It was originally called a “screening room”. I believe it has very plush seats like the 2 reserved seating sections. I looked around it once, but I’ve never seen a movie in it.
This theatre is in the middle of a huge entertainment district that has numerous restaurants, a large arena for NHL hockey and other events, and now an award-winning minor league stadium. Parking is provided in an attached garage for only $1.
The original 8-rooms were THX certified when built. I found the sound to be dry and lifeless. Because of the design of the building, the rooms are wider than deep, causing some very poor sightlines when theatres are full. (I arrived late to an early screening of RETURN OF THE KING, and had to sit in the front row looking almost directly up at the screen…EXTREMELY uncomfortable.)
The 3 new rooms took the place of storerooms on the entry level. I have not been in any of those theatres to comment.
The theatre remains popular and it has won a number of “Best of Columbus” awards.
The information quoted above by Bob Jensen, from the Mike Rivest movie-theatre.org site, has an incorrect closing date. On July 27, 1962, PHANTOM PLANET and ASSIGNMENT FROM OUTER SPACE were the last two film to play at the Westmont.
The “New James' Clinton Theater” opened on 1/1/1927 at 2:00 P.M. with Harry Langdon in “The Strong Man (A Corking Comedy. Shorter Pictures Also.)”, noted an ad in the Columbus Dispatch. The ad describes this theater as “The New Year’s Gift of the James Enterprizes (sic) to Clintonville and Columbus.”
The ad also noted that “Once again, the James interests present Columbus with a new theater which is a marvel of utility and beauty. 1500 seats, $30,000 organ. Full-sized stage. First Carrier ventilation system in Ohio.”
So, the 1500 seat count given by UNKNOWN USER in 2003 was correct.
Google Maps, Bing Maps and the County Auditor site show 2686 Broad Street as the parking lot for the opthomologists.
I think the building David Garner is referring to is a couple of blocks east at 2480 W. Broad St., which is now Hillcrest Baptist Church. It certainly looks like an old theatre building, although I don’t have a record of any theatre at that location.
The theatre had 700 seats. This one stayed around for quite awhile, into the 1950’s. I have a note that in August, 1962, the theatre was sold to attorney Donald Smith, his wife and First Federal Savings and Loan to be made into a parking lot. It is now the parking lot for an opthomology practice.
W. Broad Street was quite a home for theatres with the Palace (34),Broad (39), Dixie (894), Avondale (1005), Rivoli (2359), Westmont (2686), Old Trail (3630), National Drive In (3750), Miles West Broad Drive In (4050). All but the Palace are long gone. (Numbers in parentheses are the street address.)
If you click on Michael Coate’s name above, it will take you to his members profile page. Under the pictures, in the right column, you will find his articles.
There was also a remodeling done in mid 1947 that closed the theatre for a number of weeks. It reopened on 10/17/1947. There were plans for a further remodeling in 1972, but the theatre was sold before that could take place.
I have seen 2 different seat counts for this theatre: 997 & 1500. Looks like time for more research on this!
Retroguy, many thanks for posting that article from This Week. Much good information in there.
For reasons I really don’t recall, I didn’t see this on its first time out. I saw the second and third, but not this one. One of the better trilogies, with the last one crossing everyone up and being a Western!
In its April 1, 1990 edition, Boxoffice announced the 1/7/1990 closing of the theatre by Chakeres due to loss of lease. This article incorrectly states that the theatre had 1,600 seats. Former Cinema East manager, John Sittig, states in his post of 9/1/2008 the correct seat count of 998.
If you would read the other thread, you will see from a post from a previous manager that the seating was 1,000. It is in Whitehall, not Columbus. The accurate town name IS important.
In an article from the September 20, 1965 issue of Boxoffice,announcing the opening of the theatre, it clearly states that the seating is 850 main floor and 150 balcony. It also states that the theatre is located in Whitehall.
From Boxoffice issue October 26, 1964, announcing the construction of the theatre, the article states that the theatre was to have 1,000 seats and be located in Whitehall.
In which issue of Boxoffice are you finding a seating capacity of 1,600 and a location of Columbus, not Whitehall?
Correction to above: Cinema East had about 1,000 seats, including the balcony. The balcony area was very, very rarely used, leaving a practical size of 800 seats.
Jaws was the only film that ever gave me nightmares! I kept dreaming about that shark eating the boat.
I saw the film the at Cinema East in Whitehall (Columbus), Ohio. This was a large single screen with about a 40' screen…which seemed pretty large from the 3rd row, where I had to sit due to the crowd!!
The Google map for this location has been corrected.
Rambo, I’m going by the map from the Reynoldsburg webpage listed above. Reynoldsburg is the area in white, and that includes the theatre located next to the fire academy and east of Taylor Road.
It is possible, though, that this is an area that Reynoldsburg that was annexed in the last few years after the theatre was built.
I haven’t gotten to this theatre yet in my Columbus theatre research. I show an opening date for this location as 7/24/1961.
It’s the fourth building to the east of Swan Cleaners. It IS the one that has what looks like a ticket booth in front. The current user is MediaS0urce (www.mediasourceTV.com)
I forgot to note that the “Gayety” name came with the advent of live “sentertainers”. This got a LOT of police action and attention, and I don’t recall it lasting very long.
It was purchased by Leroy Griffith in 1965, so the “porn” days started sometime in that year. I believe at that time it was the Livingston Art Theatre. It became the Gayety in 1967, with the addition of a dressing room and a small stage. The theatre was involved in many censorship-related lawsuits.
By 1972, the theatre was closed and the owner of Livingston Enterprises (next door to the theatre) listed it for sale or rent.
It changed due to a change in the neighborhood, from middle class to low income. Also, people started going to the suburban malls for entertainment, not the local neighborhood theatre.
The theatre opened on Saturday, 8/16/1947. The opening features were LIVING IN A BIG WAY and DARK DELUSION. THey also ran a Popeye short.
The Columbus Dispatch described the theatre as “having a distinctive facade of cut stone and pale green and brown terra cotta. The marquee, resembling the New York World’s Fair perisphere, will have space for 560 lights. The theatre is part of a new $4,000,000 business center.”
“An arcade lobby, with ticket window to the right and display windows to the left, will lead to the main foyer. Over a thousand patrons can be accommodated in the auditorium in which blue, yellow and red are dominant decorative colors. Features for convenience include a crying room for babies and hearing aids for the hard of hearing. Ample parking space has been provided.”
At one time, the theatre name was to be the Driving Park Theatre, named after the early 20th century racetrack located nearby.
It was originally called a “screening room”. I believe it has very plush seats like the 2 reserved seating sections. I looked around it once, but I’ve never seen a movie in it.
The Gateway has a room of about the same size.
This theatre is in the middle of a huge entertainment district that has numerous restaurants, a large arena for NHL hockey and other events, and now an award-winning minor league stadium. Parking is provided in an attached garage for only $1.
The original 8-rooms were THX certified when built. I found the sound to be dry and lifeless. Because of the design of the building, the rooms are wider than deep, causing some very poor sightlines when theatres are full. (I arrived late to an early screening of RETURN OF THE KING, and had to sit in the front row looking almost directly up at the screen…EXTREMELY uncomfortable.)
The 3 new rooms took the place of storerooms on the entry level. I have not been in any of those theatres to comment.
The theatre remains popular and it has won a number of “Best of Columbus” awards.
The information quoted above by Bob Jensen, from the Mike Rivest movie-theatre.org site, has an incorrect closing date. On July 27, 1962, PHANTOM PLANET and ASSIGNMENT FROM OUTER SPACE were the last two film to play at the Westmont.
The “New James' Clinton Theater” opened on 1/1/1927 at 2:00 P.M. with Harry Langdon in “The Strong Man (A Corking Comedy. Shorter Pictures Also.)”, noted an ad in the Columbus Dispatch. The ad describes this theater as “The New Year’s Gift of the James Enterprizes (sic) to Clintonville and Columbus.”
The ad also noted that “Once again, the James interests present Columbus with a new theater which is a marvel of utility and beauty. 1500 seats, $30,000 organ. Full-sized stage. First Carrier ventilation system in Ohio.”
So, the 1500 seat count given by UNKNOWN USER in 2003 was correct.
Google Maps, Bing Maps and the County Auditor site show 2686 Broad Street as the parking lot for the opthomologists.
I think the building David Garner is referring to is a couple of blocks east at 2480 W. Broad St., which is now Hillcrest Baptist Church. It certainly looks like an old theatre building, although I don’t have a record of any theatre at that location.
The theatre had 700 seats. This one stayed around for quite awhile, into the 1950’s. I have a note that in August, 1962, the theatre was sold to attorney Donald Smith, his wife and First Federal Savings and Loan to be made into a parking lot. It is now the parking lot for an opthomology practice.
W. Broad Street was quite a home for theatres with the Palace (34),Broad (39), Dixie (894), Avondale (1005), Rivoli (2359), Westmont (2686), Old Trail (3630), National Drive In (3750), Miles West Broad Drive In (4050). All but the Palace are long gone. (Numbers in parentheses are the street address.)
MikeRogers,
If you click on Michael Coate’s name above, it will take you to his members profile page. Under the pictures, in the right column, you will find his articles.
I agree, CWalczak. Same location but two entirely different theatres.
There was also a remodeling done in mid 1947 that closed the theatre for a number of weeks. It reopened on 10/17/1947. There were plans for a further remodeling in 1972, but the theatre was sold before that could take place.
I have seen 2 different seat counts for this theatre: 997 & 1500. Looks like time for more research on this!
Retroguy, many thanks for posting that article from This Week. Much good information in there.
At least one room of this complex was THX certified. HOFFA was shown with a 70mm print there.
The device for hearing impaired customers is called an induction loop. That is the term used in the Boxoffice article.
For reasons I really don’t recall, I didn’t see this on its first time out. I saw the second and third, but not this one. One of the better trilogies, with the last one crossing everyone up and being a Western!
In its April 1, 1990 edition, Boxoffice announced the 1/7/1990 closing of the theatre by Chakeres due to loss of lease. This article incorrectly states that the theatre had 1,600 seats. Former Cinema East manager, John Sittig, states in his post of 9/1/2008 the correct seat count of 998.
If you would read the other thread, you will see from a post from a previous manager that the seating was 1,000. It is in Whitehall, not Columbus. The accurate town name IS important.
In an article from the September 20, 1965 issue of Boxoffice,announcing the opening of the theatre, it clearly states that the seating is 850 main floor and 150 balcony. It also states that the theatre is located in Whitehall.
From Boxoffice issue October 26, 1964, announcing the construction of the theatre, the article states that the theatre was to have 1,000 seats and be located in Whitehall.
In which issue of Boxoffice are you finding a seating capacity of 1,600 and a location of Columbus, not Whitehall?
Correction to above: Cinema East had about 1,000 seats, including the balcony. The balcony area was very, very rarely used, leaving a practical size of 800 seats.
This theatre is already listed on Cinema Treasures here:
/theaters/13317/
This theatre had 900 seats, not 1,600. It is in Whitehall, OH, not Columbus. The theatre closed with Harlem Nights on Jan 7, 1990, not 1984.
This entry should be deleted.
Jaws was the only film that ever gave me nightmares! I kept dreaming about that shark eating the boat.
I saw the film the at Cinema East in Whitehall (Columbus), Ohio. This was a large single screen with about a 40' screen…which seemed pretty large from the 3rd row, where I had to sit due to the crowd!!
I don’t have a closing date yet. Should have one soon.
The Google map for this location has been corrected.
Rambo, I’m going by the map from the Reynoldsburg webpage listed above. Reynoldsburg is the area in white, and that includes the theatre located next to the fire academy and east of Taylor Road.
It is possible, though, that this is an area that Reynoldsburg that was annexed in the last few years after the theatre was built.
I haven’t gotten to this theatre yet in my Columbus theatre research. I show an opening date for this location as 7/24/1961.
It’s the fourth building to the east of Swan Cleaners. It IS the one that has what looks like a ticket booth in front. The current user is MediaS0urce (www.mediasourceTV.com)
No.
Don’t forget the Paris Theatre, the former Parsons Theatre that also showed “adult” films.
Sure with this site had an edit function! The above post should, of course, be “Entertainers”.
I forgot to note that the “Gayety” name came with the advent of live “sentertainers”. This got a LOT of police action and attention, and I don’t recall it lasting very long.
It was purchased by Leroy Griffith in 1965, so the “porn” days started sometime in that year. I believe at that time it was the Livingston Art Theatre. It became the Gayety in 1967, with the addition of a dressing room and a small stage. The theatre was involved in many censorship-related lawsuits.
By 1972, the theatre was closed and the owner of Livingston Enterprises (next door to the theatre) listed it for sale or rent.
It changed due to a change in the neighborhood, from middle class to low income. Also, people started going to the suburban malls for entertainment, not the local neighborhood theatre.
The theatre opened on Saturday, 8/16/1947. The opening features were LIVING IN A BIG WAY and DARK DELUSION. THey also ran a Popeye short.
The Columbus Dispatch described the theatre as “having a distinctive facade of cut stone and pale green and brown terra cotta. The marquee, resembling the New York World’s Fair perisphere, will have space for 560 lights. The theatre is part of a new $4,000,000 business center.”
“An arcade lobby, with ticket window to the right and display windows to the left, will lead to the main foyer. Over a thousand patrons can be accommodated in the auditorium in which blue, yellow and red are dominant decorative colors. Features for convenience include a crying room for babies and hearing aids for the hard of hearing. Ample parking space has been provided.”
At one time, the theatre name was to be the Driving Park Theatre, named after the early 20th century racetrack located nearby.