Willow Theater
5 Meadow Street,
Willimansett,
MA
01013
5 Meadow Street,
Willimansett,
MA
01013
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The Willow Theater was located at the “Y” in the Willimansett section of Chicopee. Ran second run features. Closed since the mid 1960’s, the building with its facade still stands.
For many years the front part was occupied by a welfare office. The building has had several owners. This writer would be really interested in finding out if the auditorium is still intact. Effort to contact owners has been unsuccessful.
Contributed by
AlLarkin
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
I will thy to get a picture for everyone soon. :)
Many improvements are being made to the exterior, including the attached apartments. I’ve tried to gain entrance to the auditorium but have been unable to find anyone available. Guess I’ll have to attend a service. Well, maybe. I’ll leave it to Theater Boy instead. What a cop out, huh?
Willow Theater was owned by my grandfather probably about 1930’s. He also owned the first miniture golf in Holyoke Massachusetts which had exotic animals. My father who is 83 volunteers at the Holyoke Public Library and is a history buff. He is Frank H. Wotton II and I am Frank H. Wotton III. There is also now a Frank H. Wotton IV. My email is
There is a MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Willow Theatre in “Williamsett MA”. The address is listed as Meadow St.There is a facade photo taken in May 1941. It was a 2-story building with about a dozen windows in a row on the 2nd floor. Below the windows is a wide marquee with a Tyrone Power movie posted. In the center, above the marquee is a small vertical sign “Willow”. The Report states that the Willow has been showing MGM product for over 10 years, that it was built about 1915, is in Good condition, and the seating was given as 782 seats, all on one floor. But someone crossed that out and wrote in 714 seats.
In the “Theatre Circuits” directory in the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Willow Theatre in Williamsett, Massachusetts is listed as part of the Fred E. Leiberman Circuit of Boston, also known as Proven Pictures.
A woman I spoke with recently told me she had attended a Catholic school near The Willow. Around Easter each year, the kindly Jewish man who owned the theatre shut down the current shows and ran a movie about the Resurrection. The Catholic school kids got the afternoon off from school to see the free movie and probably a lot of Protestant kids got to see it as well.
There are references to the Willow Theater in my new website “A Small Business Microcosm: Willimansett, Massachusetts in the 1960’s†at http://willimansett.com/
I have wonderful memories of the Willow Theater ! I was raised on John St. in Willimansett, right across the street.
Iin the 50’s I was among the countless neighborhood kids who attended a matinee on Saturday afternoons. This was usually a double feature, cartoons & newsreels, all for the price of .14 (cents). The price increased to .25 when I turned 12 years old . We sure tormented the owner, Mr. Liebermann , trying to
“sneak in” to avoid paying the admission charge at every opportunity.
I also attended the Catholic School down the street & remember the free movies around Easter.
I’d be interested in hearing from others who may have attended this theater around the same time.
Pierre St.Germain
When i visited my cousin who lived in Willimansett in the late fifties, we would go to the Saturday matinee at the Willow quite often, i believe the theater closed in late 1961 because i can remember it being a grocery store in 1962, why? because i remember buying Post Cereal and at the time Post had a football card set promotion that was on the back of the cereal box, Post ran this promotion in 1962. Does anyone remember the name of the grocery store?, was it the Big Y?
It was Ray’s Super Market’s short-lived second location. Read more about it at http://willimansett.com/