Comparing some of the earlier and later pictures of the theater it’s a little surprising how much more dramatic it looks with a wider sidewalk in front of it. I presume the street was widened after the theater was built.
The original owner was Howard Fletcher, who had the theater built in 1925 and opened it in May 1926. Original seating capacity was 800 with 250 of those seats in the balcony. It was one of five theaters owned by Fletcher. In 1947 he sold the Hollyburn to a Texan named Barnes, who is said to have played too many Westerns for the taste of the local audience. Eventually the theater closed and was converted into retail space, housing a women’s apparel store called Fashionwise and later Simpson’s Hardware. Home Hardware was the occupant when the building was destroyed in a suspicious fire on May 18, 1993. Image of a news story relating all this here.
The Eureka is visible at the top right of this picture from 1949. This was during construction of a subway tunnel to replace the elevated in this area.
The postcard doesn’t look anything like the previously posted photo of the Rialto. Relinked here. I think we may have found a different, earlier Rialto.
According to Boxoffice, in 1946 the owners of the Galva had purchased an adjoining building and were planning to expand the theater into a twin—a novelty at the time. The second screen was to have had about 250 seats and would have operated three or four nights a week.
Although the threat to close Trenton’s branch libraries (including this one) eventually came true, after a few months they were reopened as “learning centers” with no circulation of books and reduced hours.
Demolition reported to be imminent as the building is said to be too far gone to save. Hidden City Philadelphia story here. The piece says that the city took over ownership of the property this summer after the previous owners ran up $500,000 in unpaid taxes.
If I recall correctly this article was a very funny piece about riotous Saturday matinees at the Seco…but it’ll cost you $3.95 to find out if I was right.
Chicago’s Music Box screened a preview of The Master in 70mm on August 16. Chicago Reader blog post, with a little about 70mm and why it matters, here.
Philadelphia has both North Broad and South Broad Streets. I looked at all the Cinema Treasures maps for the city and I don’t find any listed theater within a couple blocks of (South) Broad and Reed—the Dante was about two blocks north, the Savoia about three blocks south.
Apparently some of the theater’s features were retained when it was adapted for retail, but it’s unknown if they will survive a conversion to a multi-user space. Brief story from Hidden City Philadelphia here.
A commenter at Hidden City Philadelphia says that the Poplar closed in 1935, then reopened in the ‘40s as the Poplar Cinema Art Theatre with a foreign film policy. The conversion to printer’s warehouse and bindery is said to have come in 1961.
Comparing some of the earlier and later pictures of the theater it’s a little surprising how much more dramatic it looks with a wider sidewalk in front of it. I presume the street was widened after the theater was built.
The original owner was Howard Fletcher, who had the theater built in 1925 and opened it in May 1926. Original seating capacity was 800 with 250 of those seats in the balcony. It was one of five theaters owned by Fletcher. In 1947 he sold the Hollyburn to a Texan named Barnes, who is said to have played too many Westerns for the taste of the local audience. Eventually the theater closed and was converted into retail space, housing a women’s apparel store called Fashionwise and later Simpson’s Hardware. Home Hardware was the occupant when the building was destroyed in a suspicious fire on May 18, 1993. Image of a news story relating all this here.
This page says that the Eureka was converted into a furniture store in the 1950s and gives its address as 3941 Market Street.
The Eureka is visible at the top right of this picture from 1949. This was during construction of a subway tunnel to replace the elevated in this area.
The postcard doesn’t look anything like the previously posted photo of the Rialto. Relinked here. I think we may have found a different, earlier Rialto.
Philly.com story on the closing. The landlord had moved to evict the theater for nonpayment of rent.
According to Boxoffice, in 1946 the owners of the Galva had purchased an adjoining building and were planning to expand the theater into a twin—a novelty at the time. The second screen was to have had about 250 seats and would have operated three or four nights a week.
Although the threat to close Trenton’s branch libraries (including this one) eventually came true, after a few months they were reopened as “learning centers” with no circulation of books and reduced hours.
Correct address is 220 South Main Avenue in Rugby.
Developer Eric Blumenfeld joins with owner to try to get restoration off the ground. Philadelphia Inquirer story here.
Demolition reported to be imminent as the building is said to be too far gone to save. Hidden City Philadelphia story here. The piece says that the city took over ownership of the property this summer after the previous owners ran up $500,000 in unpaid taxes.
If I recall correctly this article was a very funny piece about riotous Saturday matinees at the Seco…but it’ll cost you $3.95 to find out if I was right.
A fundraiser for the digital conversion will be held on September 29. Story from The Trentonian here.
So who are Chad and Francois? They have their names on the Chicago’s marquee at the 16-second mark of this AT&T spot.
Box Office article from 1938 with a picture of the Southern.
A conversation with Patio owner Demetri Kouvalis about the digital conversion here.
Chicago’s Music Box screened a preview of The Master in 70mm on August 16. Chicago Reader blog post, with a little about 70mm and why it matters, here.
Philadelphia has both North Broad and South Broad Streets. I looked at all the Cinema Treasures maps for the city and I don’t find any listed theater within a couple blocks of (South) Broad and Reed—the Dante was about two blocks north, the Savoia about three blocks south.
The Hotel Warner opens today.
Built circa 1922, remodeled and wired for sound 1929, remodeled again 1965, demolished 1978. Story of a pre-demolition sendoff here.
Address for the Western Lincoln matches that of the Marcus Cinema Chicago Heights.
Results of the study are in: restoration would run about $3.1 million. Philadelphia Inquirer column here.
Apparently some of the theater’s features were retained when it was adapted for retail, but it’s unknown if they will survive a conversion to a multi-user space. Brief story from Hidden City Philadelphia here.
A commenter at Hidden City Philadelphia says that the Poplar closed in 1935, then reopened in the ‘40s as the Poplar Cinema Art Theatre with a foreign film policy. The conversion to printer’s warehouse and bindery is said to have come in 1961.
Better late than never, the Boxoffice article on the States' owner.