Kimball Theatre
1219 Yonkers Avenue,
Yonkers,
NY
10704
1219 Yonkers Avenue,
Yonkers,
NY
10704
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 40 comments
Once damaged by a fire on August 13, 1946.
The Kimball closed on July 29, 1979 as a sub-run discount house but reopened in 1980 for one last run from an operator in New York City. It appears to have closed January 1, 1981 with Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult in “Black and Blue in Concert.”
Grand opening ad posted.
The Kimball Theater was totally demolished with the past week.
Here is a link from the local newspaper:
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/yonkers/2016/12/13/kimball-theatre-razed/95374098/
It looks like it might be the end for the last remains of the Kimball Theater. This is a link to an article in The Journal News:
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/yonkers/2016/07/07/kimball-theatre-yonkers-demolition/86515276/
The Kimball Theatre operated briefly in the 1970s as The Movies. See advertisement in photo section.
The Kimball Theatre opened on March 12, 1937.
How many seats did this theater have? I saw an aerial photo of it and if they would have been interested restored it, it could been converted into a beautiful and massive multi-screen theater. It certainly has the space.
I went inside this briefly while it was a furniture store and it absolutely took my breath away. I walked out of that place dreaming of what movies people must have seen during it’s heyday. It breaks my heart that that entire block suffered damages from the fire.
Residential tower proposed
for defunct Yonkers theater
YONKERS â€" A developer wants permission from the
city to build a 15-story tower at the site of a
burned-out theater.
Blue Real Estate Holdings LLC of 470 Nepperhan
Ave. is proposing to build an age-restricted, 220-
unit complex at 1217 Yonkers Ave., the site of the
former Kimball Theatre and a row of shuttered
businesses.
The developer has submitted its request for zoning
exemptions to the Zoning Board of Appeals,
including a height variance for the proposed 165.1-
foot building, which is 30 feet higher than the city’s
zoning allows. The developer also needs variances
for floor-area ratios and lot coverage, among other
issues. The plan includes 235 underground parking
spots.
At the applicant’s request, a scheduled June 15
zoning board hearing has been postponed. The
board’s next meeting is July 20.
In its application, the developer’s attorney, James
Veneruso, wrote that the project “will be of
tremendous benefit” to the city because “the
dilapidated Kimball Theatre will be replaced by a
beautiful state of the art building; and (2) the project
will meet the needs of the community by helping
revitalize the area.”
Residents at 475 Bronx River Road and 52 Yonkers
Terrace already have objected. The buildings'
attorney, Evelyn Petrone, wrote to the city that the
proposed tower doesn’t fit in the area and, if built,
will worsen traffic and parking problems.
In a May 18 letter to the zoning board, Westchester
County acting Planning Commissioner Edward
Buroughs praised the proposal because it fits with
the county’s vision for dense development near
public transportation. The Mount Vernon West train
station is nearby.
“It will direct growth to an already established
center, where the existing infrastructure will
support the development, and where transportation
options can be provided and services can be
obtained within walking distance,” Buroughs wrote.
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Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yk4kx4m
Another fire occurred on 01-09-10 in whatever still remained of the Kimball: View link
Just an update…
I live two blocks away from the old Kimball. We watched it burn that night in 2004, and although I never went to it during it’s heyday as a movie theater, It still broke my heart to see what happened. I used to go into the used furniture store and try to imagine what it looked like in its original life.
In any event, it still stands burnt and empty. The owner of the furniture store relocated his business to across from the Mt. Vernon West train station. He told us a couple of years ago that a contractor was buying it from him with the intention of building an apartment complex there. Thus far, nothing doing. As someone mentioned above, this is pretty typical of what happens in Yonkers.
I hate, hate, seeing that abandoned place with the marquis still out front. So sad…
Here is another photo of the Kimball:
http://tinyurl.com/ku3p93
Have they ever rebuilt on the site as of yet?
The google street view shows it before the fire:
View link
Thanks for the picture Lost Memory! What a loss! Just like it, gone are the days of smoking in the theatre (can you imagine), staying and watching a movie over and over..AND more than anything paying less than $1.00 to do them all! Wonder what popcorn cost then compared to the almost $10 for a large now?!?!?! Those were the days…
Does anybody else remember riding the No. 7 trolley car down the Yonkers Avenue curve here, in order to go to the movies? Probably not The trolley car was red and yellow, but the movies were mostly B&W.
Hey Christine Bernard. I grew up on Villa Ave. down the street from SHerwood. ANd also went to P.S. 14. I lived next door. I am also a Yonkers FIrefighter. The two movies I remember seeing there was Deer Hunter and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.
Roger, yes, for anyone looking, sometimes the East view has the old version, and sometimes it shows the new version. So if you keep flicking back and forth from north to east, you will get two seperate east views.
Thanks Roger.
Yes, if you look at the theater with North on top, it shows the theater completely gutted after the fire, although the outside brick walls still stand:=. The lobby roof seems to remain:
View link
However, if you switch to east or west, it shows the theater still intact before the fire:
View link
…in fact, you can get the East view both ways if you cycle back through it: pre-fire and post-fire. Weird.
If you go to http://maps.live.com/and type in this theater’s address try going to “Bird’s Eye View” switching the views around. There is no view from the south, but if you use the other views there are two views where the theater is still intact from before the fire, but on the third view the theater has been gutted by fire.
The furniture store is still operating out of the former lobby. The marquee is still there. The auditorium has been torn down.
In response to the last comment, I saw what remains of the theater two days ago. The front entrance, which would have been the lobby, is still standing. The auditorium is completely gone. Given that this is Yonkers, I wouldn’t be surprised if it stays this way for some time to come.
What ever became of this building after the fire?
Joe, I think I met you through Mike Percoco. He told me about that theater, showed it to me one day. We have an apartment right around the corner from it now.
The marquee is still there and the walls still stand but it looks like the roof may be gone.
Sally