BTW, they also changed the marquee signage (but thats a minor problem) – the Cinema 1 Cinema 2 Cinema 3 along the side is gone and replaced with Cinema 1, 2, 3 along the top edge in thin letters that you can barely see from across the street. The Cinema 1 2 3 is the last owned property City Cinemas has in New York – the other 3 are leased. And the primo location on Third Ave. opposite Bloomingdales will command huge bucks if it were to come on the market. I wonder if it is possible to get it landmarked as it is now and then order them to restore it?
Although nobody will admit it, there is a mistake on the large mural in the Loews Lincoln Square theatre in Manhattan. It is a painting of many of the old Loew’s palaces like the Valencia, Kings, etc. There is a Paradise Theatre pictured there, with a conventional marquee, however it is not the Loews Paradise in the Bronx, but the Paradise in Chicago, which was a Balaban & Katz/Publix-Paramount theatre. Many people who have seen it (the painting) assume it’s the Bx Paradise, as did the artist, apparently. Several people I know recently journeyed northward to the Bronx to see THE Paradise for the first time, and when they came back they were all in a frenzy – “they tore the marquee off the front of it!”. When I say it never had a marquee, just flat signs on the wall, they tell me that the painting in Lincoln Square shows it with a marquee.
—BULLETIN—
Well, City Cinemas is at it again – they are destroying the Cinemas. I went past there last night and the blue tile area above the windows (see the photo above) has been plastered/stuccoed/cemented over – it is now just plain white and no evidence of the columns rising to the roofline. Also, from outside it appears that the copper ‘artichoke’ chandeliers in the upper lobby are missing – God knows what these clowns are doing to the place and what other horrors they may have committed on that building.
I am trying to get in contact with an insider I know to find out what the hell they are doing….
This was a built as a single theatre and after General Cinemas nearby Westgate Cinema City (4 screens) opened in 1971, the Fairview was split in half. I was never inside but from the size of the building I think it had more than 800 seats.
Did they split some of these auditorium already? The 1999 Loews directory shows 21 screens with seating capacities of: 235, 267, 271, 271, 93, 93, 49, 192, 194, 487, 240, 240, 180, 182, 182, 143, 157, 157, 169, 169, 170, Total of 4,141 seats.
There is also an Imax at the Palasades Center, but it isn’t part of this complex and not operated by Loews.
Wasn’t the Denis always listed in the Post-Gazette and the Press in the same directory as the South Hills Village, McKnight Cinemas and that one out at Donaldsons Crossroads (i forget the name)?
I guess I’m getting alzheimers – I was there and saw ‘Summer of 42’ back in the 20th century and I could have sworn it was a upper-lower split… thanks for the correction.
Aren’t metal detectors standard equipment at all National Amusements' theatres these days? The Whitestone and Concourse theatres in the Bx has them, and I’m told the ENY Bkln and Jamaica Qns theatres also have them. Apparently NA feels that metal detectors and a shooting or riot now and then are just a normal costs of doing business.
When I left Michigan in 1977 it was still a single. General Cinema split it in 1978, and Goodrich took it over in 1984, at which time it flip-flopped between a first-run and bargain house, depending on the prevailing market conditions in the area.
According to the Loews Dec. 1999 directory the Loews Nassau theatre has 10 screens with seat counts of 561, 555, 307, 306, 547, 472, 200, 200, 200, 200 – Total of 3,548 seats.
Regal did not buy out UA – they both went bankrupt and this guy Robert Anschutz bought both of them, along with Act III Theatres, out of bankruptcy. He was running them as 3 seperate companies for a short time and then merged the Regal and UA operations with Regals management running the merged company. I’m not sure if Act III was merged into this or if they remain a seperate operation.
United Artists is a strange company… the theatres that everybody hates stay open and are run into the ground, and the ones that are maintained and well-liked by the public get closed – go figure!
I guess the secret is if you happen to find a clean, maintained UA theatre that you like and return to frequently, DO NOT let the UA management find out or they will close it down (apparently it doesn’t fit their image). The UA'a that people complain about and criticize stay open forever.
Wow, you weren’t kidding – check out these house-counts: 120 – 100 – 55 – 150 – 150 – 45 – 67 – 67 – 67 – 75 – 132 – total 1028 seats – according to the Dec. 1999 Loews directory. It’s amusing that the screening room in the home office seats more people than each of the five smallest, dare I say, ‘theatres’ at this location….
The address here should be changed to 49 Westchester Square.
The 3 story glazed white brick building, taking up the whole block btwn Roberts and Ponton Avenues looks to be from the 1920s. The storefront at #49, in the center of the block has an archway above the first-floor level. above that is a white and blue tile facade with a single ‘tragedy’ mask. in the center. The stubs of the severed marquee supports are evident. Inside the storefront (a para-legal office) about the first 15 feet, is an arched white tile ceiling with many empty light sockets and appears to be the area where the box office would have been. This is all that remains to indicate that there was once a theatre there. The lady working there said she thought it had been a theatre. They had tried to put bulbs in the sockets, but the old wiring was no good and they couldn’t get at it without ripping up the tile work, and they are just tenants there. Around the back of the building where the auditorium once was is a parking lot and a circa-1950s Post Office.
Can anybody with one of those old film business books provide the opening and closing dates and number of seats?
BTW, they also changed the marquee signage (but thats a minor problem) – the Cinema 1 Cinema 2 Cinema 3 along the side is gone and replaced with Cinema 1, 2, 3 along the top edge in thin letters that you can barely see from across the street. The Cinema 1 2 3 is the last owned property City Cinemas has in New York – the other 3 are leased. And the primo location on Third Ave. opposite Bloomingdales will command huge bucks if it were to come on the market. I wonder if it is possible to get it landmarked as it is now and then order them to restore it?
Although nobody will admit it, there is a mistake on the large mural in the Loews Lincoln Square theatre in Manhattan. It is a painting of many of the old Loew’s palaces like the Valencia, Kings, etc. There is a Paradise Theatre pictured there, with a conventional marquee, however it is not the Loews Paradise in the Bronx, but the Paradise in Chicago, which was a Balaban & Katz/Publix-Paramount theatre. Many people who have seen it (the painting) assume it’s the Bx Paradise, as did the artist, apparently. Several people I know recently journeyed northward to the Bronx to see THE Paradise for the first time, and when they came back they were all in a frenzy – “they tore the marquee off the front of it!”. When I say it never had a marquee, just flat signs on the wall, they tell me that the painting in Lincoln Square shows it with a marquee.
—BULLETIN—
Well, City Cinemas is at it again – they are destroying the Cinemas. I went past there last night and the blue tile area above the windows (see the photo above) has been plastered/stuccoed/cemented over – it is now just plain white and no evidence of the columns rising to the roofline. Also, from outside it appears that the copper ‘artichoke’ chandeliers in the upper lobby are missing – God knows what these clowns are doing to the place and what other horrors they may have committed on that building.
I am trying to get in contact with an insider I know to find out what the hell they are doing….
This was a built as a single theatre and after General Cinemas nearby Westgate Cinema City (4 screens) opened in 1971, the Fairview was split in half. I was never inside but from the size of the building I think it had more than 800 seats.
LOL!
Did they split some of these auditorium already? The 1999 Loews directory shows 21 screens with seating capacities of: 235, 267, 271, 271, 93, 93, 49, 192, 194, 487, 240, 240, 180, 182, 182, 143, 157, 157, 169, 169, 170, Total of 4,141 seats.
There is also an Imax at the Palasades Center, but it isn’t part of this complex and not operated by Loews.
The Crest – that’s the theatre out at Donaldsons Crossroads? It’s been a long time since I lived in Pgh (how younze doin? LOL)…
This was originally B.S.Moss – and for some reason they became ensnared with UA, as they did with the Criterion in Manhattan.
Wasn’t the Denis always listed in the Post-Gazette and the Press in the same directory as the South Hills Village, McKnight Cinemas and that one out at Donaldsons Crossroads (i forget the name)?
I guess I’m getting alzheimers – I was there and saw ‘Summer of 42’ back in the 20th century and I could have sworn it was a upper-lower split… thanks for the correction.
I mean the Central Plaza Cinema (Clearview/General Cinema).
Thats it – because the Central Plaza, a little further up the street is 2630 Central Park Ave…
Aren’t metal detectors standard equipment at all National Amusements' theatres these days? The Whitestone and Concourse theatres in the Bx has them, and I’m told the ENY Bkln and Jamaica Qns theatres also have them. Apparently NA feels that metal detectors and a shooting or riot now and then are just a normal costs of doing business.
When I left Michigan in 1977 it was still a single. General Cinema split it in 1978, and Goodrich took it over in 1984, at which time it flip-flopped between a first-run and bargain house, depending on the prevailing market conditions in the area.
Please update to show originally General Cinema and later Goodrich Quality Theatres as the operators.
Please update address to 29430 Lakeshore Blvd.
According to the Loews Dec. 1999 directory the Loews Nassau theatre has 10 screens with seat counts of 561, 555, 307, 306, 547, 472, 200, 200, 200, 200 – Total of 3,548 seats.
The radio is saying it burned to the ground…
And the correct name is Charlottetown Mall Cinemas….
Please update to show under General Cinema chain list.
Regal did not buy out UA – they both went bankrupt and this guy Robert Anschutz bought both of them, along with Act III Theatres, out of bankruptcy. He was running them as 3 seperate companies for a short time and then merged the Regal and UA operations with Regals management running the merged company. I’m not sure if Act III was merged into this or if they remain a seperate operation.
United Artists is a strange company… the theatres that everybody hates stay open and are run into the ground, and the ones that are maintained and well-liked by the public get closed – go figure!
I guess the secret is if you happen to find a clean, maintained UA theatre that you like and return to frequently, DO NOT let the UA management find out or they will close it down (apparently it doesn’t fit their image). The UA'a that people complain about and criticize stay open forever.
Kind of an odd name for a movie house… was the owner a Druid?
Wow, you weren’t kidding – check out these house-counts: 120 – 100 – 55 – 150 – 150 – 45 – 67 – 67 – 67 – 75 – 132 – total 1028 seats – according to the Dec. 1999 Loews directory. It’s amusing that the screening room in the home office seats more people than each of the five smallest, dare I say, ‘theatres’ at this location….
The address here should be changed to 49 Westchester Square.
The 3 story glazed white brick building, taking up the whole block btwn Roberts and Ponton Avenues looks to be from the 1920s. The storefront at #49, in the center of the block has an archway above the first-floor level. above that is a white and blue tile facade with a single ‘tragedy’ mask. in the center. The stubs of the severed marquee supports are evident. Inside the storefront (a para-legal office) about the first 15 feet, is an arched white tile ceiling with many empty light sockets and appears to be the area where the box office would have been. This is all that remains to indicate that there was once a theatre there. The lady working there said she thought it had been a theatre. They had tried to put bulbs in the sockets, but the old wiring was no good and they couldn’t get at it without ripping up the tile work, and they are just tenants there. Around the back of the building where the auditorium once was is a parking lot and a circa-1950s Post Office.
Can anybody with one of those old film business books provide the opening and closing dates and number of seats?