Strand Theater
527 Duval Street,
Key West,
FL
33040
527 Duval Street,
Key West,
FL
33040
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 75 comments
And if Walgreens intends to make it a pharmacy I sure hope they keep the unique facade! At least do that Mr. Walgreens!
lostmemory: I agree and btw, what is the link for the drive-in website as it would be fun to visit. Thanks.
Dawn has posted on CT so perhaps you’ve read her words on the Grand Theatre/Westfield NY link since her father onced owned and operated that hometown theatre.
lostmemory: Where did you see this promo or ad written by Dawn Kirsch? She is Joe’s daughter. And as far as adding drive-ins to this cinema website perhaps we should ask the founders of the site and see what they prefer.
Well, all I know is that there are drive-in theatres listed and many have them are included on personal profile links so I don’t have a problem with including them.
Question to all: Should we be adding drive inns to this site?
I think that they are adequately covered by other web sites dedicated to drive inns. In addition, the founders of CT have excluded them from their book.
Steve: Well written and I DITTO your comments! Have a nice day despite the Walgreens-Strand photo!
Boy does that Walgreens photo make me sick. Unfortunately, you get sick, you go to a doctor. Your doctor writes you a ‘scrip. You take that 'scrip to your local pharmacy, perhaps a Walgreens. In an ironic way I guess we could think of it as going full circle. Let’s hope there is more than one local pharmacy.
Steve
lostmemory: Just noticed that you have 3 of my hometown area drive-ins on your profile sheet, but since nobody has posted on any of those pages thought I mention it here……I was recently in contact with a man in Erie PA who owns and operates the Corry Drive-In in Corry PA, Joe Kirsch. I plan to meet with him this spring/summer to discuss his career in theatre/drive-in ownership so should be a fascinating interview. Also, he once owned my hometown theatre in western NYS. My hometown also had a drive-in on Route 20.
With the new millenium comes change and not always for the best, imo.
Yes, these additional b/w photos worked correctly and were fun to see yet I’m devastated to see the Walgreens sign high above that most unusual facade. Can’t believe though that the ‘Couch Republic’ isn’t up in arms over this pharmacy purchase! The ‘theater’ is definitely on THE street in Key West….Duval Street!
lostmemory: After really studying the photo that you posted I am truly outraged now as I see the marquee has been ‘torn’ off! The folks passing by on the street should be holding picket signs and protesting rather than just walking by like they don’t have a care in the world! Unbelievable that this theatre would be allowed to be raped in quaint Key West where there is so much culture and attention to the arts! I would like to read what other members think of this recent ‘development’ that is going in the wrong direction!
lostmemory: Thanks for the photo, but that tacky Walgreens sign at the top of the facade is just that…….tacky! So I guess this means that the theatre is owned by Walgreens afterall! :–(
Riprod: I just noticed that after the word STATUS it reads “Closed/Renovating/Restoring” so doesn’t this mean what it says? Hope we’re all wrong!
TC: THANKS for the photos site of this Key West theater. It’s a real shame that Walgreens got their pharmacy fingers on this one! Now my question about the Walgreens connection has been sadly answered! :–( I, too, have been to Key West during the years I lived in South Florida,but don’t recall seeing this theatre with its beautiful facade and now certainly regret that oversight. :–(
1983 daytime photo:
http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/dalemcdonald/dm0055.jpg
Photo from 1984:
http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/dalemcdonald/dm0058.jpg
Shoeshoe: Hope we get our Walgreens answer so perhaps it’s a mistake, but thought perhaps the Walgreens used to be a theatre!?!
exactly. i went to the site and typed in the address, figuring i would see something on that page that said it was in an old theater or some homage. but nothing.
Why is the related website for this cinema page..Walgreens?
I grew up in Key West and one of my best friends when I was young was Coni Carbonell whose father owned the Strand. I remember many afternoons of fun going to the Strand and hanging out in the theatre. When the movie “Ben-Hur” came to Key West it played at the Strand and the nuns from our school – Convent of Mary Immaculate – took us all to see the movie. It was a glamorous theatre to be sure. Donna
I echo the sentiments of riprod! I recently re-visited Key West. I was stationed in the Navy there in the late 50’s and fell in love with the place. Now, it has become disgustingly commercial. I guess it is a case of—Paradise Found/Paradise Lost!
Bolton
I reciently got back from what is definity my last trip ever to Key West! I am disgusted that such a land mark will be yet another Walgreens and on the other end of the street is a Eckerd’s… Basically Key West is now a string of T-Shirt shops seperated by Drug Stores and tacky theme park style attractions.
The Strand Theatre seated 888 people.
I worked in this cinema as a projectionist in the late 1960’s. It was a delux cinema owned by the Carbonell family which also owned the Monroe Cinema two blocks further South. I remember showing “Midnight Cowboy” at this cinema. The writer of the movie was a Key West local who put a local “joke” in the movie…when John Voight who ask do you know so and so it was a name of a corrupt local politician…which brought roars of laughter in the audience. what killed this cinema was the advancing age of the family and a local multiplex with plenty of parking.