Pavilion Theatre

This theater building stands on the site of the former one-story Sanders Theater, which was razed in the 1920's to construct this much more opulent movie house. Also, after the Sanders closed in the late '70s, it remained vacant for over 20 years, as various plans were hatched as to what to do with it. They ranged from turning it into a co-op to splitting the building into two halves. The bottom portion being a hardware store, and the balcony turned into a twin cinema. RKO Century looked at it during this "closed" period and thought it not wide enough to convert into a quad so they scrapped their plans. Yet the new owners have had little problem transforming the building into a very popular eightplex.

this theatre is beautiful as far as modern multiplexes go. It's very clean and intimate when it first opened I saw "Seige" in theatre 1 which was big and (I know i'm a bit obsessive with this) but the curtains even closed which no longer exists in Brooklyn I can vouch for that, but that quickly changed when they added 2 more cinemas in the complex going from 6 to 8 screens it still was a large cinema with the conversion a modern multiplex nicely done.

A vintage view of the former Sanders Theatre can be seen here.

The spelling for this theatre is Pavilion, not Pavillion.

This theatre dates back to 1908, when the brothers Harry & Rudolph Sanders opened a nickelodeon called the Marathon on the site. Rapidly expanding into adjacent storefronts, the Marathon developed into a theatre of 500 seats. In 1928, the owners replaced the Marathon with the entirely new and self-named Sanders Theatre, tripling their seating capacity to 1,581. When the Sanders finally closed in 1978, plans to convert it into retail or residential space never bore fruit. In 1993, exhibitor Norman Adie and three local investors bought the property. In 1996, they re-opened it as the Pavilion Theatre with three screens. Five more have been added since.

It is certainly nice to have one of our neighborhood theatres still standing, but I've always thought the chop job on this building was cramped and ridiculous - eight screens where there was one. Anyhow, nice to have it, but it freaks me out in a fire-trap sort of way. There's really very little left of the interior. I think most of us can usually figure out "what was where" in these old theatres, but this place is tough. Every inch of this building is being used as something. I go here now and then, but more often I find myself at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Rose Cinemas - chopped up, but not as severe and they really managed to retain a great deal of the building's integrity.

The architect of the 1928 built Sanders was Edward Kleinert. It originally had a seating capacity of 1,501. The original architectural style of the interior was Middle Eastern and it had a Wurlitzer 2 Manual/7 Rank (Opus 1816) theatre pipe organ installed, which was removed many years ago.

Today's New York Post reports The Pavilion will become the city's first theatre with all-digital capability this Spring.

Is there a listing for the Pavilion Brooklyn Heights?

This is an article about the Pavilion Theater going digital.

This is a night photo of the Pavilion Theater.

I live ten or fifteen minutes from this theater, and a friend tells me it may be closing. Anybody else know anything about this ?

dOES ANYONE KNOW THE CAPACITY HOW DID THEY MAKE A NINETH SCREEN

Here is a recent 2006 photo of the Pavilion.

NYC issued a c/o to a New building at this address in August of 1928. On that date there was a 1516 seat motion picture theater located here. The owner was The 15th Street Amusement Co. The architects were Harrison G. Wiseman with Edward Kleinert as associate architect. There is a second associate architect whose name begins with an "M" and looks like Magrueson. Spelling could be wrong.

As a nine screen theater, NYC gives the seating as of 2004 as follows:

Theater#1-255
Theater#2-96
Theater#3-82
Theater#4-56
Theater#5-202
Theater#6-122
Theater#7-90
Theater#8-93
Theater#9-112

Some photographs I took of the Pavilion Theatre in May/June 2006:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/214949396/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/214950137/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/214950935/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/214952153/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/214956030/

Is this now really called the Pavilion Digital Showcase Theatre? I examined advertising and "movie clock" listings in yesterday's newspapers and it was always just The Pavilion. And photos taken by Ken Roe in May/June of this year also show only The Pavilion in the neon lettering on the marquee. Also, this seems to be one of the rare theatres that actually has "The" as part of its name.

The New York Post - online edition, lists it as 'The Pavilion'

The Big Screen Cinema Guide (online), lists it as 'Access Digital Theatres-Pavilion Cinema'

If the name on the marquee reads The Pavilion, then why not list it on CT under that name? Also, how about we update the seating to 1108 seats. Thats the amount of seats given for a nine screen theater at this address.

I remember passing this place in about 1989 and thinking that it would probably never be used as a theatre again.

How amazing to learn that it not only still stands but has been successfully rehabbed and reopened!

Does anyone know how the theatre is layed out. Which screens are downstairs and which are upstairs.

Did they ever put a elevator in the complex.

When I was last their in 1996, screens 1,2, 6 and 7 were on the main level and 3,4 and 5 were upstairs. When was the two added screens added to.

It's hard to explain ! It's like a Rubik's Cube ! This was always my neighborhood theater, and I'm delighted to report that the last 2 times I went, the movies were well attended, and the audience was SILENT !!! The one big theater is delightful, but some of the others are pretty tight. I'm just grateful to be able to walk to the movies once again, long after the days when I came here to a single theater to see "Living It Up" and "Bells Are Ringing." It's a beautiful location right on the park, with several eating places right nearby. Life is good ! Come and enjoy !

Here's a 1920s view with the original Sanders marquee:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/origsanders.jpg

NY Times March 5, 1995

"NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: PARK SLOPE/COBBLE HILL; Can Owner of Forlorn Movie Palace Buck Multiplex Trend?

By JOHN DESANTIS
The now-dilapidated Sanders Theater at Prospect Park West and 15th Street stands as a forlorn reminder of the days when Brooklynites flocked to opulent first-run movie palaces with velvet portieres, balconies and mosaic tiles to view Gable and Garbo. The Sanders has been closed for more than a decade, but a Manhattan theater exhibitor, Norman Adie, whose company bought the historic theater last September, hopes to win approval to restore it to something close to its former glory. Mr. Adie, a native of Scotland who operates the Times Square Movieplex 42, said he believes that bringing an upscale theater to Park Slope would fill a need in a neighborhood that contains few movie houses".

1944 photo Sanders :
http://brooklynpix.com/photo1/P/parkslope66.jpg

1928 photo:
http://brooklynpix.com/photo1/W/windsor57.jpg

Did this theater have double balconies when it was one theater? How is it layed out now that they have nine?

BTW, The Pavilion is shown in a new article at Forgotten NY:

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/NEIGHBORHOODS/windsorterrace/windsor.html

If the Marathon Theater was replaced by the Sanders Theater, shouldn't the Marathon have its own listing on here?

Here is a recent photo of the Pavilion.

This is another photo of the Pavilion Theater.

The Sanders on October 20, 1973. Enter the Dragon and Dracula 72 A.D. were playing.

The Pavilion in May of 2008.

Wow, that is a fantastic photo.

This is a pretty nice photo too.

Some recent and vintage views can be found in this article about nearby Prospect Park: http://www.forgotten-ny.com/tour36/tour36.html

I remember this theater lying fallow for so many years. My dad told me he used to sell newspapers outside this theater when he was a kid. I'm so glad they were able to bring it back.

Another night shot of The Pavilion.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bettyblade/225535844/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Great photo. Thanks.

Here's a video showing conversion to digital: http://www.ny1.com/Default.aspx?SecID=1000&ArID=50800

This is an October 31, 1995 article about the Sanders.