Van Curler Theatre
430 Franklin Street,
Schenectady,
NY
12305
430 Franklin Street,
Schenectady,
NY
12305
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fabian Theaters
Architects: Leon H. Lempert, Jr., Leon H. Lempert, Sr.
Firms: Leon H. Lempert & Son
Nearby Theaters
Opened on March 1, 1893 as the Van Curler Opera House. The Van Curler Theatre is listed in the 1941 & 1943 editions of Film Daily Yearbook, as being in the stock of theatres owned or operated by the Fabian Theaters chain, although they had closed the theatre around 1940. It was demolished in 1943.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
This article from the Schenectady Daily Gazette gives a brief history of the Van Curler Theatre. The theater opened as the Van Curler Opera House on March 1, 1893. In its later years it operated as a movie house as well as a vaudeville and burlesque theater. The Van Curler Theatre had been closed for several years when the auditorium was demolished in 1943. The entrance building was demolished eight years later.
The theater was not located on Van Curler Street, but in downtown Schenectady on Jay Street at the corner of Franklin Street. The article has two photos. The front of the theater was a typically Victorian assemblage of Moorish and Classical elements with a Queen Anne style tower of bay windows and belfry stuck onto one corner.
The Van Curler Opera House is on a list of theaters designed by Leon H. Lempert & Son that was published in the 1906-1907 Cahn guide.