Colonial Theatre
105-06 Northern Boulevard,
Corona,
NY
11368
105-06 Northern Boulevard,
Corona,
NY
11368
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Situated in Corona in NW Queens, the Colonial Theatre was an early cinema that did not survive into the sound era. The Colonial Theatre first turns up in advertising in 1919 as a new addition to Sheer’s Theatres, but it might have been operating independently before that. Sheer’s also ran the Hyperion Theatre and Palace Theatre in Corona, and the Victoria in Elmhurst. By 1926 they had all been taken over by the Small-Strausberg Circuit.
Like the Palace Theatre, the Colonial Theatre was on the south side of Northern Boulevard, and only a few blocks east of it. The proximity might have been a reason for the Colonial’s closure, since the Palace Theatre seems to have been larger and posher.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Listed in Film Daily Yearbook editions 1926 and 1927 with a seating capacity of 600. In the 1930 edition of Film Daily Yearbook the 600 seat capacity Colonial Theatre is listed as (Closed).
There isn’t a whole lot of information available in terms of online NYC departmental records for the building and lot currently at 105-06 Northern Blvd. The current building lot actually combines several parcles with an address range of 105-06 -08 & -10. The OASISNYC website – which lists property information obtained from the Department of City Planning – has a build date of 1925 for the structure, but that is an estimate. I can find no C of O information for the 105-06 or 105-08 addresses. There is limited information on the 105-10 address, but the only C of O that is available for viewing is dated 1952 – and that is for an alteration of an existing building spanning all three addresses. Function is mixed-use storage, manufacturing and retail store and lists a cellar, 1st story and “mezzanine” level – so it is entirely possible that this is the original theater building… but there is no way to confirm or refute that assumption based on the infomation at hand.
Here’s a local.live view of the property. It is the lower lying structure sandwiched between the taller 3-story multi-family dwellings that run towards each corner. The blue awning on the left end of the building would be 105-10, while the wider black sign with white lettering covers 105-06 -08 Northern Blvd where, I presume, the theater would have been situated. The current occupants are a Chinese-owned company that installs stereo and alarm systems in automobiles (the blue awning) and a Korean owned construction company (the have the bigger space at 105-08).
I suppose a visit to the site might reveal if any archtictural elements on the facade or the rear of the building (looks like an alley opens up to 105th Street) hint at a former cinema.
Warren, if you can open up and view the local.live link I posted, that sliver of a plot still exists between the building on the corner of 105th and the structure that sits on the former theater’s lot. I think all evidence leads me to believe that this structure is the former theater itself, long ago gutted for retail/commercial use.