Broadway Theatre
512 Broadway Street,
Buffalo,
NY
14204
512 Broadway Street,
Buffalo,
NY
14204
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Related Websites
Broadway Theatre, Buffalo (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Basil Brothers Theatres
Architects: Henry L. Spann, William T. Spann
Styles: Art Nouveau, Beaux-Arts
Previous Names: Sattler Theatre, Basil's Broadway Theatre
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Oct 28, 2012 — Preservation Ready: Raising the Sattler's curtain
With it’s impressive terra-cotta front, the Basil’s Broadway Theatre is located on the East Side of Buffalo. Located at 516 Broadway Street, near Jefferson Avenue, it was originally built as the Sattler Theatre for department store magnet John G. Sattler, and designed by architects Henry L. Spann and his brother William T. Spann.
It was opened in 1914, at a cost of $35,000 and replaced the older wood frame Casino Theatre on it’s site. The theatre was a movie theatre right from the beginning, and didn’t have a stage.
The Sattler Theatre didn’t last long, as around 1920, the theatre changed hands and was renamed the Broadway Theatre. A Marr and Colton two-manual organ was installed a few years later. At some period of time, a small stage was installed and it presented vaudeville and movies.
Some years later two brothers, the Basil’s, took over operation of the theatre and it was once again renamed, this time to the Basil’s Broadway Theatre.
The Broadway Theatre was closed in 1965, and became Mohammed’s Mosque 23, which was visited by Malcolm X and Mohammed Ali. It became God’s Holy Temple from 1976 to 1984. It then became the Joy Temple Church from 1987 to 1996. Since then the building has remained empty and unused.
The Broadway Theatre was purchased by the Western New York Minority Media Professionals(WNYMMP) in 2008. Plans are progressing to restore the theatre for use as a multi-media performance space. They have applied for National Register status.
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Bway and Lostmemory
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Recent comments (view all 66 comments)
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The above site has an update on the theatre restoration.
Any update on any restoration on this theater?
I just heard recently that 2 men want to restore the theater. I don’t know what type of use they have in mind though.
www.thebroadwaytheatre.net
Here’s a blog post with some images of the Sattler. Sattler Theatre
There’s a “Board & Paint” event Sunday, 8/20/17 to re-secure the theatre. The Buffalo Young Preservationists posted the info on Facebook, along with a new set of photos (the interior is pretty far gone now, a combination of vandals and the elements). Don’t know how to link the post here.
The interior of the theater looks like it’s in pretty much the same condition it was when I visited it in 2011. Glad to see someone is doing something with it, even if it’s just sealing it up.
Here’s the link to the event:
Broadway Theatre Board and Clean Up
Listings ended in 1965 for the Broadway theatre in the Buffalo News.
Theatre closed in 1965. X was assassinated that same year (early). Something doesn’t add up. I need dates!😁😍
A little late. A query asks about dates (above) re: Malcolm X. The theatre did close in 1965 (July 18th) and X was assassinated that year (Feb. 21st). The entry is a byproduct of what can happen when research is unclear. Malcolm X never visited this theater. There would have been no point. But the Broadway Theatre is listed on the National Register as of 2025 - and I would say for little discernible reason.
Malcolm X visited Buffalo on April 9, 1963, yes, and at the Muhammad Mosque No. 23 of Islam - true. One problem - the Broadway Theatre was operating full-time showing movies at that time. In 1963, Muhammad Mosque No. 23 was located at 292 Glenwood at Glenwood Hall and that’s where Malcolm X held his “Current Problems” rally. Malcolm X returned to Buffalo at the University at Buffalo on April 24, 1963, where he was scheduled to debate the Rev. Clarence L. Hilliard (though that turned out to be more speech and not the proposed debate format). At neither stop did Malcolm X go to the Broadway Theatre.
Despite Malcolm X lack of connection to Buffalo’s Broadway Theatre, ChatGPT happily tells folks that he did and so did Cassius Clay. And the source? Cinema Treasures. And just to clear out some of the other guessy date dates provided above, here are some other facts that are verifiable about the venue known as the Broadway Theatre (aka Sattler):
June 26, 1914: Permission was granted to build a $35,000 theater at 512-516 Broadway. That would be considered a low-cost theater in a metropolitan setting with a 1,200 seat capacity in that era. It was built in the first era of movie theater palaces when a wave of storefront / store-show nickelodeons succumbed to specially-built movie and movie/vaudeville houses. Eight new theaters were built in Buffalo as movie venues in 1914, alone.
December 27, 1914: The Sattler Theatre opens with a silent photoplay film and Professor J.E. Nichol as its orchestra leader. (“The Will o' the Wisp” was the first advertised title but likely was not the December 27th feature.) The theater’s admission price for some shows was a nickel and others a dime (with nickel admission for kids). In 1915, it would get the East Side exhibition zone’s exclusive Paramount Pictures contract but the Sattler would not find its audience in a crowded Buffalo marketplace.
July 20, 1916: On June 2, 1916, the Sattler showed “The Mysteries of Myra (Part 5 of 15)” but was padlocked thereafter for non-payment. The Sattler Theatre was a dud and was to be sold off in a foreclosure sale scheduled for June 26th but moved a month. George S. Metcalfe repossessed the property likely indicating no buyers at auction. It goes dormant as he offers it for lease beginning in December of 1916.
October 12, 1917: The venue reopens as the Broadway Theatre showing Gail Kane in “Souls in Pawn” supported by newsreels, a comedy short and live music.
March 17, 1929: After a brief closure, the Broadway Theatre is equipped for Vitaphone playing sound films to remain viable.
January 1930: The theater is picketed when the operator serves as projectionist against the desires of the Motion Picture Operators Union Local 233. That appears to have been resolved in mid-February.
1934: Basil Brothers Theatres Circuit takes on the Broadway very likely on a 30-year leasing agreement and the venue is marketed as Basil’s Broadway Theatre as the theatre hits its stride in Golden Age Hollywood.
(Here’s a guess - It appears that Basil Bros. moved on in 1964 at the expiry of its lease and the theater soldiers on as an independent simply as the Broadway Theatre.)
July 18, 1965: The Broadway goes down for the theatrical count as an independent showing “First Men in the Moon” and “The Outlaws is Coming.” It is repurposed as a house of worship. And there in lies the Malcolm X misguided facts as it hosts a variety of denominations.
The venue was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 11, 2024 announced in 2025. The folks who are conducting a potential renovation of the property - a project proposed back in the first decade of the 2000s - said that they would ostensibly begin their restoration work likely in later 2025.
In the area of unwanted advice, I would advise the renovation group to simply button up the property and clean the front. There is no historic value inside the theater as it is neither original nor - if it had been original - of significant value architecturally, historically, cinema industry-wise, or otherwise in my estimation. It was a low-cost theater when built that’s been retrofitted a lot over time and suffered great damage through dormancy. End of story other than thanks for saving the former movie house. The good news: a low-fi restoration should save a lot of bucks!