Plaza Theatre

My father, who lived in Waterbury in the 20s and 30s, said this theatre was down a ways from the East Main Street principal concentration of movie theatres. He said tough kids went there and so he and his friends didn't.

I also have a old newspaper of the era which has a little ad for this theatre with the slogan, "Where Sound is Perfect."

The Garden, built by the Chotzianoff brothers, opened in 1909 and was leased and operated by the great theatrical impresario of the early 20th-century, Poli. The theater was only a part of the business block the Brothers Chotzianoff built. It stands today, its theater swallowed by the onset of downtown elderly housing. This was Waterbury's first real moving picture theater, 500 seats, upstairs and down, orchestra pit, one of the city's great entertainment palaces during its long history as The Garden, New Garden and The Plaza.

I was in Waterbury on Monday and decided to visit every listed Waterbury movie theater, living or deceased. I couldn't find this building on the right side of the street.

shoe: How could you miss the building? There's a huge, brand-new arts magnet school where this theatre used to be.

Oh yeah, oops! The real entrance to that school is from the courtyard. Sometimes when you're biking and exploring all day, you miss some things. I didn't have time to write down all the theaters and what's in their place, just the addresses.

A Robert-Morton theater organ was installed in the New Garden Theater in 1927.

It seems it had a few more names. It was originally Poli then the State, then the Garden and then Plaza. A dance hall was in the same building on the fourth floor and since the building was slightly on a hill, the feature was the sloping marquee. A picture is on page 58 of Images of America: Waterbury.

The Poli and State were across the street.

The Plaza and State Theater can be seen in this photo of East Main Street.

Here is a 1946 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/kvwv69

Another street scene.

Here is a 1940 newspaper ad:
http://tinyurl.com/m8kgtq