The theater was in a shopping center, and has been converted over to retail space. You can see the outline of the theatre box in the rear of the center, as the front received a new, higher facade last year which covered the theatre.
The Plaza was a John Eberson atmospheric theatre, and I believe it opened in 1931. It was demolished in the late 60’s-early 70’s and remained an empty lot until recently when an office building was erected on the site. It’s across and just up the street from Proctor’s Theatre.
The Imperial, with its huge cursive “IMPERIAL” backlit letters on the facade, was absorbed into the neighboring supermarket. It’s located on Route 9 just south of Poughkeepsie in a shopping center, on the east side of the street. If you look at the supermarket (which I believe is a ShopRite), you can see the outline curved roof of the Imperial. It closed as a twin, but it may have been open as late as 1984-5.
No, the General Cinema was the MORRIS HILLS TWIN, in the Morris Hills Shopping Center about 2 miles west on Route 46, where the Clearview Cinema 12 is now. The Loews Troy Hills became the Loews Troy Hills Twin in the late 70’s-early 80’s. It closed somewhere around 1990, give or take a couple of years. The theatre, clearly visible in the shopping center, is now the Amazing Savings store.
There was a parking deck on the ‘new’ shopping district, built in the 50’s, in Downtown Dover. Reade’s Dover Drive-In was located on the roof of the deck. The deck has been demolished, although some of the strip center remains.
The Hudson Plaza Cinema has been converted over to retail. You can clearly see it driving on Rt. 9 in the Hudson Plaza. The CinemaNational chain ran this, the Duchess Cinema, and the 9-G Drive-In for a time. CinemaNational was absorbed by USA Cinemas, which in turn was bought by Loews in 1988.
The Central is currently a bowling alley. A floor was built inside the auditorium creating two floors of bowling lanes. The projection booth area functions as a locker room.
The box office and marquee are still intact, though the marquee is covered by the signage for the design firm. Entering inside you can tell it was once a theatre. One of the people working took me in their back room/workshop, which was the front/stage area, and I was able to see pieces of the proscenium.
The Park Hill was triplexed by its last operator. It closed in the early 90’s after their business was severly impacted by the National Amusements Cross County 10-plex nearby. The theatre building housed a church in the late 90’s, but was recently put up for sale again. The marquee is still on the building. It is the last of the downtown Yonkers theatres still standing in its original configuration.
The marquee for the 303 still stands. It was refurbished recently by the Town of Clarkstown, the property’s current owners. It is used as a compost site. The screen frame stood for awhile, sans screen, but recently collapsed. The concession building is still standing. Access to the drive-in is difficult as one must wade through piles of undesirable stuff to get in to take a look at it!
This theatre is on Orangeburg Road just off of Route 303, in the corner of an L-shaped shopping plaza. You can tell by looking at it that it was a movie house at one time. It has since been converted to retail use.
The Kent was twinned and operated as such for a few years before it closed. I believe it ceased operation by 1990. The whole building was gutted and converted to other uses, including retail, offices, and a dance studio. Looking at it from the front you’d never know it was a theatre, but if you drive around back you can see the box of the auditorium.
The largest theatres are in the mall building (Known as Kinnelon 4-11), theatres # 4 and 5. Theatre 1 in the Meadtown Cinema building (known as Kinnelon 1-2-3) is actually a great place to see a film, with Dolby Digital Sound and a decent screen.
As for the Meadtown Cinema, CJM purchased it and used it for the ‘big films’ as it was a bigger auditorium than any in their 8-plex next door. It was only open when business warranted. When Clearview bought most of the CJM theatres (which at the time included the Bellevue in Upper Montclair, the Middlebrook Galleria 10 in Ocean Township, and the Cinema 23 in Cedar Grove), they also acquired Meadtown. Clearview then divided it into three auditoriums and combined it with the Kinnelon 8 to make Kinnelon 11.
Originally built by Nelson-Ferman Enterprises, this is Clearview’s most profitable location. It opened in December, 1994. Its lobby and concession area were recently refurbished, and the sound was upgraded. Theatre #2 is the biggest with 406 seats.
The Showplace was also known as the Kameo at one time. I saw a few films here as they presented more upscale fare than at the Cinema Center 11, which was Pittsfield’s first run multiplex at the time (now closed and vacant). The theatre was in much better condition than its siblings, the Capitol and Palace, but still had a very musty odor and was pretty run down.
I saw a movie at the Palace in the mid-to-late 80’s, when it was operating as a discount house. I was facinated that the theatre was still operating in such a poor condition. After entering through the long narrow lobby, I approached the concession stand. They were selling tickets at the stand as the outside box office was closed. The whole place smelled very, very musty. As I entered the auditorium in one of the center aisles, I noticed some lamps (like you would see in ones living room) with no shades on them plugged into the side aisles and lit. These were the only lights in the theatre. The guy who ripped my ticket said I had to sit in the back 10 or so rows. I then knew why. It was actually raining inside the theatre, and the only shelter provided to the patrons was the overhang of the balcony! When the feature started water was also running down the screen!!
The place lasted a few years after that, then closed and sat vacant for awhile until it was demolished. At the time of my visit, there were three marquees lighting up that side of North Ave. (Well, had they been in operating condition they would have been lighting up the Ave!) The Palace was the first, and as you continued up the street the Capitol’s marquee was next (altough the Capitol was extant at the time, the auditorium has since been demolished, and the marquee refurbished for use by the Senior Center which occupies the lobby and retail space), and, finally, the Showplace. All three were owned and operated by Western Massachusettes Theatres, whose great palaces were allowed to deteriorate to the point of no return.
The Quickway was located in the Quickway Shopping Center along Route 17 in Chester. You can see the theatre building from the highway. It was twinned in the late 70’s, and then quadded in the 80’s. The owners of the nearby Chester Cinema 6 were the last operators. It closed about 2 years ago and was gutted and converted into a two-story office building.
The announcement is out—Bow Tie Cinemas has signed a lease to open “Criterion Cinemas at Blue Back Square” in West Hartford. Last week, we announced another new theater in dowtown Schenectady, NY. I will try to find the time to submit a news story about both to CT tomorrow.
Incidentally, Hartford’s Cinema City was never a B.S. Moss Theater. It was built and opened by SBC Theaters, which was later purchased by Hoyt’s. Crown bought it from Hoyt’s.
This theatre was never a GCC location. If you look at the rest of the mall, the businesses are mostly all identified by their function and not their name. For instance, the bank’s sign says “BANK”. The pizzeria’s, you guessed it, “PIZZA”. Many theatres are identified by a simple CINEMA sign outside—it wasn’t just a GCC thing.
This was one of my theatres when I was a Division Manager for Clearview. It still grosses very well. Originally, it was a single screen built in the late 50’s-early 60’s in the shopping center. UA twinned the place in the early 80’s, then added two more screens. When this was done, the lobby was extended by building out into the original auditorium. If you go into theatres 1 & 2, you can see the booth windows are set back from the entrance doors, giving the impression that there once could have been a small balcony. The result is a very large lobby and large concession stand. The four theatres seat around 265-265-350-300, and recenly went through sound upgrades providing Digital Sound in all 4 houses.
The Endicott Strand was demolished by the 1960’s, and remains a parking lot to this day. Endicott had 5 theatres at one time – the Elvin (demolished-parking lot), the State/Cinema Endicott (closed by Loews in 1993 and demolished for an Eckerd Drug), the Lyric/Towne (now Endicott Performing Arts Center), the Royal (small early nickelodeon style, became a music store, now for rent as retail space), and the Strand.
The Strand in Summit has been completely gutted—the roof was removed, and the facade demolished. The two side walls and stage remain with some metal roof trusses over them. The space was filled in open air mall style. The stage house is a small cafe with access on the side.
Loews closed this theatre shortly after the opening of their Danbury 10 just down the road. The Fine Arts was originally part of the Nutmeg/CinemaNational/USA Cinemas group, which also included in CT: Greenwich Twin (now Clearview Greenwich Twin-closing in December), Norwalk 1 & 2 (now Garden Cinema 4), Norwalk Theatre (last used as a nightclub), Wilton Cinema (now part of TJ Maxx), Fine Arts 1 & 2 Westport (now Restoration Hardware), Fine Arts 3 Westport (behind 1 & 2-now a restaurant), Fine Arts 4 Westport (now retail), the Post Cinema Westport (furniture store), Community 1 & 2 Fairfield (open as non-profit Community Theatre Foundation), and the County Cinema in Fairfield (now a cabinet maker’s shop). Loews also had the Moviehouse 1 & 2 in Middletown, and the Colony 5 in Wallingford.
When driving by the other day, I saw the Colonial’s roll-up door open. I went inside—it’s being used as a truck repair and storage facility. It is very much intact!
The theater was in a shopping center, and has been converted over to retail space. You can see the outline of the theatre box in the rear of the center, as the front received a new, higher facade last year which covered the theatre.
The Plaza was a John Eberson atmospheric theatre, and I believe it opened in 1931. It was demolished in the late 60’s-early 70’s and remained an empty lot until recently when an office building was erected on the site. It’s across and just up the street from Proctor’s Theatre.
The Imperial, with its huge cursive “IMPERIAL” backlit letters on the facade, was absorbed into the neighboring supermarket. It’s located on Route 9 just south of Poughkeepsie in a shopping center, on the east side of the street. If you look at the supermarket (which I believe is a ShopRite), you can see the outline curved roof of the Imperial. It closed as a twin, but it may have been open as late as 1984-5.
This Drive-In was called the Candelite-Pix, and was eventually twinned at some point. It was demolished for industrial development.
No, the General Cinema was the MORRIS HILLS TWIN, in the Morris Hills Shopping Center about 2 miles west on Route 46, where the Clearview Cinema 12 is now. The Loews Troy Hills became the Loews Troy Hills Twin in the late 70’s-early 80’s. It closed somewhere around 1990, give or take a couple of years. The theatre, clearly visible in the shopping center, is now the Amazing Savings store.
There was a parking deck on the ‘new’ shopping district, built in the 50’s, in Downtown Dover. Reade’s Dover Drive-In was located on the roof of the deck. The deck has been demolished, although some of the strip center remains.
The Hudson Plaza Cinema has been converted over to retail. You can clearly see it driving on Rt. 9 in the Hudson Plaza. The CinemaNational chain ran this, the Duchess Cinema, and the 9-G Drive-In for a time. CinemaNational was absorbed by USA Cinemas, which in turn was bought by Loews in 1988.
The Central is currently a bowling alley. A floor was built inside the auditorium creating two floors of bowling lanes. The projection booth area functions as a locker room.
The box office and marquee are still intact, though the marquee is covered by the signage for the design firm. Entering inside you can tell it was once a theatre. One of the people working took me in their back room/workshop, which was the front/stage area, and I was able to see pieces of the proscenium.
The Park Hill was triplexed by its last operator. It closed in the early 90’s after their business was severly impacted by the National Amusements Cross County 10-plex nearby. The theatre building housed a church in the late 90’s, but was recently put up for sale again. The marquee is still on the building. It is the last of the downtown Yonkers theatres still standing in its original configuration.
The marquee for the 303 still stands. It was refurbished recently by the Town of Clarkstown, the property’s current owners. It is used as a compost site. The screen frame stood for awhile, sans screen, but recently collapsed. The concession building is still standing. Access to the drive-in is difficult as one must wade through piles of undesirable stuff to get in to take a look at it!
This theatre is on Orangeburg Road just off of Route 303, in the corner of an L-shaped shopping plaza. You can tell by looking at it that it was a movie house at one time. It has since been converted to retail use.
The Kent was twinned and operated as such for a few years before it closed. I believe it ceased operation by 1990. The whole building was gutted and converted to other uses, including retail, offices, and a dance studio. Looking at it from the front you’d never know it was a theatre, but if you drive around back you can see the box of the auditorium.
The largest theatres are in the mall building (Known as Kinnelon 4-11), theatres # 4 and 5. Theatre 1 in the Meadtown Cinema building (known as Kinnelon 1-2-3) is actually a great place to see a film, with Dolby Digital Sound and a decent screen.
As for the Meadtown Cinema, CJM purchased it and used it for the ‘big films’ as it was a bigger auditorium than any in their 8-plex next door. It was only open when business warranted. When Clearview bought most of the CJM theatres (which at the time included the Bellevue in Upper Montclair, the Middlebrook Galleria 10 in Ocean Township, and the Cinema 23 in Cedar Grove), they also acquired Meadtown. Clearview then divided it into three auditoriums and combined it with the Kinnelon 8 to make Kinnelon 11.
Originally built by Nelson-Ferman Enterprises, this is Clearview’s most profitable location. It opened in December, 1994. Its lobby and concession area were recently refurbished, and the sound was upgraded. Theatre #2 is the biggest with 406 seats.
The Showplace was also known as the Kameo at one time. I saw a few films here as they presented more upscale fare than at the Cinema Center 11, which was Pittsfield’s first run multiplex at the time (now closed and vacant). The theatre was in much better condition than its siblings, the Capitol and Palace, but still had a very musty odor and was pretty run down.
I saw a movie at the Palace in the mid-to-late 80’s, when it was operating as a discount house. I was facinated that the theatre was still operating in such a poor condition. After entering through the long narrow lobby, I approached the concession stand. They were selling tickets at the stand as the outside box office was closed. The whole place smelled very, very musty. As I entered the auditorium in one of the center aisles, I noticed some lamps (like you would see in ones living room) with no shades on them plugged into the side aisles and lit. These were the only lights in the theatre. The guy who ripped my ticket said I had to sit in the back 10 or so rows. I then knew why. It was actually raining inside the theatre, and the only shelter provided to the patrons was the overhang of the balcony! When the feature started water was also running down the screen!!
The place lasted a few years after that, then closed and sat vacant for awhile until it was demolished. At the time of my visit, there were three marquees lighting up that side of North Ave. (Well, had they been in operating condition they would have been lighting up the Ave!) The Palace was the first, and as you continued up the street the Capitol’s marquee was next (altough the Capitol was extant at the time, the auditorium has since been demolished, and the marquee refurbished for use by the Senior Center which occupies the lobby and retail space), and, finally, the Showplace. All three were owned and operated by Western Massachusettes Theatres, whose great palaces were allowed to deteriorate to the point of no return.
The Quickway was located in the Quickway Shopping Center along Route 17 in Chester. You can see the theatre building from the highway. It was twinned in the late 70’s, and then quadded in the 80’s. The owners of the nearby Chester Cinema 6 were the last operators. It closed about 2 years ago and was gutted and converted into a two-story office building.
The announcement is out—Bow Tie Cinemas has signed a lease to open “Criterion Cinemas at Blue Back Square” in West Hartford. Last week, we announced another new theater in dowtown Schenectady, NY. I will try to find the time to submit a news story about both to CT tomorrow.
Incidentally, Hartford’s Cinema City was never a B.S. Moss Theater. It was built and opened by SBC Theaters, which was later purchased by Hoyt’s. Crown bought it from Hoyt’s.
This theatre was never a GCC location. If you look at the rest of the mall, the businesses are mostly all identified by their function and not their name. For instance, the bank’s sign says “BANK”. The pizzeria’s, you guessed it, “PIZZA”. Many theatres are identified by a simple CINEMA sign outside—it wasn’t just a GCC thing.
This was one of my theatres when I was a Division Manager for Clearview. It still grosses very well. Originally, it was a single screen built in the late 50’s-early 60’s in the shopping center. UA twinned the place in the early 80’s, then added two more screens. When this was done, the lobby was extended by building out into the original auditorium. If you go into theatres 1 & 2, you can see the booth windows are set back from the entrance doors, giving the impression that there once could have been a small balcony. The result is a very large lobby and large concession stand. The four theatres seat around 265-265-350-300, and recenly went through sound upgrades providing Digital Sound in all 4 houses.
The Endicott Strand was demolished by the 1960’s, and remains a parking lot to this day. Endicott had 5 theatres at one time – the Elvin (demolished-parking lot), the State/Cinema Endicott (closed by Loews in 1993 and demolished for an Eckerd Drug), the Lyric/Towne (now Endicott Performing Arts Center), the Royal (small early nickelodeon style, became a music store, now for rent as retail space), and the Strand.
The Strand in Summit has been completely gutted—the roof was removed, and the facade demolished. The two side walls and stage remain with some metal roof trusses over them. The space was filled in open air mall style. The stage house is a small cafe with access on the side.
Loews closed this theatre shortly after the opening of their Danbury 10 just down the road. The Fine Arts was originally part of the Nutmeg/CinemaNational/USA Cinemas group, which also included in CT: Greenwich Twin (now Clearview Greenwich Twin-closing in December), Norwalk 1 & 2 (now Garden Cinema 4), Norwalk Theatre (last used as a nightclub), Wilton Cinema (now part of TJ Maxx), Fine Arts 1 & 2 Westport (now Restoration Hardware), Fine Arts 3 Westport (behind 1 & 2-now a restaurant), Fine Arts 4 Westport (now retail), the Post Cinema Westport (furniture store), Community 1 & 2 Fairfield (open as non-profit Community Theatre Foundation), and the County Cinema in Fairfield (now a cabinet maker’s shop). Loews also had the Moviehouse 1 & 2 in Middletown, and the Colony 5 in Wallingford.
When driving by the other day, I saw the Colonial’s roll-up door open. I went inside—it’s being used as a truck repair and storage facility. It is very much intact!