RKO Keith's Richmond Hill Theatre

Perhaps I overreacted a bit in my previous message. Your assistance is much appreciated Peter.K. I sincerely hope it is not too late to save this RKO Keith’s from the fate that the RKO Keith’s Theatre in Flushing sustained.
George

I just e-mailed NativeForestHiller about starting a petition for the RKO Keith Richmond Hill Theatre. He knows about the letters having been removed from the marquee.

LuisV, I find it rather odd that the Richmond Hill Historical Society has not seen fit to answer your email. Perhaps they know something that we don’t. If they were privy to information about the RKO Keith’s Richmond Hill do you believe that they would hide information from the public? Have any permits been issued recently? Peter.K, it would be wonderful if NativeForestHiller could initiate a petition.
George

I have to repeat that the organization that is most appropriate to lead the effort to save this historic theater is The Richmond Hill Historical Society. As I stated earlier, sent an e-mail to the webmaster and also posted the e-mail on thier site in the hopes of getting the attention of someone at the organization to respond. Alas, nothing as yet.

I’d like to thank mp775 for the info regarding the Portage. It indeed sounds like a very similar situation to the Keiths. It does give me some hope, but………….

Peter.K, I did not intend to put you on the spot. My apologies. Perhaps NativeForestHiller will be kind enough to put a petition together for the RKO Keith’s Richmond Hill. I must also agree with mp775 that the community at large must support the RKO Keith’s returning to theatre use or the buildings future will be a dim one.
George

LuisV – the Portage in Chicago is in a mostly residential/low-end retail neighborhood eight miles from downtown, has very little parking, is more than a mile away from the nearest train station, and is a resounding success. It didn’t take millions to get it into operating condition, either – including de-twinning, replacing light fixtures, electrical work, remodeling the lobby, removing and rebuilding the stage, adding dressing rooms, repairing the marquee, etc. If there’s community support and a person interested in making it happen, I think the Keith’s could continue as a theater.

BrooklynJim, thanks for the note about “Righteous Kill”. A similar thing happened with “Goodfellas” in 1990 : The LIRR overpass appeared in that earlier film.

Good remark, Lost Memory.

George Tobor, not to pass the buck, but Michael Perlman (“NativeForestHiller”) is in much more of a position to get a petition started for preservation of the RKO Keith than I am.

The RKO Keith’s/flea market marquee showed up in a night scene from the recent “Righteous Kill,” along with the LIRR overpass. (Also featured in several other scenes was Salerno’s Restaurant at the end of the block.)

I must commend LuisV for taking the initiative in composing his wonderful letter. Please keep us informed of any response. Yes, asking why the letters were taken down is an excellent question. Perhaps the manager will give an honest answer. The condition of the marquee given by Panzer65 is troubling to me. A decaying marquee could collapse with the first snow storm. That would be one more step towards the destruction of this building. Does anyone here have the knowledge to start a petition for this theatre?
George

Lost Memory.
I will ask the manager about the lettering on the marquee.The next visit will be during the week, I will have to be off from work, so it may be awhile before I can get an answer for you.

Live long and prosper !

Thanks, Bway and Panzer65. I think you mean “tragedy” rather than “travesty”.

panzer, thank you so much for your wonderful photos of this old gem. Your assesment is right on the mark, and when I first visted the theater in the 80’s, it hasn’t changed much from that point, and is just as preserved as it was then. It would be a travesty to lose it at this point.
The only correction though to your assesment is the comment about the beige paint. That was done after the theater showed movies, in fact, in the late 80’s, while the walls were already painted beige, the ceiling was in fact not painted beige, and still had it’s original gold leaf and multi-colored paint. It was aged, but it was there. In fact, the walls were only painted up to about ¾ the height of the ceiling. The top ¼ of the walls, and the ceiling itself remained in original gold leaf paint. For example, the procenium arch had it’s two sides beige, but the top was the original gold leaf and multi-colored paint. And the paintline stopped at that point all along the building, and to the balcony, which was all still original paint. I wish I had photos from back then, as it still showed it’s original colors.

But that being said, the beige paint does keep the plaster in good shape, and the original paint on the ceiling DID need to be attended to and obviously they would only paint it one color, and not restore the paint if it was only being used as a flea market. The plaster is so well preserved throughout the building.

The curtain (asbestos?) in front of the stage also was still original into the late 80’s, but appears to have been painted now too.
If you look at this photo you took, you can slightly glimpse the two eras of painting. Just at the top of the proscenium, you see the top is slightly lighter in paint. That is the line at which the theater was painted beige into the late 80’s. The uper 1/3 of t ceiling was painted at a later date. View link