The Park Theater was a small deco theater without a balcony (as I recall) that was in a small early strip of stores/shoppes directly across from the Bird Park entrance near the corner of May St (where my Aunt lived) and Washington in East Walpole. I saw virtually most of the 1950s horror and adventure films like ‘7th Voyage of Sinbad’ and ‘20 Million Miles to Earth’ in that place. I tried to sneak in to see ‘Psycho’ in 1960, but they caught me (you had to be 12). It abutted a bakery which later was bought by Peggy Lawton’s who eventually procured and demolished houses and stores to garner more parking and warehouse space during the 60s/70s. They bought my Aunt’s house and tore that down also. There was a malt shoppe with a jukebox and a fountain next to the theater that was a great teenage hangout and a place to go after the movie.
I was born in 1949 and the Guild Theatre had already closed by the time I was old enough to realize (perhaps 4 or 5 yrs old). There was a chic department store called Parke Snow that was near it and my mother used to shop there, so I recall seeing the old marquee nearby but never got to go inside. It was in the center of the main block on Washington Street in the uptown area back then near Woolworths and all the stores.
Sorry it took me so long to return to the site (I love it btw), but I had a snag with my password and name that didn’t get resolved until recently.
The Park Theater was a small deco theater without a balcony (as I recall) that was in a small early strip of stores/shoppes directly across from the Bird Park entrance near the corner of May St (where my Aunt lived) and Washington in East Walpole. I saw virtually most of the 1950s horror and adventure films like ‘7th Voyage of Sinbad’ and ‘20 Million Miles to Earth’ in that place. I tried to sneak in to see ‘Psycho’ in 1960, but they caught me (you had to be 12). It abutted a bakery which later was bought by Peggy Lawton’s who eventually procured and demolished houses and stores to garner more parking and warehouse space during the 60s/70s. They bought my Aunt’s house and tore that down also. There was a malt shoppe with a jukebox and a fountain next to the theater that was a great teenage hangout and a place to go after the movie.
I was born in 1949 and the Guild Theatre had already closed by the time I was old enough to realize (perhaps 4 or 5 yrs old). There was a chic department store called Parke Snow that was near it and my mother used to shop there, so I recall seeing the old marquee nearby but never got to go inside. It was in the center of the main block on Washington Street in the uptown area back then near Woolworths and all the stores.