Elm Theater

The Elm Theatre closed down in September 2002. The last movies it showed were Tadpole and Full Frontal. It will be demolished to make way for a chain pharmacy.

The address for the Elm Theatre is 924 Quaker Lane, West Hartford, Ct.

The Elm was my neighborhood theater. They showed some of the biggest movies of the 1960's for extended runs.
Some of the biggies were, "The Longest Day" "The Sound of Music" "Lawrence of Arabia". I remember when "Gigot", The Jackie Gleason movie played there, The theater loby was decorated as a french caffe and a Reneault car was on display. In the late '50's early sixties they had Saturday afternoon matines with flicks like"The Three Stooges go to Mars" "The Spider" After the movie let out the kids would stand in line to use the theater phone booth to call parents to pick them up. Great childhood memories.

Paul Michaud
unclejohnny@email.com

This theatre should not be listed as demolished since it still stands there, forlorn and abandoned.

I had several friends work there for some years in the middle to late 90's till it closed down and I would go to visit them and watch movies in the balcony and hang out in the projectionist's booth with my good friend's. Sad to see it is not open anymore.


AngeloA

Join the "Save the Elm" campaign by logging on to our website, "elmwoodrenaissance.org". This theatre is a local treasure and an arts resource worth saving. Let's recycle this for the local arts scene. It should not join the long list of sites that have been lost due to short-sighted commercial development.

- Cynthia M. Brown
Elmwood Renaissance

Would an art house work here? Great marquee, I bet it looks awesome lit up.

Roger would be the expert on if it would succeed as an art or revival house. This is his home grounds. Also, Roger is the Elm located in a strip shopping center?

As can be seen in the photo above the Elm is in a strip. I think it may have been able to succeed as an art house, but could'ves and maybes are irrelevant now that Walgreen's owns it and has gutted it in preparation for turning it into a pharmacy.

Surprises me that Walgreens is using a pre existing building. Around the St. Louis Market no matter how new or how old, large or small tje building is when they take over a property they level the property and build one of their new proto type buildings. Even some of their own pre existing Walgreens stores have been leveled and the new proto's built. Well at any rate another theatre to drug store here. Roger do you have other pictures of the Elm building?

Walgreens wants to use the existing building, but I think the town wants them to demolish it and build new so that they can realign a tricky intersection. Currently everything is being held up in planning and zoning I believe. I love the Elm since it was the only movie theatre in West Hartford, the town in which I grew up. After it closed I contacted a representative of the owner to ask for permission to take interior photos to preserve the building's history. The owners refused. I asked if I could buy any memoribilia from the theatre. Nothing is for sale. The Perakos family who owned this theatre, along with the Southington Drive-In, are apparently money-grubbing leeches who have a bad reputation among theatre people here in CT. Anyway, more of my photos of the Elm can be found at http://www.cinematour.com/tour_us.php?id=496 . I especially like the photo of the marquee all lit up at night.

From the site that Roger listed above there are some great shots of the theatre itself. Seems a great loss to leave such a nice theatre so to other than motion pictures. The Cinema Tours site is great for pics of theatres but as far as anything else it leaves a lot to be desires. Rarely gives hisotry or details on the theatres. Seems there are more camera buffs that theatre hsitorians.

Folks, a history and some replies - The Perakos family reached out to the Town in 1999(?) to ask for a bilateral effort to solve traffic problems on a tricky corner to restimulate commercial growth, was ignored, went out of business. The current developer has built many "standard" Walgreens buildings and would have found it much more profitable (and Walgreens would have preferred) to demo and build a standard Walgreens building. The Town insisted they keep the theatre (yay, Town). The developer presented an alternative plan for the exterior (add, build out closer to the street)that more closely followed the Traditional Neighborhood Design Ordinance passed in 1998 for Elmwood, was turned down. (The local Historic authority issued a letter that the exterior of the building was worth preserving, not the interior. Ignored the balcony, staircases, 50-style fixtures, etc. and the ability to *move* the marquee and aluminum facade closer to the street. The rest of the building is a big, brick slab.) We believe that the "gutting" has been minimal (due to our speedy court actions), consising of removal of the chairs and, perhaps, a wall or two. We *hope* the balcony and stairs have not been touched.

The Elmwood Renaissance has held up the Town's administrative approval of the "Walgreens Project" in court for the last year. We have been unable to present data that proves the Town undervalued the property (thereby bypassing the TND Ordinance) to any authority due to legal maneuvering. We are hoping that our "Save the Elm" campaign generates interest in the community to re-populate this theater and shopping area with arts-related tenants. Sadly, we've found that a lot of our neighbors *still* don't know about the pending Walgreens! Our website will be updated in the next week as we develop our strategy for this informational and fundraising campaign.

Are there *any* pictures of the interior of the Elm? (Other than the ticket area shots on the website mentioned above.) We'd like to be able to show interested parties what the theater looked like in its heyday, before and after it was divided into two screens.

Glad to see all the "hits" in reply to my posting - it's interest like this that will save this building.

C.M. Brown: As a born and raised West Hartford citizen (lived there from 1976 through 1997) who still lives within a 40 minute drive I would like to help save the Elm. How do I join your campaign?

The only interior shots that I know of that may exist are owned by the Perakos family which had promised to send them to me, but never did.

Thanks, Roger, we'll try working with the Family on the pictures. Check our website, www.elmwoodrenaissance.org, toward the end of next week. We have a strategy meeting on Tuesday and will have ideas for action by the end of the week. If you'd like to attend the strategy session, the more "heads", the better! Anyone, contact me at cmbrown127@comcast.net to take this off line.

http://www.savetheelm.org/

I added the address to the theater listing. Thanks for the link Roger.
Be sure to add to the link directory, and submit news on updates.

Also isnt this theater art moderne and not art deco?

Just watched the 6oclock news elm demolition started today

Yes, we lost the war.

At every step in the legal process the court found our case to be a zoning issue and, since no-one lives within 100 feet of the Theater (the legal measurement of "standing" to sue) we were unable to convince them to listen.

We were actually contesting an administrative decision by the Town's Assessor, as any taxpayer should be able to do. She inappropriately undervalued the property (bypassing the Ordinance that would have prevented this type of development), saying that the property would be worth several hundred thousand dollars *less* after demo/reno and installation of a money-making Walgreens than when the developer bought it, empty and derelict. Go figure.

The developer won. The arts lost. Old, sad story.

C.M. Brown,
A heart felt thank you for all your efforts on behalf of the Elm Theater. As a resident of West Hartford from 1957 to 1970, the Elm held many warm memories for me. I regret that I was unable to visit my home town before I got a chance to see the Elm one more time.
Sometimes, moving forward isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

Paul Michaud
unclejohnny@email.com

I was in the Elm Theatre today. It appears that while they have demolished the attached shopping plaza and are in the process of gutting the theatre that they will keep the actual structure. The twinning has been undone by removal of the wall that separated the two auditoriums, so for the first time I saw the entire interior of the Elm as it was in its days as a single screen. Sadly, all the chairs have been ripped out and many are piled on the floor, the balcony floor has been removed leaving only metal beams, the projectors are gone, and all rugs and ornementation have been removed. Still intact are both screens (it looks odd since both are now next to each other in one large auditorium), the platter, the toilets bathrooms (but the sinks are removed), and a few art deco light fixtures. I found the floor plan from when it was a single screen theatre inside a desk. I also took many photos of the interior before it is completely destroyed.

The status on this says "Demolished" but I'm not sure it is going to be demolished. I think they may just gut the inside and reuse the building. We'll have to see.

I can't even bear to drive through Elmwood - a childhood memory has been destroyed. The Elm Theatre was where I first saw the Beatles' "Hard Days Night" (many, many times!) and hundreds of other films. I most fondly recall going there when it was still a single screen and sitting in the balcony was something special. How very sad that, despite all of our efforts, this landmark has been unceremoniously stripped of its former glory. This would never have happend if the theatre had been located in West Hartford Center.

It happened to the Central Theatre wich was in the West Hartford Center.

Not exactly - the Central Theatre wasn't replaced with a big box chain store which required additional surface parking. In that sitaution, the term "adaptive reuse" is more appropriate. It followed the livable / walkable communities model much more so than is happening in Elmwood.

My name is Justin and I am an employee of Walgreens, Co. It is a fact that indeed, Walgreens DOES demolish any existing building that sits on land property that they wish to purchase because they want all of their stores to look the same, exterior wise. I will also say that it's VERY difficult to stop a multi-billion dollar company from doing what they want (e.g. purchasing an abandoned theatre and turning it into a Walgreens drugstore). But good luck! Walgreens plans to have 7,000 drugstores by 2010!

its really sad seeing the elm theatre gutted completley. i live on the street behind the elm and i see it everyday, it really breaks my heart. Who needs another walgreens? we have a cvs and an arrow pharmacy right across the street, besides traffic on south quaker is bad enough.
I am writing an article for my school's (Conard High School) news paper and if anyone who knows a good deal about this would like to be interviewed and quoted please reply to this. unfortunatley i do not have an email adress at this time but we can work something out.
Thank you

Dean - If you go to the "Save the Elm" website, www.savetheelm.org, you can send an e-mail to the folks who fought this battle. They should be able to help youwith your paper.

- C. M. Brown

A SHORT DOCUMENTARY ON THE ELM THEATER (and other closed theaters) AIRS FEBUARY 28 AT 10:00 IN WEST HARTFORD WITH OTHER SHORT FILMS.

Where in West Hartford? And what other theatres does it mention?

As a former employee who worked there in the mid 90's, seeing these pages breaks my heart. The Elm was my first job, and by far my most favorite. I not only made some of my very best friends while working there, I had a ton of fun.
I know it's been closed for a while, and probably over-talked about, but working there was really the best time I ever had.
I have a fairly good amount of interior pictures, like the stair cases, the balcony, and auditorium shots if anyone is interested. Even pictures of the basement.

Shel B - yes, please, the Save the Elm group would love copies. Please contact us at www.elmwoodrenaissance.org

Please send me the photos too. Click on my name for contact info.

I'd love to see the photos of the interior of the Elm, if you would care to email them to me.

dwodeyla, I'd be more than happy to share, however I can't find your email anywhere.

C.M. Brown, I sent an email to that website, I don't know if you got it.

Sorry, I forgot to put my email in, it's dwodeyla@comcast.net

The marquee has been removed. Conversion to a pharmacy continues.

For the third or fourth time - THIS THEATRE IS NOT DEMOLISHED!

The interior has been gutted for reuse as a pharmacy. Change the status to merely CLOSED.

Go to http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=496 to view my photos of interior demolition last fall. I especially like where you can see the wall between the two auditoriums removed, but both screens still hanging. It was sad to see the Elm in such a state. It has been gutted further since then.

Looking at these pictures was like feeling as if someone knocked the wind out of me. Holy cow. Sad, sad, sad.

It's so sad to see it turned into another drug store. I remember the balconies and the inside was pretty nice. I remember all the movies I have seen there. Now there it stands a shell of it's former self, it should have become a play house for theatre groups.

Here is a nice recent photo of Walgreens.

This is another recent photo of the former Elm Theater now Walgreens.

Let me clarify my above comment to avoid confusion. The photo shows Walgreens which is a different building than the former Elm theater was in.

It is the same building that the Elm was in. The building has been gutted, but the exterior remains.

It is the same building? Why is it listed as Closed/Demolished? Thats misleading, I thought it was a new building.

I have no idea why it is listed as demolished. I have repeatedly tried to get its designation changed, but to no avail.

Roger....The description needs to be changed also. It reads "Despite protests from local citizens, the theater was demolished for a Walgreens in November and December of 2004". Maybe thats the reason that the status is given as Closed/Demolished.

Seeing Roger Katz's images brought back a flood of emotions. Like Shelly, I too worked at the Elm theater. I was their relief projectionist from 1989 to 2000 when I moved to the west coast. Although I'd heard the theater had closed, I couldn't bring myself to see it whenever I came back to CT.

I remember helping Shelly (and many others) with the cast metal letters for the marquee. I remember fidgeting with all five of those platters to keep a movie on-screen. I remember the anger and disgust of our 'regular' patrons when ticket prices were raised above 99¢ too! Mostly I remember the good friends I made over those years. It really was a fun place to work.

I have nothing [specific] against Walgreen's. I'm not opposed to progress either. It just saddens me that it's at the expense of a piece of history like the Elm Theater.

Walgreens and CVS have become the new McDonalds Burger King one-two punch.

If you really want to wallow in "what coulda/shoulda," just go inside as far the entry vestibule to see the "shrine" Walgreens has created with the lit neon Elm sign and other bits of our demolished gem.

Behind Plexiglas.

When one of our town councilors saw it she gushed about how sensitive Walgreens was to the neighborhood and its past.

Ah, me.

CM: Those photos in the vestibule were taken by me. When Walgreens asked to use them I was tempted to say no in spite, but then decided that it is better they have those there than have no memory of the theatre at all.

Roger, you've been tireless in documenting, encouraging and assisting in the effort to save the theater. Glad it was you that gave the pictures. I understand and agree why you did it.

I just wish it weren't pictures and memories, but a vibrant and vital part of the community fabric. We lost something good here, folks, and added to the drive-up, drive-by atmosphere of our neighborhood.

- Cyn

Worked there Sunday nights as projectionist. I relieved the long time projectionist, Bill Martus (Hartford) so he could go to Showcase at night for his 2nd shift.

Bill trained me (300 hours) at the Elm. I worked there 1975~1981. Long time manager's name was Murray Lipson, who left in a scanndal over ticket revenue.

The projection booth originally had two CENTURY projectors with Peerless Magnarc Carbon Arc Lamps, and a water cooling system for the "jaws" that held the carbon rods in the lamps because they got so hot. At the time, "Sound of Music was the longest running movie, (296 days I think) followed by "The Sting". Theater has a working curtain with a working motorized masking system for regular(Flat) or Wide Screen features.
Wood paneling in the lobby, a coat room, a large room (phone booth) with a windowed door with smoking fan. Ushers in uniform. Large Altec Lansing speakers behind the screen and RCA tube amps. I also worked there when we installed "Sensurround" ..large woofers that shook the seats... "Earthquake" or one of those movies.We miss her.

This photo may have been taken after the theater closed for good:
http://tinyurl.com/2exfln

The text with the photo claims that the Elm Theater closed in 2003. The description above gives a closing year of 2002. Which is correct?

As I wrote above, it closed in September 2002. I was there the final weekend.

Thanks Roger. I figured that your information would be more accurate than the text in that book.

Wow, great to see this stuff - I have fond memories of clutching a dollar and going to see the (almost) latest movie.

Who doesn't remember the Snack Valley trailer with the penguins? I'll take a Sprite please! If anyone knows of video or stills from it PLEASE contact me!

I'm glad to see the frontage is still there but I haven't been able to bring myself to go inside when I visit WH.

I just ate at a new trendy restaurant called Elements, right accross from the old Elm theater. Why! Walgreens Why! The new Blue back section is such a cluster you know what, that the old cool is now the new cool. I see excellent growth and a bright future for the Elmwood section. If only this theater could have held out a little longer.

tom

This is a 2009 close-up view.

Jamie, don't go inside the Walgreens, you'll be sad. Dropped ceilings, florescent lighting, vinyl tile floors - nothing left of the theatre interior. The Elm sign and a few other bits of memorabilia are just inside the vestibule. Like stuffing and mounting one's kill after a hunt. Creepy.

Here is another photo of the Walgreens:
http://tinyurl.com/ko7a55

How would you like it if other people raided your Photobucket?