The theatre located in the shopping plaza in Hamden was called the Cinemart. It had a huge mural of an aquarium on the sie of the building. Hand painted, it took months to complete. The shopping center called the Hamden Mart, also had a “Ghost parking lot”. it had old cars, half buried in the asphalt. It was directly across the street from the infamous Disco called, Daniels. I used to work there. The theatre, Cars, and Disco, have all been sadly demolished.
The Strand theatre was located on Dixwell Ave. I worked there too. It was situated near Putnam Ave. It too was sadly demolished so that Putnam ave could be literally “moved” over a few feet. One of the unique facts about the Strand, is that for a brief time in the early 80’s it actually had live plays. One was Man From La Moncha. I worked there when the Blues Brothers was in theatres until about 1983. It was indeed a 99 cent theatre.
The theatre on Whitney Ave. in Hamden was called the Whitney theatre. It actually had a second floor with a bar where you could order light snacks and cocktails. Vey unique at the time. It was demolished and replaced with condo’s and office space. Oddly enough, my wife works for a dentist on that exact spot.
The Dixwell Playhouse is one of the last pieces of history on Dixwell ave. It seems like any building over 30 years old is bing demolished and replaced on Dixwell Ave. It’s very sad. I remember walking by the theatre all the time and mainly seeing some sort of carpet warehouse/retail in it. My mom lives a couple of blocks south of it.
As you can tell, I love this stuff about the history of these theatres. I wish I had pictures. Or, could at least find some.
The theatre located in the shopping plaza in Hamden was called the Cinemart. It had a huge mural of an aquarium on the sie of the building. Hand painted, it took months to complete. The shopping center called the Hamden Mart, also had a “Ghost parking lot”. it had old cars, half buried in the asphalt. It was directly across the street from the infamous Disco called, Daniels. I used to work there. The theatre, Cars, and Disco, have all been sadly demolished.
The Strand theatre was located on Dixwell Ave. I worked there too. It was situated near Putnam Ave. It too was sadly demolished so that Putnam ave could be literally “moved” over a few feet. One of the unique facts about the Strand, is that for a brief time in the early 80’s it actually had live plays. One was Man From La Moncha. I worked there when the Blues Brothers was in theatres until about 1983. It was indeed a 99 cent theatre.
The theatre on Whitney Ave. in Hamden was called the Whitney theatre. It actually had a second floor with a bar where you could order light snacks and cocktails. Vey unique at the time. It was demolished and replaced with condo’s and office space. Oddly enough, my wife works for a dentist on that exact spot.
The Dixwell Playhouse is one of the last pieces of history on Dixwell ave. It seems like any building over 30 years old is bing demolished and replaced on Dixwell Ave. It’s very sad. I remember walking by the theatre all the time and mainly seeing some sort of carpet warehouse/retail in it. My mom lives a couple of blocks south of it.
As you can tell, I love this stuff about the history of these theatres. I wish I had pictures. Or, could at least find some.