New Family Theatre
102 Main Street,
Mount Morris,
NY
14510
102 Main Street,
Mount Morris,
NY
14510
1 person
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The New Family Theatre opened on April 27, 1939. The feature film was “The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle”.
Vincenzo Martina (my Great Grandfather) moved from LeRoy to Mt. Morris to open a small movie theater called the Family Theater down the north part of Main Street. Later, after his death, all of his children built the New Family Theater in his honor. It was run by his daughter and her husband until it closed. In fact many of his six children had theaters around western New York which became part of the Martina Circuit: Dansville, Attica, Albion, Clyde, Naples, Nunda, Cuba and a few more at times.
Sorry to read “was limited by a lack of funds and public support” as it is important to “make civic use of this beautiful piece of Mount Morris history”.
Only just beginning officially, after a number of years discussion with friends and concerned citizens I’ve proposed to the new Mayor of Mount Morris the possibility we might finally have the funds to find and purchase a set of letters for the New Family Theater marquis. He assured me, as one might expect that this is something that will happen after the new budget is in place. His predecessor is and was a good friend, and he likewise wanted to find letters for the marquis but was limited by a lack of funds and public support to raise the money needed. Mount Morris was and still is struggling to manage the needs of the Village, and the signage letter set is an extra expense. God willing, we will finally be able to finish the marquis restoration by purchasing letters to make civic use of this beautiful piece of Mount Morris history.
Boomer: Wagner Sign Company of Elyria, Ohio, still makes marquee letters, as does Gemini Signs and Letters of Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Chances are they both have dealers in your region (Buffalo, Syracuse, maybe some smaller towns.) Both companies make the classic dimensional letters, which are fairly costly, but also make flat letters (Wagner’s Zip-Change and Gemini’s Pronto line) that are (and look) considerably cheaper.
Wagner actually invented the plastic-molded dimensional marquee letter in 1942, and when you see old photos of theater marquees you are probably seeing Wagner letters in most cases.
You can also sometimes find vintage letters, but they tend to be badly worn and more expensive than new letters. As yours went missing, odds are that somebody stole them and sold them to an antique dealer.
Great marquee news! Congratulations! Not sure where you could find black letters though hopefully someone on CT will read your post and help!
The Marquee of the New Family Theater has been restored to its original condition. However, the black letters are nowhere to be found. Is there a way to get new or used one?
Next to the New Family Theater in Mt. Morris was another theater, the ROXY. It was small and must have closed in the late 40’s. Does anyone have a picture of this theater? I would enjoy seeing what it looked like. Thanks.
I haven’t been to Mount Morris in the past year, but would like to return to see if the theatre is now “just a facade”! So many of these small towns across America that had small theatres have them no more.
C. V. Martina was operating a house in Mount Morris called the Family Theatre at least as early as 1930, when it was mentioned in the Nunda, New York News on December 30. The New Family Theatre could have been either a replacement theater, or the old Family Theatre remodeled.
Interesting that you were last week. I was there in October. Spoke to some locals about the restored ‘facade only’ restoration.
A photo from last week:
View link
Will be going to Mt. Morris on Sunday and hope to see at least the facade of this DeAngelis designed theatre.
I have told by a fellow CT member who lives near that theatre that the facade was saved.
The village bought the theater 20 years ago, a big mistake, as they never spent anything to maintain it. A state building inspector came to check it out so the village could get state funding and he fell thru the floor. It cost the New York state tax payers over 400 thousand dollars to tear it down. The facade was saved and a new structure is being built behind it for office or retail space.
Bob: A theatre friend confirmed this.
The theater has been demolished. The facade was still standing the last time I was in Mount Morris.
Has any attempts at restoration been started, of late? I plan to visit Mount Morris NY this spring after going to see another DeAngelis designed theatre, the Strand/Brockport NY.
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yeakyzn
I see that architect, Michael DeAngelis designed this theatre along with my hometown theatre, the Grand/Westfield NY.
I was in Mount Morris in 2008 and have to say that it is going to take a benefactor with lots of cash to bring the New Family back to life in this quiet little town.
Don…
Hope this theatre is restored before it becomes too late. I am sure it can have many uses to serve the community.
Before ownership passed to the village, the theatre was owned by the same family that owned (still ownes) the Riviera theatre (closed but still standing) in Geneseo, N.Y. The New Family Theatre looks a little worse everytime I passby. Someone told me a portion of the roof has opened but this might be just be a rumor. I know the village had applied for (granted?) state and federal money to improve Main Street and improving the theatre was part of the village’s official plan.