Bellaire Theatre

The Bellaire is fondly remembered by yours truly--I lived around the corner from it, went all the time with my buds and remember the sad day it closed, when I was 11, in 1959. The last picture show was The Horse Soldiers, I believe, and a second feature I don't recall.

i.n 1944 or 45 i followed lauren bacall down jamaica ave.the movie was to have and have not i saw it first at the alden then the carlton,bellaire and the bellrose . isaw that movie at least 16 times in a span of six months

An address search shows a restaurant located at this address today:

Nouveau Manoir
207-13 Jamaica Ave
Jamaica, NY 11428
(718) 464-4400

Here's a local.live.com view of the building facing the north and looking at the former theater's frontage on Jamaica Avenue.

Bellaire facing north

Not sure where the entrance was, but with the address 207-13 it must have been mid-block. I would guess the wall to the left is the screen wall and that the entrance was at the eastern end of the structure towards the right. Can't tell if that dark awning is the restaurant entrance, though it looks to be in an adjacent lot if so. I guess a trip to the premises in person would better tell the tale. Nouveau Manoir might include a catering hall and make use of the former auditorium's open space. From what little I can gather restaurant specializes in Carribean cuisine and features live music at certain times.

We lived at 99-52 211th Place, Bellaire, 29 New York. I remember seeing "A Night To Remember" there as a kid.... It was Hollis Lanes for about 30 years and then became The Hollis Pistol and Rifle Club for awhile. It was right across the street from the old "Castle Gardens" a catering hall with parapit walls.... I waa bowling there in the mid 60's when the Great East Coast Blackout happened.....Was that 1965?

This was converted into a bowling hall in 1960, by the same company that ran Victory Lanes (the former Victory Theatre) in Bayside West.

The restaurant is now Labadee Manoir. Serves fine Haitian cuisine.
http://www.restaurantica.com/restaurants/300659/

New owner. Still a restaurant.

A slight correction to my post of October 11, 2007. The correct name of the catering hall across the street from the Bellaire Theater was: "The Bellaire Castle". The Italian restaurant just west of the Bellaire Castle (again on the south side of Jamaica Avenue) was "Collasacco's". It was the only source of pizza in the area...no slices, whole pies only...lots of "Jimmy Roselli" and "Jerry Valle" on the juke box....Just east of the Bellaire Castle, again backed up to the Long Island Railroad, was the King Kullen super market which is now the site of the Queens Village Poat Office 11428.