I found this old postcard. Note the marquee states “New” Montauk. Interestingly it is part of the Lincoln building. Or could this be the Lincoln theater?(not listed on Cinema Treasures, but in the 1951 FDY at 37 Lexington Avenue) View link
It is interesting to note is the 2nd item. It claims that this theater moved from Camden to Union 3 years after opening. While the Camden drive in didn’t last long, I wasn’t aware of the “move”.
Conservative liquor laws prevented this theater from reopening in 1998:
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), August 16, 1998 p035
Theater dims for want of a permit; Dover turns down liquor license bid. (SCANNER)
Byline: Patricia Smith
Richard Rossi envisioned an exotic future for the historic Baker Theatre in Dover: Long white limousines would pull up in front of the marquee on West Blackwell Street to let out tuxedo-clad grooms and brides in white satin. And, twice a month, a local restaurateur would book internationally known salsa bands for dinner and a show.
Reborn as a banquet facility, the 92-year-old theater was going to be called Hot Tropics.
To make this vision turn a profit would require a catering permit that allowed alcohol to be served, according to Rossi.
On Tuesday night, the Dover Board of Aldermen rejected his application for a liquor permit that would have allowed him to serve cocktails at a variety of affairs, including Spanish dinner-theater concerts twice a month. Now, Rossi says, he’s done.
Two days after the board meeting, Rossi declared that after 16 years of fighting to reopen the theater, he’s had it. Standing in the theater’s orchestra, Rossi pointed first to freshly painted decorative moldings around the stage and then to a stack of foreclosure papers he had just received from PNC Bank.
``That’s it. I’m done. I’m finished,“ he said in disgust. He does not know what he will do with his white elephant now.
The vote on the catering permit was 4-4, which translates to a denial under the town’s governing rules. Mayor Stephen Shukailo and aldermen Richard Newman, Aldo Cicchetti and James Visioli opposed the permit.
Shukailo said he was concerned about noise, parking and problems that might be created by customers drinking alcohol.
``I would like to see the theater opened under some circumstance, but I don’t think this is the right one,“ Shukailo said. "If you totally took alcohol out of the picture, I believe he would have received approval.”
The officers of the First Presbyterian Church, which is across the street from the Baker Theatre, also opposed the permit.
``There’s something going on in our church almost every night,“ Charles Yearwood, one of the officers, told the aldermen. "It’s not fair to people going in or out of a house of worship to have to be exposed to the kind of behavior that sometimes accompanies alcoholic beverages.”
For the last four months, Rossi said, he has put every dollar of rent money he collects from apartments in the building toward the repairs required to resolve 40 code violations and the restorations necessary to reopen the 92-year-old theater.
``I gambled it all on being able to open and start making money,“ he said. "I gambled and I lost.”
Just three months ago, there were pigeons living in the rafters above the stage, and a leaking roof had caused some of the plaster walls to bubble.
As he paced the empty room and railed against the town’s decision, tears came to his eyes and his voice cracked. “I feel like I’ve been through five wars,” he said.
Rossi said on Thursday that he did not plan to go ahead with the Spanish concerts without permission to serve alcohol, even though he had told the aldermen he would present them on a bring-your- own-wine basis.
And though Rossi had also told the aldermen he planned appeal their decision on the permit to the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission, that plan also seemed doomed.“I can’t afford an attorney to file anything,” he said.
I believe that they are sponsoring another Vaudeville night in Sept. 2005:
LAKE HOPATCONG HISTORICAL MUSEUM; Vaudeville once again takes center stage at Netcong theater. (COUNTY NEWS)
Byline: TANYA DROBNESS
In the days before radio and television, there was vaudeville.
Live theater performers – such as George Burns and Gracie Allen, Milton Berle and Bud Abbott – toured the country with their vaudeville acts, many stopping in at the Palace Theatre in Netcong, which opened in 1919.
Although the historic building is now owned by the Growing Stage Theatre, a professional theater company that is maintaining the center for young people and their families, it will return to its roots tomorrow as vaudeville will once again be seen on its stage for the first time in more than 70 years.
“We’re going to be celebrating the old-time vaudeville with an all-star bill,” said Frank Cullen, co- founder of the American Vaudeville Museum in Boston and content editor of the Vaudeville Times. Cullen will recreate a vaudeville show using historic video of some of the greatest acts. The clips are among 1,200 vaudeville films that were converted from 16-millimeter reels to videocassette and DVD and are kept at the museum library.
While Cullen will discuss the entertainment that dominated America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, he also will give background information during the 90-minute video clips about the quick-change artistry, ballet, juggling, magic and other vaudeville acts that were performed by many of the popular comedians and other performers, including several who became early movie celebrities.
The Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum is sponsoring the show because the history of the theater has early ties to the surrounding lake community.
Television celebrities who began their careers touring the vaudeville circuit, such as Berle, Abbott, Burns and Allen and Joe Cook, lived or vacationed along the shores of Lake Hopatcong.
Known as a major Northeast resort, the northwood section of Hopatcong was dubbed the “Actors' Colony” in the early 1900s because many of these actors purchased summer homes throughout the community, said Marty Kane, President of the Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum.
“The actors were a prominent part of the lake back then, but most people living there now don’t know about that part of its history,” Kane said.
The Palace Theater, which was built primarily for school plays, graduations and other community events, opened up to vaudeville performers as a way to bring more income to the community and offset the costs of the facility, according to Steve Fredericks, executive director of the theater.
The building eventually became known as “the center” of entertainment in the region, he said.
“The theater is a part of the history of the lake, and it’s important to recognize that and share it with the community both young and old,” Fredericks said.
The Netcong theater was one of about 4,000 vaudeville theaters in the country by 1920, according to Cullen. The theater is listed on both the national and state registers of historic places.
“We have to keep the theater alive. You can’t replace its history,” he said.
Local residents flocked to the center to see live shows because it was more entertaining than staying home and reading, which was a main source of entertainment in the early 1900s.
In those days, without the luxury of air-conditioned or heated homes, vaudeville shows took people “away from the drab life” and into theaters that were built to look like palaces. The shows were big attractions that reached out to the “family audience,” Cullen said.
“It’ll never be big again,” he said, “but it won’t go away.”
The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and must be purchased in advance. For reservations and ticket information, call (973) 398-2616.
Tanya Drobness works in the Sus sex County bureau. She can be reached at or at (973) 383- 0516.
Yes. If you are not familiar with the area, Warren County is very rural. Pohatcong, however, has a booming population. It is close to Rt. 78 and had plenty of open farmland to develop.
Closed by owner Richard Nathan in September 1997 (he also owned and closed the Newton, Sparta & Washington theaters at this time). Reopened on 12/18/98 by Nelson Page with two 250 seat auditoriums.
http://66.221.1.53/images/jersey2_.jpg
http://www.drive-ins.com/theater/njtunio
I am not sure how accurate the print is, but there is certainly something there that is not in the photo I posted on the same day.
Architect for recent alterations:
http://www.kgdarch.com/his-cbt.html
I found this old postcard. Note the marquee states “New” Montauk. Interestingly it is part of the Lincoln building. Or could this be the Lincoln theater?(not listed on Cinema Treasures, but in the 1951 FDY at 37 Lexington Avenue)
View link
old ticket:
View link
http://re2.mm-c.yimg.com/image/416814669
photo
Peter: The previous Galaxy web page had nice histories & photos of all of the theaters. If possible, please bring them back.
lots of photos at this link:
View link
see press release at the bottom of this link:
http://66.221.1.53/states/hi.htm
late 1940s photo:
http://66.221.1.53/images/md2_s.jpg
400 car capacity; opened in 1951:
http://www.drive-ins.com/theater/intaubu
Here is an old photo. Note the vertical marquee with the name “Jayhawker”.
http://www.uss-rangerguy.com/Kansas/jayhwkr.htm
Old photo from 1952.
http://www.uss-rangerguy.com/Kansas/Granada.htm
Photos, recent photos taken before the July 2004 reopening:
View link
by the way Robert / William, have you done any research on Route 20? I don’t believe that it exists anymore. Most likely it has been renumbered.
http://66.221.1.53/states/nj.htm
It is interesting to note is the 2nd item. It claims that this theater moved from Camden to Union 3 years after opening. While the Camden drive in didn’t last long, I wasn’t aware of the “move”.
nice photo of the marquee:
http://66.221.1.53/images/njsign.jpg
recent photo:
View link
Nice history in photos. See photos 45-48:
View link
Conservative liquor laws prevented this theater from reopening in 1998:
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), August 16, 1998 p035
Theater dims for want of a permit; Dover turns down liquor license bid. (SCANNER)
Byline: Patricia Smith
Richard Rossi envisioned an exotic future for the historic Baker Theatre in Dover: Long white limousines would pull up in front of the marquee on West Blackwell Street to let out tuxedo-clad grooms and brides in white satin. And, twice a month, a local restaurateur would book internationally known salsa bands for dinner and a show.
Reborn as a banquet facility, the 92-year-old theater was going to be called Hot Tropics.
To make this vision turn a profit would require a catering permit that allowed alcohol to be served, according to Rossi.
On Tuesday night, the Dover Board of Aldermen rejected his application for a liquor permit that would have allowed him to serve cocktails at a variety of affairs, including Spanish dinner-theater concerts twice a month. Now, Rossi says, he’s done.
Two days after the board meeting, Rossi declared that after 16 years of fighting to reopen the theater, he’s had it. Standing in the theater’s orchestra, Rossi pointed first to freshly painted decorative moldings around the stage and then to a stack of foreclosure papers he had just received from PNC Bank.
``That’s it. I’m done. I’m finished,“ he said in disgust. He does not know what he will do with his white elephant now.
The vote on the catering permit was 4-4, which translates to a denial under the town’s governing rules. Mayor Stephen Shukailo and aldermen Richard Newman, Aldo Cicchetti and James Visioli opposed the permit.
Shukailo said he was concerned about noise, parking and problems that might be created by customers drinking alcohol.
``I would like to see the theater opened under some circumstance, but I don’t think this is the right one,“ Shukailo said. "If you totally took alcohol out of the picture, I believe he would have received approval.”
The officers of the First Presbyterian Church, which is across the street from the Baker Theatre, also opposed the permit.
``There’s something going on in our church almost every night,“ Charles Yearwood, one of the officers, told the aldermen. "It’s not fair to people going in or out of a house of worship to have to be exposed to the kind of behavior that sometimes accompanies alcoholic beverages.”
For the last four months, Rossi said, he has put every dollar of rent money he collects from apartments in the building toward the repairs required to resolve 40 code violations and the restorations necessary to reopen the 92-year-old theater.
``I gambled it all on being able to open and start making money,“ he said. "I gambled and I lost.”
Just three months ago, there were pigeons living in the rafters above the stage, and a leaking roof had caused some of the plaster walls to bubble.
As he paced the empty room and railed against the town’s decision, tears came to his eyes and his voice cracked. “I feel like I’ve been through five wars,” he said.
Rossi said on Thursday that he did not plan to go ahead with the Spanish concerts without permission to serve alcohol, even though he had told the aldermen he would present them on a bring-your- own-wine basis.
And though Rossi had also told the aldermen he planned appeal their decision on the permit to the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission, that plan also seemed doomed.“I can’t afford an attorney to file anything,” he said.
Article CJ81682418
I believe that they are sponsoring another Vaudeville night in Sept. 2005:
LAKE HOPATCONG HISTORICAL MUSEUM; Vaudeville once again takes center stage at Netcong theater. (COUNTY NEWS)
Byline: TANYA DROBNESS
In the days before radio and television, there was vaudeville.
Live theater performers – such as George Burns and Gracie Allen, Milton Berle and Bud Abbott – toured the country with their vaudeville acts, many stopping in at the Palace Theatre in Netcong, which opened in 1919.
Although the historic building is now owned by the Growing Stage Theatre, a professional theater company that is maintaining the center for young people and their families, it will return to its roots tomorrow as vaudeville will once again be seen on its stage for the first time in more than 70 years.
“We’re going to be celebrating the old-time vaudeville with an all-star bill,” said Frank Cullen, co- founder of the American Vaudeville Museum in Boston and content editor of the Vaudeville Times. Cullen will recreate a vaudeville show using historic video of some of the greatest acts. The clips are among 1,200 vaudeville films that were converted from 16-millimeter reels to videocassette and DVD and are kept at the museum library.
While Cullen will discuss the entertainment that dominated America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, he also will give background information during the 90-minute video clips about the quick-change artistry, ballet, juggling, magic and other vaudeville acts that were performed by many of the popular comedians and other performers, including several who became early movie celebrities.
The Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum is sponsoring the show because the history of the theater has early ties to the surrounding lake community.
Television celebrities who began their careers touring the vaudeville circuit, such as Berle, Abbott, Burns and Allen and Joe Cook, lived or vacationed along the shores of Lake Hopatcong.
Known as a major Northeast resort, the northwood section of Hopatcong was dubbed the “Actors' Colony” in the early 1900s because many of these actors purchased summer homes throughout the community, said Marty Kane, President of the Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum.
“The actors were a prominent part of the lake back then, but most people living there now don’t know about that part of its history,” Kane said.
The Palace Theater, which was built primarily for school plays, graduations and other community events, opened up to vaudeville performers as a way to bring more income to the community and offset the costs of the facility, according to Steve Fredericks, executive director of the theater.
The building eventually became known as “the center” of entertainment in the region, he said.
“The theater is a part of the history of the lake, and it’s important to recognize that and share it with the community both young and old,” Fredericks said.
The Netcong theater was one of about 4,000 vaudeville theaters in the country by 1920, according to Cullen. The theater is listed on both the national and state registers of historic places.
“We have to keep the theater alive. You can’t replace its history,” he said.
Local residents flocked to the center to see live shows because it was more entertaining than staying home and reading, which was a main source of entertainment in the early 1900s.
In those days, without the luxury of air-conditioned or heated homes, vaudeville shows took people “away from the drab life” and into theaters that were built to look like palaces. The shows were big attractions that reached out to the “family audience,” Cullen said.
“It’ll never be big again,” he said, “but it won’t go away.”
The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and must be purchased in advance. For reservations and ticket information, call (973) 398-2616.
Tanya Drobness works in the Sus sex County bureau. She can be reached at or at (973) 383- 0516.
Article CJ107689532
Yes. If you are not familiar with the area, Warren County is very rural. Pohatcong, however, has a booming population. It is close to Rt. 78 and had plenty of open farmland to develop.
Closed by owner Richard Nathan in September 1997 (he also owned and closed the Newton, Sparta & Washington theaters at this time). Reopened on 12/18/98 by Nelson Page with two 250 seat auditoriums.
Opened in October 1998.
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), Dec 9, 1998 p039