Avon Theatre
459 Clinton Avenue,
Newark,
NJ
07108
459 Clinton Avenue,
Newark,
NJ
07108
2 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox Circuit, Liggett-Florin Booking Service
Previous Names: American Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The American Theatre was opened prior to 1926 when it was operated by William Fox. It had 1,100 seats, later reduced to 950. It was still open in 1939. By 1940 it had been renamed Avon Theatre. By 1950 it was operated by Liggett-Florin Booking Service. It was another neighborhood theatre run by Eddie Steinberg from the mid-1950’s to 1968. Catered mostly to an African-American audience. Ran double features and changed its programming 2-3 times per week. Closed in 1968 shortly after the infamous riots in Newark. It has since been demolished.
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
Listed as open in the 1944 FDY. Listed in the 1961 FDY as part of Triangle-Liggett Theatre Service.
Listed as part of Independent Theater Service, Inc. in the 1956 Film Daily Yearbook.
It looks like the entire block between Hunterdon & Peshine has been plowed under and replaced by housing. This is on the odd side of the street, between 450 and 460, more or less. After you cross Hunterdon, the businesses are numbered in the 470s and 480s. I don’t believe the theater is still around, but I can’t say that definitively.
If I have to work all day on July 4th, and July 5th, allow me a little speculation to ease the pain.
The vacant land is on the even side of the street. The odd side is a set of houses which look relatively new.
I was just in Newark yesterday to photographs cinemas. This theatre is demolished.
Here is a photo circa 1939:
http://tinyurl.com/ooch45
I am guessing that it is an earlier theater that was closer to the actual junction of Clinton and Avon Avenues. The archived article indicates that the seating capacity for the pictured Avon Theater was 300 whereas the listed capacity (noted above) for this Avon was over three times that. I can’t see any similarities in the respective facades, though I suppose the theater could have been given a radical facelift at some point.