Elmwood Theatre

Warren, here’s the theater link. If you hold the mouse pointer over the photos, without pressing, it will automatically give the address of the location of the theaters:

View link

Thanks Warren! If anyone sees anything else going on there, I’d appreciate a post here so I know about it. I remember going to the Elmwood about 6 or 7 years ago.

Does anyone know the latest about happenings at the Elmwood? I haven’t heard anything recently and am wondering how work on the church is moving along. I’m also a bit worried that some history inside could be destroyed.

Hi Jeffrey! Thank you very much for your help!!!

Hi!
Does anyone have a phone number or e-mail address for the Rock Community Church, which is housed in the Elmwood Theatre? Please post or e-mail Thanking you in advance!

Jeffrey… you are correct. It was P.S. 13, so my memory is a bit off. Is it 56th Ave that Justice Ave feeds into near the old Macy’s? If so, this is the street the school was on. About a block in from Junction. Now that I think about it, the block the school was on came to an end at Junction… so if that sounds like 56th Ave then that was it. I’ll check out that queensboard site. Thanks.

Jeffrey… I attended P.S. 16 on — was it 57th Ave? — for 3rd grade in ‘72-'73. I remember I used to take the city bus down Junction Blvd by myself from the house on 41st Avenue to get to this school. The principal was Mr. Zoller. After school, I used to go across Junction Blvd to the pizzeria that was right off the corner there and, with a dollar bill, I’d order two slices, a small coke and have a dime left over for the juke-box. Just about every day I would play one of 3 tunes: “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night, “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John or “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)” which was The Beatles’ B-side to the “Let it Be” single.

Do you recall that pizzeria? I can’t think of the name. It may have been right on the northeast corner of Junction and 57th, but in my memory it was a door or two up Junction from the actual corner. I remember that 57th didn’t quite line up plumb as it crossed Junction, with the east side of the intersection shifted slightly to the south from the west side. You could have probably seen the joint from your apartment windows.

As I write this, it also strikes me that I was of an awfully tender young age to have been riding a city bus and crossing a major thoroughfare like Junction Blvd all by myself, but those were different times. The streets of Elmhurst were a bit safer than they probably are now and parents weren’t quite as overprotective of their children as they most certainly are these days. In any event, I survived the daily routine for an entire school year and can’t recall a single untoward incident. It’s amazing how visiting this site and thinking about a particular movie theater can stir so many unrelated memories. I love it… keeps me sharp! Thanks for indulging me once again.

Jeffrey… thanks for those images! I am not aware of a multiplex in this vicinity. The 6 story white building on the left in both photos (it is partially obscured by a foreground apartment building in the 1st photo) is still there right where the Queens Blvd exit ramp on the westbound LIE leaves you. There used to be a Sam Goody as well as a big chain bookstore (can’t recall which one) located in the ground floor of that building. Anyway, everything to the right of that building along Queens Blvd (and directly facing the Elmwood and St. John’s Hospital) was part of the original Queens Center Mall construction. The Mall has since been expanded to the east (covering the parking lots in the center of each photo), but there is no multiplex within the center.

Were these photos taken from the Lefrak office building on Junction Blvd or perhpaps from one of the apartment buildings across the steet from it?

As for the marquee… the one depicted in your 1969 image was still intact when my Jr High graduation ceremonies were held at the Elmwood in 1979. I have a photo or two somewhere from in front of the theater that might show a glimpse of the marquee and facade… but then, if I scanned and posted them, eveyrone would see whatever dorky hairdo and period clothing I was wearing at the time!!! I’m not sure the marquee was ever entirely replaced with the multiplexing, but at the very least some flashing was installed to obscure the original neon trim and red “ELMWOOD” lettering.

You’re right about Nathan’s taking over Wetson’s! That didn’t last very long, although there are still a couple of standalone Nathan’s on Long Island (right outside the Herricks Theater on Hillside Ave for one). I remember a Roy Rogers restaurant occupied that spot for a number of years. Not sure what’s there right now. And Jack in the Box became Jack’s – where they specialized in taco’s and other fast food variations on Mexican fare – which was in turn put out of business by the success of Taco Bell. Last Jack’s I recall was on Norhtern Blvd in Flushing/Auburndale.

Sorry about that…I don’t know why those links aren’t working. Let’s try that again.
First Photo:
View link
Second Photo:
View link
According to my preview, these should work.

EdSolero, I also remember eating at Wetson’s, both in that location and others. I think they went out of business in the mid-to-late 70s…in fact, I seem to recall that whoever owned them turned many of the Wetson’s locations into Nathan’s franchises, but those didn’t really pan out either, and now Nathan’s locations are mostly in malls. I’m pretty sure the Queens Blvd. Wetson’s was indeed a little to the east, on an “island” between St. John’s Hospital and the Long Island Expressway service road. I’ll keep looking through my photos…it’s possible more Elmwoods or a Wetson’s might show up!

Warren, the 2002 photo looks like the marquee had been replaced; I’m assuming they changed it when the theater was divided. Was there really anything left of the one from 1946, other than the underlying steel?

Hi Jeffrey (& other Cinema Treasures fans)! Thank you very much for a great contribution. What a treasure! It is remarkable as to how little the facade has changed over the past 3 decades. Recently, the new owners removed aluminum siding to reveal the original facade on the first story. After I finish pursuing my Committee To Save The Trylon Theater preservation effort, I will try to assist the owners of the Elmwood in the restoration of the exterior & nomination for the Nat'l Register of Historical Places, which may assist them with grants & tax credits. The NY Landmarks Conservancy has some worthwhile programs as well. At some point, I hope to convince the LPC to designate this unique gem!!! My fellow members should encourage the same.

I lived on Junction Blvd. from 1963 to the mid-70s, and my parents always checked the papers to see what was playing at the Elmwood, Drake, Trylon, Midway, and Continental. My most vivid memory of the Elmwood is seeing Woodstock there…I was totally unprepared for the volume; don’t know if they beefed up the sound system for that or what, but it almost literally blew me away! Also saw Chinatown there — for the second time.
(Besides the theaters mentioned above, there was another local venue at that time: The UA Theatre on 99th St. in the Lefrak City shopping center. It opened some time in the late 60s and never seemed to have a name — it was just “UA Theatre.” And it didn’t last very long.)