilt.
The space btwn the floor and the stage looks like the original raked concrete floor, and the flat floor looks like it is just plywood on metal studs. Look at the relation of the floor to the exit doors on the opposite side – the doors are below the floor level. Given how long it’s been closed, the interior really doesn’t look too bad – yes, it will require a lot of work, but it could be restored an long as most of the supporting structural elements are sound. I don’t think it would have to be gutted.
Ahh – the old bathroom question – Theatres designed by office building architects have that problem – they don’t recognize there is a different usage pattern in a theatre and use the standard office building formula for determining the configuration of the restrooms. If the client isn’t on the ball, or doesn’t consider the ‘facilities’ a priority (or if the client isn’t the operator of the theatre), you end up with what the Astor and Ziegfeld had/has. The old time architects like Lamb, Eberson, the Rapp brothers, specialized in theatres and understood these things – those old palaces always had plenty of potties.
In the 1970s General Cinema had 4 Westgate Cinemas, and Racine was one of them (the others were Cleveland OH, Abiline TX and Brockton MA). Is this the former General Cinema renovated and expanded, or a replacement of the original theatre?
General Cinema had the Midway Mall Cinemas in the 1980s and 90s. According to Moviephone.com it is now being operated by an entity called Talbot Theatre Group (any relation to Dan Talbot of New Yorker Films and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas fame?). Prior to General Cinema, National Theatre Corp. operated a Midway Mall Cinema I & II, but it was located inside the mall. The present theatre is a perimeter building, away from the mall itself.
Between the time that Reade closed the Festival and City Cinemas re-opened it, it was being used by Magno Sound and Video as a screening room on a month-to-month sublease. The lease-holder and the property owner were trying to find an upscale retail tenant for the space. In 1987 fledgling City Cinemas was then trying to increase their number of screens to gain advantage with the distributors, and partnered with Meyer Ackerman and Magno to re-open it to the public. We didn’t spend a lot on remodeling, since we might have to leave on 30 days notice. We just freshened it up with paint, minor repairs and a good cleaning. In 1991 the landlord, Sheldon Solow, who also owns the 9 West building across the street and also 4 W. 58 St (the Paris), did not renew Pathe Cinema’s lease on the Paris Theatre, instead partnering with Loew’s to operate it. The lease at the Festival, being month-to-month, was terminated, and it also became part of the deal with Loew’s. Later, Solow and Loew’s had a falling out, Loew’s got the boot and Solow took over operation of the Paris and closed and demolished the interior of the Festival to make it more attractive to a retail tenant.
Onex, a Canadian company, retained a majority interest in the Canadian Cineplex theatres only, merged it with Galaxy Cinemas creating Cineplex Galaxy Limited Partnership – an “affiliate” of LCE (though I haven’t yet figured out the extent of the affiliation). The rest of the LCE operations in the US and overseas were sold by Onex to the Carlyle Group, Bain Capital and Spectrum Equity Investors. As with several other theatre chains, the bean-counters are running the show.
Could someone please define “black-box theater”?
To the Bostonians on this site: Has there been a proposed floorplan published anywhere for the public to see? I’m curious to see how a theatre that originally had 1700 seats in one space will have, post-restoration, only 575 seats in two spaces. Has there been any indication of what architectural elements will be restored?
In the picture, before the ‘Chicago’ billboard was there there were boarded-up windows on both the Broadway side and the 46th St. side. They were painted with signs for the Gaiety, which I assumed was behind the former windows.
no, it’s a seperate building from the Duffy, not that big and only 2 stories (the billboards make it look taller). Howard Johnsons occupies the entire first floor, the Gaiety occupies the entire second floor.
The Howard Johnson’s on Times Square IS like walking into a time-warp, it still has the late 60s ‘Lamplighter Grill’ decor. It has clearly seen better days and getting rather shabby, but it reminds me of my youth. Plus they have regular food – not this stuff from some far-flung corner of the planet that has been artfully draped across a plate in quantities that wouldn’t keep a bird alive. So I guess I’m more comfortable in the time-warp. But that’s another story –
Yup, one next to the old Loew’s State and the other was at 49th (?) btwn 7th & Bway…
Times Square is getting to look like a suburban shopping mall – just stand at the corner of 48th and Broadway looking downtown, imagine no cars in the streets and a roof at the 4th floor level, throw in a couple of potted palm trees and you have “The Galleria of Manhattan” – how depressing….
it is in very good shape considering how long it’s been closed. Someone has been looking after it – they have installed sprinklers – and although the pipes are not concealed, at least the place has fire protection. There doesn’t appear to be any water damage from the roof.
I couldn’t get in, either…
Also, aside from Bloomberg’s little townhouse on 59th St btwn 3rd & Lex, there have not been any large-scale projects built in the area that would have the 75,000 sq. ft. needed for a megaplex.
Possibly another east side house house bites the dust…
The above should read – “Arrangements are being made to remove…”
– hey, it’s late and I’m tired.
That’s amusing that it was demolished for a supermarket – before the theatre was there the space had been occupied by an A&P.
When “Jaws” was originally released it played here – 1 print – interlocked – on all five screens – with frequent problems – I remember that I was glad I wasn’t working there.
National Theatre Corp. was part of the Blair Mooney’s mini-empire – he had his chain of theatres, maybe about 10 houses. He also had Co-Operative Theatres of Ohio, Inc., a booking agency that at one time booked every theatre in N.E.Ohio including General Cinema and Loews. And he also owned Academy Advertising, and they did the ad campaigns for all the theatres and studios. Up until about the mid-70s, anybody in the film or theatre business wanting to play ball in Cleveland had to play ball with him, or you didn’t play…
I’m hearing through the grapevine that the New York twin will close by the end of this month. Arrangements are being to remove some of the equipment from the booth, which leads me to believe that the space will no longer be a theatre. However, another scenario that I heard has Clearview relocating here after the Beekman closes. Knowing that landlord, it wouldn’t surprise me if Crown was on a month-to-month agreement for the space, and had a falling out with the beloved Mr. S, who probably invited them to get the hell out.
jrand412:
if you check with the pizza parlor just to the west of the theatre entrance, they will probably be able to tell you who the landlord is – they are also tenants of the theatre building.
Heaven’s Gate did not last a full week at Cinema I.
Who is/was Anthony Wayne?
Ron Newman- I wouldn’t call it a total ruin – the plaster walls and high ceiling look amazingly well after nearly 30 years of entombment – apparently someone has sort of maintained the roof over the years, otherwise the ceiling would be in a heap on the floor. It, the side wall and what you can see of the procenium appear to be largely intact. What makes it look so bad is that the paint and probably the skim-coat of plaster have fallen off, which would happen over time anyway, even if the roof was kept tight as a drum. The main thing is that there is something there to work with – and if sections of plasterwork were found to be unsound, molds can be taken and the unsound area removed and rebuilt.
Great pics, by the way….
The space btwn the floor and the stage looks like the original raked concrete floor, and the flat floor looks like it is just plywood on metal studs. Look at the relation of the floor to the exit doors on the opposite side – the doors are below the floor level. Given how long it’s been closed, the interior really doesn’t look too bad – yes, it will require a lot of work, but it could be restored an long as most of the supporting structural elements are sound. I don’t think it would have to be gutted.
The regional manager at the time the Loew’s theatres downtown closed was Herb Brown – who then moved his office to Loew’s West in Rocky River.
Ahh – the old bathroom question – Theatres designed by office building architects have that problem – they don’t recognize there is a different usage pattern in a theatre and use the standard office building formula for determining the configuration of the restrooms. If the client isn’t on the ball, or doesn’t consider the ‘facilities’ a priority (or if the client isn’t the operator of the theatre), you end up with what the Astor and Ziegfeld had/has. The old time architects like Lamb, Eberson, the Rapp brothers, specialized in theatres and understood these things – those old palaces always had plenty of potties.
In the 1970s General Cinema had 4 Westgate Cinemas, and Racine was one of them (the others were Cleveland OH, Abiline TX and Brockton MA). Is this the former General Cinema renovated and expanded, or a replacement of the original theatre?
General Cinema had the Midway Mall Cinemas in the 1980s and 90s. According to Moviephone.com it is now being operated by an entity called Talbot Theatre Group (any relation to Dan Talbot of New Yorker Films and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas fame?). Prior to General Cinema, National Theatre Corp. operated a Midway Mall Cinema I & II, but it was located inside the mall. The present theatre is a perimeter building, away from the mall itself.
Between the time that Reade closed the Festival and City Cinemas re-opened it, it was being used by Magno Sound and Video as a screening room on a month-to-month sublease. The lease-holder and the property owner were trying to find an upscale retail tenant for the space. In 1987 fledgling City Cinemas was then trying to increase their number of screens to gain advantage with the distributors, and partnered with Meyer Ackerman and Magno to re-open it to the public. We didn’t spend a lot on remodeling, since we might have to leave on 30 days notice. We just freshened it up with paint, minor repairs and a good cleaning. In 1991 the landlord, Sheldon Solow, who also owns the 9 West building across the street and also 4 W. 58 St (the Paris), did not renew Pathe Cinema’s lease on the Paris Theatre, instead partnering with Loew’s to operate it. The lease at the Festival, being month-to-month, was terminated, and it also became part of the deal with Loew’s. Later, Solow and Loew’s had a falling out, Loew’s got the boot and Solow took over operation of the Paris and closed and demolished the interior of the Festival to make it more attractive to a retail tenant.
Yup that’s it – The Gotham Cinema was owned by Crown Theatres, previously owned by Trans-Lux.
Onex, a Canadian company, retained a majority interest in the Canadian Cineplex theatres only, merged it with Galaxy Cinemas creating Cineplex Galaxy Limited Partnership – an “affiliate” of LCE (though I haven’t yet figured out the extent of the affiliation). The rest of the LCE operations in the US and overseas were sold by Onex to the Carlyle Group, Bain Capital and Spectrum Equity Investors. As with several other theatre chains, the bean-counters are running the show.