The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), April 9, 1998 p045
Union theater gets new look at 75. (UNION)
Byline: Christopher M. Loder
A downtown movie theater in Union Township turns 75 years old this year, and its new owners are extending its life by giving it a facelift.
The father-son team of Spiros and Stefan Papas bought the Union Theatres on Stuyvesant Avenue from Cineplex Odeon in December and is pouring at least $600,000 into renovations.
Major improvements include increasing the number of screens, from two to seven, and adding such offerings as gourmet coffee, cotton candy and more comfortable seats.
“We’re looking to attract family-type entertainment,” Stefan Papas said yesterday. “We’re a smaller operation, not like Sony Theaters, and we’re looking to be a hometown-type of theater.” Local officials believe the theater upgrade will result in a positive domino effect on businesses in downtown Union Center.
“It’s going to obviously bring additional traffic to the center and increase the nighttime business,” said Michael Minitelli, director of economic development and the special improvement district for Union.
Minitelli called the massive multiplex theaters on the highway “consumer unfriendly,” and added that the new Union theater will aid such businesses as Van Gogh’s Ear Cafe and the Sports Section Cafe.
“If it brings more people, I know it would be good for us,” said Lou Crescenzi, an employee of Van Gogh’s, a restaurant and coffeehouse down the street from the theater. “Anybody that walks by has a better chance of walking in than if they are not here.”
Papas and his father own the Pascack Theatre in Westwood, Valleyview Cinema in Wayne and the Lincoln Cinemas in Arlington.
He said Cineplex Odeon gave him and his father a choice to buy either the Cranford, Millburn or Union theaters.
“We bought Union because of the town,” Papas said. “We love the way they are fixing up the sidewalks and the stores.”
When he first saw the theater, Papas could not believe what he saw. The heating and air conditioning systems were lousy, he said, and the seats and sound system were bad.
The improved theater will have rocking lounger seats like the ones in bigger theaters, digital surround sound in all seven auditoriums, and a birthday party room. It will be fully accessible for the disabled and include listening devices for the hearing-impaired.
The theater is closed during the renovations, and the grand opening is expected to be held within a month.
Papas promised the new Union theater will not be like bigger chains on the highway.
“It’s just like an airport when you enter those theaters,” he said. “You don’t get a movie atmosphere. You get a feeling that they’re moving people in and out like cattle.”
A Moller organ, opus 4288, was installed in the Madison theater in 1925.
A Moller organ, opus 2370, was installed in this theatre in 1917. It is also listed as the Rosenburg Theatre.
A Lenoir organ was installed in this theater in 1927.
A Kilgen organ, opus 4271, was installed in the Mt. Ephraim Theatre in 1929.
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), April 9, 1998 p045
Union theater gets new look at 75. (UNION)
Byline: Christopher M. Loder
A downtown movie theater in Union Township turns 75 years old this year, and its new owners are extending its life by giving it a facelift.
The father-son team of Spiros and Stefan Papas bought the Union Theatres on Stuyvesant Avenue from Cineplex Odeon in December and is pouring at least $600,000 into renovations.
Major improvements include increasing the number of screens, from two to seven, and adding such offerings as gourmet coffee, cotton candy and more comfortable seats.
“We’re looking to attract family-type entertainment,” Stefan Papas said yesterday. “We’re a smaller operation, not like Sony Theaters, and we’re looking to be a hometown-type of theater.” Local officials believe the theater upgrade will result in a positive domino effect on businesses in downtown Union Center.
“It’s going to obviously bring additional traffic to the center and increase the nighttime business,” said Michael Minitelli, director of economic development and the special improvement district for Union.
Minitelli called the massive multiplex theaters on the highway “consumer unfriendly,” and added that the new Union theater will aid such businesses as Van Gogh’s Ear Cafe and the Sports Section Cafe.
“If it brings more people, I know it would be good for us,” said Lou Crescenzi, an employee of Van Gogh’s, a restaurant and coffeehouse down the street from the theater. “Anybody that walks by has a better chance of walking in than if they are not here.”
Papas and his father own the Pascack Theatre in Westwood, Valleyview Cinema in Wayne and the Lincoln Cinemas in Arlington.
He said Cineplex Odeon gave him and his father a choice to buy either the Cranford, Millburn or Union theaters.
“We bought Union because of the town,” Papas said. “We love the way they are fixing up the sidewalks and the stores.”
When he first saw the theater, Papas could not believe what he saw. The heating and air conditioning systems were lousy, he said, and the seats and sound system were bad.
The improved theater will have rocking lounger seats like the ones in bigger theaters, digital surround sound in all seven auditoriums, and a birthday party room. It will be fully accessible for the disabled and include listening devices for the hearing-impaired.
The theater is closed during the renovations, and the grand opening is expected to be held within a month.
Papas promised the new Union theater will not be like bigger chains on the highway.
“It’s just like an airport when you enter those theaters,” he said. “You don’t get a movie atmosphere. You get a feeling that they’re moving people in and out like cattle.”
Article CJ81718602
A Lenoir organ was installed in this theater in 1928.
A Page organ was installed in this theater in 1927.
A Gottfried organ was installed in this theater in 1927.
A Moller organ, opus 2895, was installed in this theater in 1920. It is also listed as the State Theatre.
It is listed as the Park in the 1951 FDY with 556 seats.
A Wurlitzer organ, opus 482, was installed in the Rivoli Theater on 12/12/1921.
A Robert-Morton organ was installed in this theater in 1923.
A Moller organ, opus 5086, was installed in the Century Theater in 1928.
A Moller organ, opus 3489, was installed in the Highland Theater in 1923.
A Robert-Morton organ was installed in this theater in 1927 or 1928.
My records show that an Austin organ, opus 627, was installed in 1916. Later in 1924 the Kimball organ was installed.
A Kilgen organ, opus 4138, was installed in this theatre in 1928.
A Wurlitzer organ, opus 1644, was installed in this theater on 5/26/1927.
A Robert-Morton organ was installed in the Palace theatre in 1928.
A Robert-Morton organ was installed in this theater in 1928. It is listed as the “New” Embassy Theatre.
A Moller organ, opus 4979, was installed in this theater in 1927.
A Robert-Morten organ was installed in this theater in 1921.
A Robert-Morton organ was installed in this theater in 1921. Later, a Kilgen organ, opus 4161B, was installed in this theater in 1928.
A Wurlitzer organ, opus 1229, was installed in this theater on 12/19/1925.
A Moller organ, opus 3346, was installed in this theater in 1922.
A Moller organ, opus 2658, was installed in the “old” Strand theater in 1919.