Belvedere Theatre
64-28 Myrtle Avenue,
Glendale,
NY
11385
64-28 Myrtle Avenue,
Glendale,
NY
11385
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Functions: Church
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Jan 31, 2007 — Glendale memories
Located in the Glendale section of Queens. The Belvedere Theatre was opened in 1922 and had seating all on a sloping floor. Initially it was equipped with a Robert Morton 2 manual 5 ranks organ which was replaced in 1927 with a Wurlitzer 2 manual 4 ranks organ. I never remember it being open although the gaudy old marquee made it into the 1970’s. It was closed many years before becoming a ladies dress store, which actually restored the theatre to its original splendour but the floor was leveled. It is now a church.
My mom remembers going to this theatre with my grandmother in the 1950’s because my grandmother was collecting the dishes they were giving out. She remembers the bill changed three times a week, I guess sub-run double bills.
Contributed by
RobertR
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Recent comments (view all 72 comments)
The Belvedere, now the Christ Tabernacle, had huge exposure this past week with the Vice President Biden, Gov Cuomo, and other officials…..along with thousands of cops attending funeral services here for Officer Ramos, NYPD shot in the line of duty.
A vintage picture of the theatre open has to exist somewhere
For many years it was Friedrich’s Childrens Clothing Store. If the 1980’s tax photos are available, it may show it as Friedrichs. I think that store opened in the theater after the theater closed. It closed in the 80’s some time, and became the church.
The Belvedere Theatre had a Robert Morton organ installed in 1922, which was replaced by a Wurlitzer in 1927. Specifications for the Wurlitzer are on this web page.
Bway, I was going to write a post about the funeral but I guess you beat me to it. The NY Times article describing the service did briefly note the church’s prior cinematic past. It also referenced a 850 seat capacity, which is a bit higher than the 756 number noted at the top of this page.
All in all, it’s good that the old theater can still serve a positive purpose, as it certainly did last Saturday.
The theatre stopped showing movies in the 50’s and the place sat empty 20 years.
Yes, that’s when Friedrich’s moved in. It was there in the 70’s. Don’t know when it moved in however.
I believe the church added a balcony that the theater never had
That may explain the extra seating that John described. We have to remember that the theater also had been altered to become a store for at least 20 years. I don’t know what they did to convert it to a store, whether it used the theater ornamentation on the walls, and just took out the seats, or if it was gutted when it became a store already, to be rebuilt decades later when the church bought it.
When Friedrich’s renovated, the theatre was restored and except that the floor was leveled and the seats removed it looked exactly like it had as a movie theatre.