While watching movies at the new Bijou, patrons will drink creative (even alcoholic) milkshakes and specialty drinks, and relax on couches and loveseats in a raised lounge area behind the traditional theater seats."
Fans of the Grateful Dead were out in force Jan. 7 at a public auction in Island Heights that featured memorabilia from Passaic’s Capitol Theatre, a famed rock ‘n’ roll venue in the 1970s and ‘80s.
Twenty-one unused tickets to the Dead’s April Fool’s Day show in 1980 sparked the most interest, with a winning bid of $4,600, said Dover Township auctioneer Jerry Manganello.
“Two people went back and forth,” Manganello said. He ran the event,
which drew more than 300 people to the Island Heights Fire Company, with Lacey auctioneer Mark Csik.
Diane Martino, who worked in the theater’s box office in the early
1980s, said the April Fool’s show was unusual because when it started, the band members weren’t playing their usual instruments. She also said the tickets also carried a misprint, which explains why they weren’t used. She wasn’t certain, but she thought the day of the week was wrong.
“I forget the situation behind it because it’s been many years,” she said.
Other big-ticket items included two sets of three Grateful Dead
backstage passes, which sold for $575 and $500, and eight Grateful Dead programs, which went for $230.
The items were part of a treasure trove of memorabilia Martino and her late husband, Harry Newkirk, collected while they worked at the theater. Newkirk was head of security for promoter John Scher, who owned the Capitol Theatre. In total, Martino received more than $13,000 from the Jan. 7 auction, she said.
“I was happily surprised,” said Martino, a 47-year-old yoga instructor who lives in Passaic Park. She said the unexpected windfall would “help me pay the bills.”
Another tidbit from Sunday’s News-Times “Do You Remember” section.
25 years ago.
Although initial attempts are only beginning to be made to create the Danbury cultural center proposed for Main Street’s Palace Theater, it has received its first gift in time for the holidays â€" the 60-year-old concert piano that was the original piano in the theater since it opened.
Robert Claypool, owner of the Samoria Music Center, bought and restored the piano, and is donating the instrument to the Danbury Downtown Council so it can be returned to the theater once the cultural center opens.
Here’s the text of the article since it will disappear soon.
2005-12-12
Crown Cine theater is gone, but why the sign stands is a mystery
By Eugene Driscoll
THE NEWS-TIMES
The News-Times/Wendy Carlson
The Crown Cine sign still stands near Newtown Road in Danbury, although the theater has long since been torn down.
DANBURY â€" The letters look like something plucked out of 1970. It stands heads and shoulders above its neighbors.
Heck, it even has a fan or two on the Internet.
It is the Crown Cine sign on Newtown Road, which used to advertise what was playing at the Crown Cine Theatre on nearby Eagle Road.
The sign is still there even though the movie theater it advertised was reduced to rubble in the late 1990s and rebuilt as a Courtyard by Marriott hotel.
Then, a First Union bank was built at the front of the property at the intersection of Eagle and Newtown roads. A bank sign, roughly half the size of the 20-foot Crown Cine sign, was erected announcing First Union was around.
Still, the Crown Cine sign remained.
Then, in July 2003, Wachovia Bank took over the First Union building â€" the company slapped its name on the bank’s sign.
Yet the Crown Cine sign remained.
What gives?
Theories are all over the place. Perhaps its owner is an eccentric type who loves movies. Perhaps it has been there so long no one notices anymore.
The sign, now looking oddly out of place along heavily developed Newtown Road, even receives a few mentions on CinemaTreasures.org and CinemaTour.com, Web sites devoted to movie theaters, living and dead.
Roger Katz, of Thomaston, often posts on the site. Documenting movie theaters, especially the old movie palaces, is a passion for Katz. He photographed the Crown Cine sign in 2002 and posted it on the Web site. He was surprised to hear it is still standing.
When move theaters are torn down, often nothing is left. That makes the Crown Cine sign unique, at least for cinema enthusiasts.
“Usually the sign is the first thing to go. They usually tear that down before the building,” Katz said.
Katz was left scratching his head as to why the sign is still there.
“You’ve got me,” he said.
According to the movie theater Web site, in addition to the three-screen Crown Cine on Eagle Road, there was a drive-in theater on Federal Road that fit nearly 500 cars. There was the Capitol Theatre on Elm Street, the majestic Palace Theater on Main Street, plus the Cinema Twin on Padanaram Road. Every theater has been closed or demolished.
The arrival of the Sony Loews multiplex off Federal Road was the last nail in the coffin for many of the city’s small theaters, according to people who post on the Web site.
The Crown Cine sign is a bit of an anomaly, according to City Hall workers. Because there are several properties on Eagle and Newtown roads that nearly overlap each other, it wasn’t easy to quickly determine who owns the sign.
Plus, the darn thing has been there for so long it has become invisible along the Newtown Road landscape. People just tend not to notice it anymore, officials said.
Sean Hearty, director of the city’s permit center, said no one has ever asked about the sign, save for a would-be restaurateur who related a story about trying to advertise on it.
“He said the guy wanted too much money,” Hearty said.
Based on that conversation, Hearty guessed the sign still stands because it is probably the best placed sign on Newtown Road, which has become a hot commercial corridor.
“It’s the biggest sign out there and you can’t beat the location,” Hearty said.
Turns out Hearty is on the money.
The man behind the sign is Mel Powers, a developer who owns dozens of commercial properties throughout the city.
Powers' roots in the city â€" and the sign â€" run deep.
In addition to the sign itself, Powers owns empty property next to the sign. That land eventually will be developed into commercial space as well. However, Powers didn’t want to go into too much detail about future plans for the sign and the site because nothing has been finalized.
“We’re going to use it for other things. It can be converted for other places that are going in,” Powers said. “It’s grandfathered because it has been there forever.”
Powers said the sign’s history dates back to 1968, when the movie theater opened.
The theater operated independently for about 15 years, Powers said, before it was sold to the Crown Cine movie chain, which eventually pulled out of the Danbury area.
“I think they were forced out by the Sony theater. They really ran a number on them,” Powers said.
Taking it down and putting up another sign could open a can of worms with city reviewing agencies. Technically, the sign is already out of whack with city sign regulations, said Wayne Skelly, the city’s zoning enforcement officer.
“It shouldn’t be there anymore because Crown theater isn’t there anymore,” Skelly said. “The sign may be able to be there, but it shouldn’t be advertising a use that isn’t there.”
However, Skelly said he was merely speaking from memory and the sign may have an extensive paperwork trail in City Hall.
“There would have to be some research involved here, but I think the sign was involved in some variances years ago,” Skelly said. “We would have to dig them all out and check.”
I had something to do with that, for the record. My friend at that paper wanted to write about that sign and then looked on CT for the first time, saw my name and called me up. I told him Roger would be better.
I was just watching the documentary “Inside Deep Throat” and in the special features it was shown at the Rialto. They showed the outside as well as the inside – facing the doors from the lobby, stairs, projection booth and auditorium. The screen isn’t there anymore but there was a stage and regular folding chairs. In the lobby there were works of art from maybe an art show on the wall.
I’m watching the Deep Throat documentary. It was first shown here at the Pussycat. Interesting it was the Sunset before because on the screen they showed the marquee as the Sunset and then the Pussycat.
I’m watching the documentary now and in the special features section it shows the theater in black and white in a newspaper and in the present day. It’s now a Pep Boys. The original prosecutor tours the store and points to where the screen once stood.
I was watching the “Deep Throat” documentary and it was mentioned in the movie, especially with mafia influence. They cut to a picture from the side of the dilapidated building and marquee.
I was biking in Hackettstown last Friday and decided to visit the Strand around 5pm. It’s a relatively small theater and in the back outside, the staging area is virtually non-existent. They were open and the ticket booth is painted and between the 2 double entrance doors. You can go inside the ticket booth. As soon as you enter there are pianos everywhere and miniature studios and showrooms and it’s a very elegant place. The office and practice rooms are upstairs in the balcony. The sloping floor is no more than 15 feet from the entrance and slopes quite a ways down to the stage. The building is not very wide and feels cramped and must have when it was in operation. Further down on the left at about the back rows is a windowed in mini-stage with about 50 chairs and a piano for recitals. When you enter the end of the auditorium you can see the box seats on either side but they are walled in. (The wall is where their railings once were) and it’s a nice beige/peach shade of wallpaper that’s quite ornate. The proscenium was pretty slim, maybe 25 feet. The work room is in the back stage area and the owner showed me around. The ramp is still in use from the backstage to the outside doors on the side. He showed me where the stage once ended and where they put an addition to the floor to preserve it. The ceiling is not too high at all in the back, maybe 25 feet at most.
Congrats. I still can’t see any new theaters as it takes me to the general page Lost Memory talked about. I receive new user comments in email of course. I checked one and it was fine, right to the theater but the other one took me nowhere. Good Luck.
I see the kinks have been worked out but there’s only like 4 new theaters in the “new” section. I know we all took a break but I’m sure the hardcore folks have a bunch on the backburner or are in the process of bombarding us with new ones. Right?
What I also noticed recently, was every time I logged in, it would say “invalid page request” but at the upper left it would welcome me as a member. Clearly a contradiction.
Sure does. I came on here last January by accident for 5 minutes. I’m stuck in here and addicted. It’s a good thing I grew up in a historic town and was a history major and love doing research.
The history of the Hippodrome was played on a radio show on WFMU NYC last night.
Shortly. It was just mentioned in this week’s Fairfield Weekly article on Phil Kuchma. View link
“The Bijou, the oldest independent movie theater in the country, and the upstairs ballroom next door, once known as Colonial Hall, are architecturally interesting places worth preserving. And he’s adamant that the interior of the ballroom space remain intact, with its large windows, balconies and chandeliers—a place that has not seen renovation in 40 years and may become home to a new catering hall. The Bijou, an independent movie venue; the Spotless Mind Café, a bar and eatery; and Two Boots Roadhouse, a music hall and restaurant, are all being designed by renowned architects who will maintain the beauty of the brick facades while bringing the interiors into the 21st century.
While watching movies at the new Bijou, patrons will drink creative (even alcoholic) milkshakes and specialty drinks, and relax on couches and loveseats in a raised lounge area behind the traditional theater seats."
Sales of Grateful Dead items highlight Island Heights auction
View link
Fans of the Grateful Dead were out in force Jan. 7 at a public auction in Island Heights that featured memorabilia from Passaic’s Capitol Theatre, a famed rock ‘n’ roll venue in the 1970s and ‘80s.
Twenty-one unused tickets to the Dead’s April Fool’s Day show in 1980 sparked the most interest, with a winning bid of $4,600, said Dover Township auctioneer Jerry Manganello.
“Two people went back and forth,” Manganello said. He ran the event,
which drew more than 300 people to the Island Heights Fire Company, with Lacey auctioneer Mark Csik.
Diane Martino, who worked in the theater’s box office in the early
1980s, said the April Fool’s show was unusual because when it started, the band members weren’t playing their usual instruments. She also said the tickets also carried a misprint, which explains why they weren’t used. She wasn’t certain, but she thought the day of the week was wrong.
“I forget the situation behind it because it’s been many years,” she said.
Other big-ticket items included two sets of three Grateful Dead
backstage passes, which sold for $575 and $500, and eight Grateful Dead programs, which went for $230.
The items were part of a treasure trove of memorabilia Martino and her late husband, Harry Newkirk, collected while they worked at the theater. Newkirk was head of security for promoter John Scher, who owned the Capitol Theatre. In total, Martino received more than $13,000 from the Jan. 7 auction, she said.
“I was happily surprised,” said Martino, a 47-year-old yoga instructor who lives in Passaic Park. She said the unexpected windfall would “help me pay the bills.”
Located at 10 School Street. Was originally opened as the Palace and then became Rockville Cinema.
The marquee and hopefully the auditorium was featured in Quentin Tarantino’s 1993 movie, “True Romance”.
Please send them to this page. Or better yet, create a link if possible.
D'oh. Someone beat me to it. But nyah, nyah, I already met the owners' wife, so there! Hehe. This is great news.
Another tidbit from Sunday’s News-Times “Do You Remember” section.
25 years ago.
Although initial attempts are only beginning to be made to create the Danbury cultural center proposed for Main Street’s Palace Theater, it has received its first gift in time for the holidays â€" the 60-year-old concert piano that was the original piano in the theater since it opened.
Robert Claypool, owner of the Samoria Music Center, bought and restored the piano, and is donating the instrument to the Danbury Downtown Council so it can be returned to the theater once the cultural center opens.
You should call up and find out why. I’m a freelance reporter, so maybe I should. What is it, only some towns have anti-monopoly statutes?
Will they offer competitive discount sale prices to people who aren’t corporations?
In today’s NY Times, they talked about (in the MTA strike article) Bloomberg attending a celebration for the newly refurbished facade.
Here’s the text of the article since it will disappear soon.
2005-12-12
Crown Cine theater is gone, but why the sign stands is a mystery
By Eugene Driscoll
THE NEWS-TIMES
The News-Times/Wendy Carlson
The Crown Cine sign still stands near Newtown Road in Danbury, although the theater has long since been torn down.
DANBURY â€" The letters look like something plucked out of 1970. It stands heads and shoulders above its neighbors.
Heck, it even has a fan or two on the Internet.
It is the Crown Cine sign on Newtown Road, which used to advertise what was playing at the Crown Cine Theatre on nearby Eagle Road.
The sign is still there even though the movie theater it advertised was reduced to rubble in the late 1990s and rebuilt as a Courtyard by Marriott hotel.
Then, a First Union bank was built at the front of the property at the intersection of Eagle and Newtown roads. A bank sign, roughly half the size of the 20-foot Crown Cine sign, was erected announcing First Union was around.
Still, the Crown Cine sign remained.
Then, in July 2003, Wachovia Bank took over the First Union building â€" the company slapped its name on the bank’s sign.
Yet the Crown Cine sign remained.
What gives?
Theories are all over the place. Perhaps its owner is an eccentric type who loves movies. Perhaps it has been there so long no one notices anymore.
The sign, now looking oddly out of place along heavily developed Newtown Road, even receives a few mentions on CinemaTreasures.org and CinemaTour.com, Web sites devoted to movie theaters, living and dead.
Roger Katz, of Thomaston, often posts on the site. Documenting movie theaters, especially the old movie palaces, is a passion for Katz. He photographed the Crown Cine sign in 2002 and posted it on the Web site. He was surprised to hear it is still standing.
When move theaters are torn down, often nothing is left. That makes the Crown Cine sign unique, at least for cinema enthusiasts.
“Usually the sign is the first thing to go. They usually tear that down before the building,” Katz said.
Katz was left scratching his head as to why the sign is still there.
“You’ve got me,” he said.
According to the movie theater Web site, in addition to the three-screen Crown Cine on Eagle Road, there was a drive-in theater on Federal Road that fit nearly 500 cars. There was the Capitol Theatre on Elm Street, the majestic Palace Theater on Main Street, plus the Cinema Twin on Padanaram Road. Every theater has been closed or demolished.
The arrival of the Sony Loews multiplex off Federal Road was the last nail in the coffin for many of the city’s small theaters, according to people who post on the Web site.
The Crown Cine sign is a bit of an anomaly, according to City Hall workers. Because there are several properties on Eagle and Newtown roads that nearly overlap each other, it wasn’t easy to quickly determine who owns the sign.
Plus, the darn thing has been there for so long it has become invisible along the Newtown Road landscape. People just tend not to notice it anymore, officials said.
Sean Hearty, director of the city’s permit center, said no one has ever asked about the sign, save for a would-be restaurateur who related a story about trying to advertise on it.
“He said the guy wanted too much money,” Hearty said.
Based on that conversation, Hearty guessed the sign still stands because it is probably the best placed sign on Newtown Road, which has become a hot commercial corridor.
“It’s the biggest sign out there and you can’t beat the location,” Hearty said.
Turns out Hearty is on the money.
The man behind the sign is Mel Powers, a developer who owns dozens of commercial properties throughout the city.
Powers' roots in the city â€" and the sign â€" run deep.
In addition to the sign itself, Powers owns empty property next to the sign. That land eventually will be developed into commercial space as well. However, Powers didn’t want to go into too much detail about future plans for the sign and the site because nothing has been finalized.
“We’re going to use it for other things. It can be converted for other places that are going in,” Powers said. “It’s grandfathered because it has been there forever.”
Powers said the sign’s history dates back to 1968, when the movie theater opened.
The theater operated independently for about 15 years, Powers said, before it was sold to the Crown Cine movie chain, which eventually pulled out of the Danbury area.
“I think they were forced out by the Sony theater. They really ran a number on them,” Powers said.
Taking it down and putting up another sign could open a can of worms with city reviewing agencies. Technically, the sign is already out of whack with city sign regulations, said Wayne Skelly, the city’s zoning enforcement officer.
“It shouldn’t be there anymore because Crown theater isn’t there anymore,” Skelly said. “The sign may be able to be there, but it shouldn’t be advertising a use that isn’t there.”
However, Skelly said he was merely speaking from memory and the sign may have an extensive paperwork trail in City Hall.
“There would have to be some research involved here, but I think the sign was involved in some variances years ago,” Skelly said. “We would have to dig them all out and check.”
This theatre was opened in 1968.
I had something to do with that, for the record. My friend at that paper wanted to write about that sign and then looked on CT for the first time, saw my name and called me up. I told him Roger would be better.
I was just watching the documentary “Inside Deep Throat” and in the special features it was shown at the Rialto. They showed the outside as well as the inside – facing the doors from the lobby, stairs, projection booth and auditorium. The screen isn’t there anymore but there was a stage and regular folding chairs. In the lobby there were works of art from maybe an art show on the wall.
I’m watching the Deep Throat documentary. It was first shown here at the Pussycat. Interesting it was the Sunset before because on the screen they showed the marquee as the Sunset and then the Pussycat.
I’m watching the documentary now and in the special features section it shows the theater in black and white in a newspaper and in the present day. It’s now a Pep Boys. The original prosecutor tours the store and points to where the screen once stood.
I was watching the “Deep Throat” documentary and it was mentioned in the movie, especially with mafia influence. They cut to a picture from the side of the dilapidated building and marquee.
What theatre have you rescued?
I was biking in Hackettstown last Friday and decided to visit the Strand around 5pm. It’s a relatively small theater and in the back outside, the staging area is virtually non-existent. They were open and the ticket booth is painted and between the 2 double entrance doors. You can go inside the ticket booth. As soon as you enter there are pianos everywhere and miniature studios and showrooms and it’s a very elegant place. The office and practice rooms are upstairs in the balcony. The sloping floor is no more than 15 feet from the entrance and slopes quite a ways down to the stage. The building is not very wide and feels cramped and must have when it was in operation. Further down on the left at about the back rows is a windowed in mini-stage with about 50 chairs and a piano for recitals. When you enter the end of the auditorium you can see the box seats on either side but they are walled in. (The wall is where their railings once were) and it’s a nice beige/peach shade of wallpaper that’s quite ornate. The proscenium was pretty slim, maybe 25 feet. The work room is in the back stage area and the owner showed me around. The ramp is still in use from the backstage to the outside doors on the side. He showed me where the stage once ended and where they put an addition to the floor to preserve it. The ceiling is not too high at all in the back, maybe 25 feet at most.
Congrats. I still can’t see any new theaters as it takes me to the general page Lost Memory talked about. I receive new user comments in email of course. I checked one and it was fine, right to the theater but the other one took me nowhere. Good Luck.
I see the kinks have been worked out but there’s only like 4 new theaters in the “new” section. I know we all took a break but I’m sure the hardcore folks have a bunch on the backburner or are in the process of bombarding us with new ones. Right?
What I also noticed recently, was every time I logged in, it would say “invalid page request” but at the upper left it would welcome me as a member. Clearly a contradiction.
Sure does. I came on here last January by accident for 5 minutes. I’m stuck in here and addicted. It’s a good thing I grew up in a historic town and was a history major and love doing research.
Also known as the Starr and the Grand.