Ridgeway Theatre
52 6th Street,
Stamford,
CT
06905
52 6th Street,
Stamford,
CT
06905
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Crown Theatres LLC, Trans-Lux Movies Corp.
Architects: Alfons Bach
Firms: Alfons Bach Associates
Functions: Office Space
Previous Names: Translux Ridgeway Theatre, Crown Ridgeway Theatre
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News About This Theater
- May 21, 2010 — Happy 30th, "Empire"
- Jun 20, 2007 — $$ CASH REWARD $$ Seeking trade magazines with these theater profiles
- Apr 18, 2007 — The very first shopping center theater: Stamford, CT or Seattle, WA ?????
Located in the Ridgeway Center. Opened as a single screen theatre on August 31, 1951 with John Wayne in “Flying Leathernecks”. It had 1,100 seats. It was later twinned and after closing in 2001, the theater was turned into an LA Fitness Center.
Contributed by
Roger Smith
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Recent comments (view all 22 comments)
It was a beautiful 50’s style theater. Remember seeing “The Graduate” and “Good Neighbor Sam” there.
Also known as TransLux Ridgeway Theatre and Crown Ridgeway.
First listed in the 1952 Stamford City Directory. In 1982 it changes to TransLux Ridgeway Theatre. The 1994/1995 Directory changes to Crown Ridgeway. Last listed in 2002.
I biked by it the other day. Really sticks out. I went around to the back and it’s quite busy with loading docks, etc but you can see the brick pilasters on the side of the building and patched over old window/door entrances.
Anyone have any pictures of this house when it was open?
Any pictures?
The February 2, 1952 issue of Boxoffice Magazine has an ad for Heywood-Wakefield theater seating featuring the Ridgeway, with a couple of interior photos and one of the exterior, all grey scale.
The text says that the theater was both designed and decorated by Alfons Bach. Alfons Bach Associates (the firm he founded in 1932) did design the Ridgway Center, as the shopping mall in which this theater was located was called. There is supposed to be material on this project in the Alfons Bach collection at the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum in New York City, but I don’t know if it’s accessible to the public. It’s not online.
Bach was one of the major figures of modern design, and a co-founder of the American Designers Institute. Here’s a brief biography.
I am acually Nathan V Steinberg’s grandson have many great stories told to me over the years about this theatre from my father Fred….nice to know people have good memories of this place!
I used to come here towards the end of it’s run, when it was an art house theater. It was the only cinema in the area showing the films I wanted to see, so it quickly became a favorite of mine.
Had the opportunity to watch movies on both of the screens. The 2nd floor(?) theater had stadium seating, which was a rarity even in the late 90s.
I recall them scoring one last coup with The Blair Witch Project — I drove past the theater and saw a line of people queued down the block for that one. By then, evening showings had about 50 people at most, with matinees pulling in maybe 20.
Great memories of this place. I was very sad when I heard that it had closed. I suppose the Avon has now succeeded it in spirit, though I haven’t had a chance to check it out post-renovations.
I saw all three Star Wars movies there ( the originals) when they all first came out. I remember the lines for people trying to get in all the way around to the front of the shopping center. I remember when they had a balcony. This was a great theater but because it only had two screens I guess it couldn’t keep up. Is Sol’s toy store still there ??
The Ridgeway theatre opened on August 31st, 1951. Grand opening ad posted.
This venue’s 70mm presentations history is included in the recently-published article “70mm Presentations in Fairfield County: A Chronology of 70mm Large Format Exhibition, 1965-Present”.