Army buddy of mine said there was a concession stand. He thought admission was a buck.
I remember the pylon once advertised a movie featuring Sabina Sesselmann. Who you ask? Didn’t see the movie. Just looked her up on Wikipedia. She was a German actress who also appeared in the British film Information Received. That must be the one I saw advertised since it was a 1961 release.
There are closed theatres called Normandie (later Carver) and Globe on Cinema Treasures. No indication of the name Sanders associated with either of these, however.
I wouldn’t think that moviebuff. The roof collapsed and they put tons of water on it. From the accounts I read the place was a total loss except for the signage. Also, from accounts I read previously there was a small balcony. After the demo of the facade there is no signs of that.
Passed by today. Building looks derelict with cracked facade, broken marquee. No signs of anything having been done. Pylon says renovating with a 2017 opening, see uploaded photo. Gonna need a lot of renovating in my opinion.
Despite the address being on Merrick Road, the entrance is actually from the parking lot in the rear of the building. When it was the site of various retail businesses, there was also an entrance directly on Merrick Road.
theatrefan- since the Babylon opened in 1922 as the Capitol and became the Babylon in 1925 the Boxoffice Magazine was wrong in calling it a 25 year old landmark in 1985. Don’t know where they got that information.
Please see my comment on the Mayfair site of 6/30/13. Walking around the back of the center one sees common structural elements of a theater. I believe the site is now a Chinese Restaurant.
There is also the problem of contradictory sources. Always get that from Historical Societies. Also have found totally contradictory newspaper sources.
In a newpaper article on March 21, 1913 it was announced that Nathan Goldstein, the manager of the Unique, was purchasing land on South Ocean Avenue for the purpose of building a new motion picture and vaudeville house at a cost of $25,000. The new theater was also called the Unique, and later Rialto. See listing on CT.
In 1922, Nathan Goldstein, owner of the Unique and Palace in Patchogue, took a 5 year lease on the Novelty and was negotiating to lease the Opera House from Fred Hardgrave.
Uploaded a double ad, with the Crescent, from July 1922 after the lease of both theaters was assumed from Samuel E. Bleyer who acquired them in February 1921.
The management of the Crescent was quite PR savvy. In addition to paid ads, see photo section, they also were able to get news coverage of current and coming attractions.
As with many early theaters management changed quite often. As of February 1921 the Crescent and the nearby Garden were managed by Samuel E. Bleyer. The leases for both of these venues transferred to J.J. Fitzgibbons of the Bay Shore based Active Amusement Corporation in April 1922.
I have uploaded a double ad for the Crescent and Garden from July 1922.
Army buddy of mine said there was a concession stand. He thought admission was a buck.
I remember the pylon once advertised a movie featuring Sabina Sesselmann. Who you ask? Didn’t see the movie. Just looked her up on Wikipedia. She was a German actress who also appeared in the British film Information Received. That must be the one I saw advertised since it was a 1961 release.
There are closed theatres called Normandie (later Carver) and Globe on Cinema Treasures. No indication of the name Sanders associated with either of these, however.
Stories are conflicting about the auditorium itself. Time will tell.
I wouldn’t think that moviebuff. The roof collapsed and they put tons of water on it. From the accounts I read the place was a total loss except for the signage. Also, from accounts I read previously there was a small balcony. After the demo of the facade there is no signs of that.
The reality is the signage is a reproduction of the original. A decade or so the sign was replaced. I seem to recall the cost at around $22,000.
Uploaded fire aftermath photo from Newsday.com.
Officials are even questioning whether they will be able to save the historic facade.
Interesting aside. In February of this year Gerald Mallow, who owned the theater for 30 years, put it on the market for $14 million.
According to News 12 Long Island, the roof collapsed. So it’s RIP.
Passed by today. Building looks derelict with cracked facade, broken marquee. No signs of anything having been done. Pylon says renovating with a 2017 opening, see uploaded photo. Gonna need a lot of renovating in my opinion.
Passed by today. No indication that anything has, or is being, done. Only change is the for sale number on the marquee has been removed.
Despite the address being on Merrick Road, the entrance is actually from the parking lot in the rear of the building. When it was the site of various retail businesses, there was also an entrance directly on Merrick Road.
theatrefan- since the Babylon opened in 1922 as the Capitol and became the Babylon in 1925 the Boxoffice Magazine was wrong in calling it a 25 year old landmark in 1985. Don’t know where they got that information.
Please see my comment on the Mayfair site of 6/30/13. Walking around the back of the center one sees common structural elements of a theater. I believe the site is now a Chinese Restaurant.
Uploaded a 1962 image (pre-Century management) from coneyislandhistory.org
There is also the problem of contradictory sources. Always get that from Historical Societies. Also have found totally contradictory newspaper sources.
In a newpaper article on March 21, 1913 it was announced that Nathan Goldstein, the manager of the Unique, was purchasing land on South Ocean Avenue for the purpose of building a new motion picture and vaudeville house at a cost of $25,000. The new theater was also called the Unique, and later Rialto. See listing on CT.
In 1922, Nathan Goldstein, owner of the Unique and Palace in Patchogue, took a 5 year lease on the Novelty and was negotiating to lease the Opera House from Fred Hardgrave.
The theater closed August 7, 1955 due to poor attendance; possibly because of competition from the nearby Shirley Drive-In.
There was some talk about Prudential swapping the building for property on Main Street owned by the VFW and building there. Didn’t happen.
Uploaded a double ad, with the Crescent, from July 1922 after the lease of both theaters was assumed from Samuel E. Bleyer who acquired them in February 1921.
In September 1916 the theater was closed briefly for alterations; the following year, in the same period for repairs. No details available on either.
The management of the Crescent was quite PR savvy. In addition to paid ads, see photo section, they also were able to get news coverage of current and coming attractions.
As with many early theaters management changed quite often. As of February 1921 the Crescent and the nearby Garden were managed by Samuel E. Bleyer. The leases for both of these venues transferred to J.J. Fitzgibbons of the Bay Shore based Active Amusement Corporation in April 1922.
I have uploaded a double ad for the Crescent and Garden from July 1922.
Found and uploaded a photo of Jackson’s Theatre in Hampton Bays. Presumably the same theater.
Uploaded an early ad touting the cost of the theater as $100,000.