Loew's Poli Theatre

This was the first house in Spfld. to have Cinemascope. The backstage wall still exists on the Taylor St. side

The Loew's Poli Theatre is located at 195 Worthington Street and it seated 2610 people as of 1955.

This magnificent theater opened as the Poli Palace in Dec. 1913, the same year as the Broadway. It was named after Sylvester Poli and later renamed Loew's Palace when E.M. Loew bought it. In 1921, it became Loew's Poli Theater. It's transistion from playhouse to movie theater took place in the 1930's.
The Poli had a balcony and loges on both sides. A prosenuim arch stood above the stage/screen. It's ceiling was designed in square blocks with frescos inside. The entrance vestibule was lined on both sides with large mirrors leading up to the lobby, grand staircase and refreshment stand. An upstairs lounge stood at the top of the stairs.The exterior front had a good sized marquee that could be read from the corner on Main St. Above the marquee was a marble prosenium arch similar to the Capitol's. Two stone lion heads with stone chains coming from their mouths attached themselves to either side of the marquee.
The Poli closed in 1966. In a public auction, the lion heads and chains were sold along with many items.
In July/Aug, 1967, the Poli was demolished.

This theater was controlled by Loew's Theatres of New York City, not E.M. Loew's Theatres of Boston.

Adding to Mr. Shear's post, sometime in the 1940's the loges were covered over with beige and red draperies. The stage and prosenium were totally gutted in order to increase the seating capacity. The screen appeared to be mounted against what was once the back stage wall, listed in another post above.

A postcard from the Roger Katz collection at another site shows the Poli, but it isn't the one I recall on Worthington St. I believe the postcard is a view of the original Poli located on Dwight St. From the limited information I was able to receive at the Connecticut Valley Historical Society, the original was destroyed by a fire during the early 1900's. Interestingly, there was an add for the new Poli's opening which indicated that it is totally fireproof.

The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for this theatre calls it the "Poli Palace". There is a photo of the entrance taken in 1941. There was a boxy marquee with "Loew's Poli" in big letters at the top-front. There were 4 lines of white letters on a black background. Movies were "The Great American Broadcast" and "The Trial of Mary Dugan". The Report states that the theatre is on Worthington St. It has been a MGM customer for over 15 years. It is in Good condition, and has 1466 seats on the main floor, 840 balcony seats, and 144 Loge seats; total: 2,450 seats.

The Poli Palace was designed by Thomas W. Lamb

Here is a 1958 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cqddh6

Very nice color shot from 1958. Who was E.M.Loews?

E.M. Loew was a prominent operator of movie theaters, mostly in New England, starting in the 1930s. He was headquartered in Boston MA. He is not to be confused with Marcus Loew, who was older, and who operated a large theater circuit, headquartered in New York, which operated this theater in Springfield.

Thanks for the info Ron. I know who Marcus Loews was I worked for Loews Theaters in Nashville ,Tennessee from 1973 to 1980. I was just wondering if they were related somehow. I knew Marcus died in 1927.Check out C.T.s site of the Loews Crescent Loews Madsion and Loews Melrose if you have not seen them.I work at all of them ay some time.

tisloews- No, E.M. and Marcus were not related to one another.

Great 1958 Color Photo Ken MC