Central Theatre
19 Central Avenue,
Passaic,
NJ
07055
19 Central Avenue,
Passaic,
NJ
07055
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 53 of 53 comments
This Passaic showplace was a fabulous Art Deco palace, and it was a real tragedy to see it demolished. It was less than 40 years old when it came down, and the construction crew underestimated the buildings structural integrity. It took several months longer than anticipated. It was certainly the most modern of Passaic’s theaters, which included the Montauk, Capitol, Lincoln (later Fine Arts), and Palace. There was also an old opera house, but that was torn down in (I believe) the 1930’s.
While the auditorium, downstairs lounge and lobby were a bit run-down from the years of black exploitation and kung fu movies, the backstage areas and balcony were in great shape. They hadn’t used the balcony in years, and it still had some of the original paintings and furniture up there.
It was also the first theater in Passaic County to install CinemaScope and 4-track magnetic stereo (for “The Robe”) and made the most of this fact in their advertising.
The Central had a huge facade, including an immense vertical sign. When they were demolishing the building, we found all of the original blueprints in a basement storage room.
Would anybody like to rebuild it?
I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see “Ice Station Zebra” in Cinerama, so when it came to the Central I sat in the very front row. It was definitely the next best thing. I also remember the Central as the place where I got to “go ape” – 5 Planet of the Apes movies in one day in 1973. A great place to see a movie. I loved their marquee, too – they used really big letters.
The Central was torn down in the 70’s for the Golden Arches…..McDonald’s has been there since.