Loew's Rochester Theatre
130 S. Clinton Avenue,
Rochester,
NY
14604
130 S. Clinton Avenue,
Rochester,
NY
14604
8 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Loew's Inc., Schine Circuit Inc.
Architects: Leon H. Lempert, Jr.
Styles: Renaissance Revival
Previous Names: Schine Rochester Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Rochester Theatre opened on November 7, 1927 as part of the Schine’s chain, but soon became part of the Loew’s Inc. empire. With 3,581 seats it was advertised as the largest theatre in America between New York and Chicago. The auditorium featured bronze light fixtures, murals, leather upholstery for the box seats, and an enormous Marr & Colton 5 manual 24 ranks organ.
The Loew’s Rochester Theatre was to be renovated as part of a downtown redevelopment, but a local firm bought it and demolished it in 1964 to make way for their new headquarters.
Contributed by
Carl
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Recent comments (view all 44 comments)
I remember walking into the Theatre when I was 12 to see Quo Vadis & my mouth dropped open at the beauty it projected to me opn the inside. Big,beautiful, and a wonderful place to see a Movie but the way downtown Rochester is now it wouldn’t be open for a year!!!!
In the 1930 photo you can see the Unitarian Universalist church in the background. That church is on the same side of Clinton Ave. as Xerox. I’m wondering if it actually was Xerox that is now on the theatre site.
Click here for an exterior view of the Loew’s Rochester Theatre in 1931 and here for an exterior view in 1932.
To the best of my recollection (from my college years at the UofR 1959-63), the Loew’s Rochester was on the same side of S. Clinton Ave. as the later Xerox tower which replaced it, and the U-U Church, IOW, the east side (if I have my directions right).
I recall seeing “Rock Around the Clock” in 1956 at the Lowe’s. The movie caused a small riot in the theater when Bill Haley and his group playing the movie’s theme song by the same name. Rochester police were called to bring the audience into control.
FYI, there are some interior photos of the Lowe’s on a website called www.RochesterSubway.com
Click on “Select Month”, and then “October 2012”, then scroll down.
Direct link to the interior/exterior photogalleryes mentioned above:
http://www.rochestersubway.com/topics/2012/10/never-before-seen-photos-of-rko-palace-theater-part1/
ADDITIONAL GALLERY:
http://www.rochestersubway.com/topics/2012/10/loews-theater-rochesters-other-lost-movie-palace/
In Response to the question of dhroc on August 22, 2011 at 4:14 pm Xerox now stands where the Lowes Theatre was. I recall going to all of the Movie Theatres in Downtown Rochester, that were open in the 50’s through the 70’s, and saw those that fell, one by one. I was in High School at the time, and recall seeing Xerox growing from my homeroom window, located on Maiden Lane. I remember the new Lowes opening across from Pittsford Plaza in the 1960’s and it was huge, until the subdivided it into several theatres. One of the first movies I watched at the Pittsford Lowes, was “The Prize”,in 1963 with Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=movie+the+prize+paul+newman&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
I forgot to say that it was interesting and exciting being able to see Downtown Rochester’s Skyline growing, from the Town of Greece. You could see Midtown Tower and the ever-growing Xerox Tower. It was just a sad thing seeing all the old movie houses closing. I liked the Lowes, it was big, but as a kid, it was more fun getting lost in all the balconies of the RKO Palace. The Red Velvet Walls, all the mirrors, the stair cases, and the lobby seemed so tall.
Grand opening ad in photo section.