Park Theatre

Both this and New Hyde Park's other theatre, the Alan, were long operated by the Century Circuit. I believe that the Park came first, with the Alan not being built until after the end of World War Two.

As I recall, Lakeville & Jericho was at least a mile to a mile and a half from the Nassau-Queens border. Or do I misremember?

The intersection of Lakeville Road and Hillside Avenue (the next major east-west route north of Jericho) was probably only a quarter mile west of the Nassau-Queens line. Down at Jericho, Lakeville was probably a little further from the city (the roads not running straight north-south), but I can't remember for sure.

I grew up on Stewart Avenue (the one that began north of Hillside) in New Hyde Park in the fifties, and the back fence of our yard was the Nassau-Queens line. The kid who lived in that adjacent house went to Van Buren High School, while we were in the Great Neck school system.

I remember this building as "Eldee electronics" or something like that in the early 80's

I took a couple of shots of the building I assume was the old Park Theater. It is now office space for a number of businesses and medical practices and is located on the north side of Jericho Turnpike on the corner of N. 10th Street (on the same block that intersects with Lakeville Road to the west). I never attended this theater, but I work in the neighborhood and decided to take my camera out for a cinematic tour.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Nassau%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0992.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Nassau%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0993.jpg

The comments about Eldee Electronics are confusing me. I can visualize an "Eldee" sign written in neon script somewhere in the neighborhood, but I see it over a corner entrance in my mind's eye, not over the building I just photographed for this site. Can anyone familiar with the area's history pinpoint the Eldee sign?

I grew up here and I could swear that this is the building that I saw the Eldee sign on. I could be wrong but I dont think I am.

RCDTJ... I'm sure you're correct, since this was your neighborhood growing up. I've worked in this area (Marcus Ave in Lake Success) for a number of years and I know I've seen an Eldee sign somewhere. Electronics makes sense, but I'm wondering if I've got it confused with an old fashioned Mom & Pop Drug Store sign. Was the "Eldee" in block letters or in script neon? In my mind I see it as neon script lettering on a dark red brick facade. But the mind does play tricks.

Anyway... Can someone provide dates for this theater's operation?

I did a search for New Hyde Park and found the following about the Park Theater in the Wikipedia:

"The following Items taken from the Minutes of the Incorporated Village, succinctly tell the story of historical events. December 24th through 28th, 1927 - Flags displayed in honor of the opening of the Park Theater and the New Hyde Park Bank. January 3, 1928 - Village meetings held in the Village Office on Jericho Turnpike. (Park Theatre Building on the second floor). January 24,1928 - Recommendation from the Board of Trade to change the names of streets on the Village map". So this theater opened in 1927. The entire page is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hyde_Park

Thanks, Lost Memory. And it was closed and occupied by the Eldee appliance store sometime in the early 80's?

Well Ed, I do remember the Eldee store. It was similar to a PC Richards store. I bought a tv at Eldee around 1983 so the store was operating there at that time. I'm familiar with this area but I'm no expert on it. In the 1980's I had a relative living in Bellerose and that's the reason I knew about Eldee and purchased a tv there. I found a recent photo of the office building at this address. The photo is here.

That sounds about right. I was 10 in 1980 and I don't remember the theater there. I do remember the Eldee store about then. I don't know when the theater closed though. It may have been vacant for a while before the Eldee opened. It has been very hard finding anyone with any info on this theater.

RCDTJ....On the Village of New Hyde Park website, they list two Village Historians. Their names are Florence Lisanti and Steve Limoncelli. This email address is also given: info@vnhp.org Those people might be the best source to give you a closing date for the Park Theater.

Thanks for the info. I will check it out and report any news.

I thought the theater in Garden city Park was the Park Theatre? thats what the name of it was in 1978, it was next to the burger king on Jericho Tpke. The Eldees is now a bank

You might be thinking of the old Park East further down Jericho which is now a Charlie Brown's restaurant. I posted a recent photo on the Park East's page here. I'd include a link to the Park East in this comment, but I'm having a problem opening another window on the site right now. You can search for the theater if you wish to visit the page, mns2lv4ever.

yes, I finally figure it out that I had the wrong name after searching some more, I've lived in NHP since 1978 and still don't remember the Park theatre did it close before I moved here? I actually worked in the building that used to be the park theatre when I was 16, it used to be telemarketing for newsday.

I posted a pair of current exterior photos back in December but those links no longer work. Those pics may now be found here.

From all of the above it is apparent that the Park theatre at Jericho and Lakeville was around for a long time. It was so tiny I can't believe the seating capacity shown. When Century modernized it, minimally, they also replaced the tiny marguee with shuch a huge one considering the size of the building. When Century opened the Park East further East in what I would consider Garden City Park they simultaneous closed the Park.

From all of the above it is apparent that the Park theatre at Jericho and Lakeville was around for a long time. It was so tiny I can't believe the seating capacity shown. When Century modernized it, minimally, they also replaced the tiny marguee with shuch a huge one considering the size of the building. When Century opened the Park East further East in what I would consider Garden City Park they simultaneous closed the Park.