Monroe Theatre

In 1999 I visited Rochester for the first and as yet, only time. I happened on the Monroe Theatre quite by chance. (I had already photographed the Eastman's exterior, and seen a movie at the art deco Little the night before) Indeed the Monroe's exterior is quietly elegant. The later moderne marquee isn't bad either. At least the owner only desecrated it with paint. Some owners have done far worse in an attempt to prevent landmark designation. I saw it before the paint job, thankfully.

I show the address for the Monroe Theatre as 585 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY.

Monroe Theatre also had two DP70 (709+710) 3-strip Cinerama. 974 seats. The installation was done in 1958. Base numbers presumebly 1016 and 1160. It was Cinerama, then XXX-rated, now is a video store called show world. The machines have been removed from the Monroe Theatre prior to its (1999) demolition for installation (donated) at the Eastman Theatre (also in Rochester, NY) in the future. It is painted greeen I will get a photo as soon as I can.

The Monroe played 3-strip Cinerama from 1/26/61 thru 8/4/63.

There's a photo of the former theatre today at http://www.democratandchronicle.com/ads/showworldstores//monroe/monroe.html

In 1961, 62, or 63 (I'm not sure what year exactly), my family went on a business trip to Rochester from Hagerstown, Maryland where I grew up. I was about 13-14 years old. We stayed at the Manger Hotel downtown. My father took us to the Monroe Theatre to see "Search for Paradise" in three projector Cinerama. My father had worked many years before in Philadelphia as a movie projectionist, and after showing the Monroe's manager his old IATSE union card (which he always kept with him!), we were taken to the projection booth and given an extensive "tour" of the workings of three-strip Cinerama. I still have my souvenir book of "Search for Paradise!"

I'm not sure if I clicked on the "notify me when someone responds to my comment" so I'll do it now.

Hi Glenn, I'll respond to your comment. I'm not sure when the last time you were in Rochester was, but it's changed since "Search for Paradise" showed at the Monroe, that's for sure! The Manger (formerly the Seneca) Hotel is gone, the Monroe is not what it was, but I guess there's still hope both for downtown and the Monroe. What great childhood memories though! Thanks for sharing them.

Just a quick comment on the status of the Monroe Theater (now Show World).

This was my neighborhood theater and one that I knew inside out - since I figured out the ushers schedules as was able to sneak into the theater to see the movies that played there. I really overdosed on "The Sound of Music" since it played there for a year and a half (they had to replace the film with a new print, since it had just about worn out toward the end).

If you enter Show World today, you can still see the curved Cinerama screen with the massive purple curtain covering it -- the interior is painted solid black and the lighting fixtures in the ceiling (kind of a Monticello dome) are still there. Along the walls are the massive 6-Track or 8-Track Stereophonic speakers. So if you don't mind entering a porn shop, you can see what was one of the great old neighborhood theaters of Rochester.

It went from a neighborhood theater - where in the 1950s one could still see a double feature with cartoons, Three Stooges comedies and newsreels PLUS a 'contest for kids in the audience' held on the stage or in front of the auditorium --ALL FOR 25 CENTS! -- and if you were one of the first ten kids in line for that Saturday matinee, you got a coupon for a FREE ice cream!

I remember going to see a Saturday matinee of King Kong and a Zombie film and receiving a FREE PASS to the next week's show, just for being brave enough to sit through the movies.

Now here's something most people don't know.

When the owners converted the theater to Cinerama -- they did not touch the original screen, curtain or stage! It's all still there behind the great curved screen!

I'd love to hear from others about your memories of the Monroe.

Hi Rochester Pete,
I'd love to hear more of your memories of theatres in Rochester. I went to the Monroe to see "The Sound of Music", but was only 6 at the time, and don't remember much about the theatre. It's nice to know that it's still intact. If only someone could reopen it as a movie theatre again. I think the Monroe Avenue neighborhood and the East side in general would really go for a Little Theatre type presentation house.

Addendum to my comment --


It went from a neighborhood theater to a first run theater showing films, such as "Can-Can," the re-release of "Fantasia" in the Wide-Screen process (a misguided moment), ditto "Gone with the Wind" in 70mm.....and then in the early 60s was converted to Cinerama with the first show being "This is Cinerama," going through all the Cinerama travelogue type films (Windjammer, Cinerama Holiday, etc.) and moving on the "How the West Was Won," "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm," "Grand Prix," "Circus World," and then in 1964 - Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" followed soon after by "The Sound of Music" -- which as I mentioned played over 18 months at that theater.

From there, it became a theater that showed porn and eventually turned into a store that rents and sells porn videos, etc.

My dream is to win the lottery and buy the building back from the current owners and restore it to the wonderful theater so many people in Rochester remember.

I too grew up in Rochester, and used to go the Monroe on Saturdays in the 70's to see Godzilla, War of the Gargantuas,etc.. You can see the current theater on a live camera here: www.rocpic.com
It's sister theater I believe was the Coranet (Which I saw Enter The Dragon) If I remember correctly, they both showed X rated movies at one time or another. Would'nt it be cool to restore and open again?
(Probably a money looser in conservative Rochester)

After reviewing the list from Rochester, I find the Waring Theater , Coranet, and Paramount? theaters missing. Also the Cinema on Clinton Ave. How can these be added?

I grew up there too. Down the street off Monroe. I was also suprised to not find the Coronet on Thurston Road not listed on the site. I know the owner of Jamaican resturant down the street and was talking about the Coronet the other day. I know the owner of the Clinton Cinema. She used to take Martial Arts classes from me.

Nitty,
Is the Coronet still there? The Cinema has a real odd shape to it. I remember seeing "Soilint Green" there. Also, what kind of Martial Arts do you teach?

The Paramount is on this site. It might be listed under "Picadilly", which was its original name, but I thinks it's listed under the name "Paramount". The Coronet is still standing, (well, it was a year ago when I drove past it) but is vacant. I remember when they were trying to run it as an art house. I saw "Napoleon" there. The Cinema (nee Clinton) is still going strong as a neighborhood house.

It was noted earlier that "The Sound Of Music" ran at this theatre for over a year and a half. If anyone is interested in the exact duration, it was for 85 weeks (Apr. 15, 1965 - Nov. 30, 1966).

http://www.fromscripttodvd.com/sound_of_music_40th_tribute.htm

The Coronet was on Plymouth Ave. if memory serves me well. (I have been in Fl for 20 years+)
What kind of money would it take to re-open in it's original format? I am not a buff on eqiptment, but is there anything that can be bought reasonably? (or donated by a sponser such as Kodak)
I'LL HOLD MY BREATH!
The Waring should be listed as well. How can this be done?

No the Coronet is on Thurston. Iwould add it to the site but do not have any information. I may be able to get it from the Rochester Public Library? Anyway it is vacant still. I go by it all the time. I taught Tae Kwon Do and years ago a friend of mine that lived on Genesee Park Blvd. took me to see Enter the Dragon there. It was in the early 1980's when we first got into HS. Anyway the guy that owns the Monroe Theatre was under a lot of fire for making the Monroe a Porn shop. It is really an eyesore, painted green and all. I believe at one time there was a Wegman's market next to it.

WOW!

I had completely forgotten about the Coronet -- I'm pretty sure I saw "West Side Story" there in 1962.

The Riviera was the Monroe Theater's sister movie house - run by the Schein Organization. The Riviera was a huge theater - very plain - probably an old neighborhood theater reconverted like the Monroe for 70mm. At the Riviera -- I saw "My Fair Lady," "Doctor Zhivago," "El Cid," "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," and paid an extra 25 or 50 cents to sit in their "Golden Loge" -aka the balcony with a gold fabric head rest on top of the seat -- to see "Lawrence of Arabia" -- Pricing the balcony extra and billing it as "The Golden Loge" was a great marketing idea!

The Waring's sister movie house was the Lyell on Lyell Road in the Lyell Shopping Center -- the theater has been converted into some store - I forget the name -- but I do recall seeing the marquee for "Pete Kelly's Blues" (back in 1955 or 56) and actually seeing a lot of movies there - including "Helen of Troy" with Bridget Bardot in 1956.

Like the Monroe and Riviera -- the theater became a place to show pornographic movies.

Thanks to NittyRanks - I'm going to make a sentimental excursion by the Coronet this week.
I grew up on Sumner Park -- btw.

Per Brian Sharp of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,

Proposed redevelopment of the Monroe Theater block would demolish the back of the building that currently houses Show World to allow for a parking lot -- for a proposed Rite Aid pharmacy next door.

The city expects to begin reviewing the proposal tomorrow. If plans are approved, the controversial adult business that has occupied the theater since 1976 would be gone, officials said.

Neighbors have fought to oust Show World for years, and turn the 1929 theater into a community playhouse or arts center. The front portion of the theater would be saved.

There is no indication yet of what is envisioned for that space. Developer Fred Rainaldi has told city officials only that the use would be commercial. The space opened by demolition would be used for parking.

Rainaldi revised plans after initially proposing to demolish the entire theater. He did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment this morning.

Well that would kind of suck. Why demolish that? A community play house would be perfect for that neighboor hood. They don't need another pharmacy there. A CVS sits just west of it anyway on Goodman street.

Rochester Pete took me to the Monroe to see Lawrence of Arabia. In addition to those mentioned I remember Bridge on the River Kwai, Moonspinners (Haley Mills), Swiss Family Robinson (may have been my first), Green Berets, West Side Story, Longest Day, among others

When I was a teenager we knew an usher who let us in to the x-rated films when we were drinking on Friday nights. One night hwe passed out napkins after we sat down...another night he paged bishop sheen for a telephone call...the guy was funny ...I usually ended up waking up when the movie was over and going to Gitsis fopr something to eat.

The Coronet Theater, located in the 19th Ward on Thurston Road, holds fond memories for me. My father took me to see "The Sting" there with my older brother and the large marquee, which seemed to span the entire sidewalk in front of the theater, was a great place to stay dry if it were raining on walks home for lunch and after school from Our Lady of Good Counsel. If you wanted to brave getting a bit more wet, then a dash to Merrell's 5 and Dime across the side street would end with the buying of a handful of Swedish Fish. I may be incorrect on this but I think the theater slanted in from both sides to form almost a triangle at the stage but I may be wroing on this recollection. I do know that "The Sting" remains one of my favorite movies. Was also wondering if the marquee still stands? When I moved away in the mid-1980s, it may have been vacant after a long run of martial arts films and the like.

Here is a link to an article on the Monroe Theatre from the Rochester Democrat Chronicle.
"Monroe Theatre Had Its Glor Days"
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007701080309

Here is another link:

http://www.rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/NEWS01/702220308/-1/UPDATES

This is a recent photo of the Monroe Theater.

and sadly the theater will be torn down for a drug store - this is really heartbreaking since so many people in Rochester claim they need a 500-700 seat theater for performance -
Here is a link to the story and another photo of the building -

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706210366

A Kohl theater organ was installed in the Monroe Theater in 1927.

I too went to Good Counsel and used to go to the Coronet on Friday nights in the summer, mostly to see Bonnie and Clyde and Bullit. It was torn down 2 or 3 years ago and now its just an empty lot.Louie's and Paul's are gone as is everyhting else of value in the 19th ward.

Yeah well I am surprised The Monroe Theatre could not be saved. Rochester can be it's own enemy sometimes. Louie's building is up for sale.

This is a 2008 photo of the Monroe Theater.

As off 9/24/08 the rear 2/3 of the building (the auditorium portion) is being torn-down. Rochester has now succeeded in ridding itself of all its sizable movie theatres - what a shame! I'll post some pictures at a later date.

Is the whole building coming down, or will the entrance portion be saved and converted to retail? Either way, the status above will have to be changed to demolished since the auditorium is gone.

I am devastated - within minutes of tbear's posting, I went out (at night) to photograph the site.

The curved Cinerama screen with its purple curtain, the old stage (where kids competed for prizes at the Saturday matinees), the six track stereophonic speakers are all rubble now - the only thing that is not lost are the memories I have - which I will post later along with photos to my website.

Rochester needs theaters of this size and they tear them down for a Duane Reade that will only be torn down 10 years from now. How tragic.

Thanks to tbear and Lost Memory for the postings - I will be posting the pics by this weekend.

Answer to Lost Memory: The auditorium is effectively gone. The front of the theatre and the rear-most part of the auditorium structure were saved for ultimate conversion to retail and/or housing and/or office space.

I intend to upload some pictures but "Cinema Treasures" is overhauling their site as I understand it and can't at this time.

Thanks for the information tbear. You could sign up for a free Photobucket account and store your photos there. Then you can post links to those photos in a comment.

View pic

Guys I took some pictures today before work but I did not get the best shots because the construction workers were digging up what appeared to be cement. The auditorium has been ripped off and you can see the projection room. It is pretty sad this was allowed to happen:

http://i34.tinypic.com/2yoa49l.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/9rsz8w.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/w9i4qd.jpg
http://i36.tinypic.com/2nvwft1.jpg

Let me know if these don't come out.
http://i34.tinypic.com/2yoa49l.jpg

Here is a live camera link to the front of the Monroe.

www.rocpic.com

Anybody know the status of the Waring?

http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq14/picroc/MonroeMarquee092008.jpg

more pictures of the Monroe Theatre demolition (taken 9-20-08)
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq14/picroc/MonroeLeftmainOrganGrill092008.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq14/picroc/MonroeDemolitionrightwide092008.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq14/picroc/MonroeAuditoriumLeftWallDetail09200.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq14/picroc/MonroeAuditoriumFront092008.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq14/picroc/MonroeAuditoriumRear092008.jpg

Its so sad to look at these pics. Again Rochester tears down things like they did with the RKO and old train terminal. I can't believe it is allowed to happen. People don't appreciate anything.

They are sad to look at but the photos are nice.

One more reason to never return to Rochester

New life for the Monroe Theater building in Rochester? Seven images taken 9/24/08. #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 and #7.

New life for the Monroe Theater in Rochester? According to some of the previous comments and a friend the Monroe had been completely painted green as recently a July 2008. My images were taken September 24th 2008 and clearly the green is coming off. Notice the the windows have been removed rather than destroyed on the left side and in photo #1/7 the outside brick walls on the front half of the building have an intentional clean vertical cut rather than having been ripped apart. Maybe there is hope for restoration of the building.

Here is another photo of the Monroe when it was still standing.

It makes no sense? Why could they have just let the building alone like it was? Unbelievable.

Has the Monroe now been demolished?

Don...

Look at the photos posted on Sept 29, 2008 and Sept 30, 2008.

I will continue to beleive that at the very least some sort of restoration effort is takng place on the Monroe until someone submits a photo of the vacant lot. tbear's #2 and my #2 and #3 photos clearly show a clean cut in the brick on the front half of the auditorium rather than having been knocked down. And I cannot see why they would start a complete demolition in the middle of the building.

Also in my #7 photo it is obvious that the green paint job has been almost 50% removed (no small job in itself) and also windows have been removed in the front rather than having been knocked out.

Waiting on a photo....

Don

The building was supposed to be demolished and replaced with a Rite Aid. They might not demolish 100% of the building to build the drugstore, but enough of the building will probably be destroyed to change the status above to demolished. We need to hear from someone in the Rochester area about the current status.

They are definitely keeping the facade of the building. They cut off the auditorium, and they have now built a new cement block wall at the back end of what is left of the theater. The paint has all been stripped from the front now. Workers are currently working on the foundation for the Rite Aid drugstore.

Demolition would have been a more dignified end for the Monroe than becoming a drug store.........


Don

This is a photo before it turned green.

Here is another 1985 photo.

Am I the only one who noticed the SNAFU store next door? How fitting for the X rated fare at the Monroe.
Extra credit for the "Dead Head" logo in the store's window. (cue the rim shot) Doh!

A recent photo can be seen here.

Looks good, new windows and all throughout. Shame about the loss of the auditorium though.

To answer Don's 11/08 question, demolition crews often start their demo in the middle of buildings that are being torn down. Even if surrounding structures are not to be saved.
It is a way in which to contain collateral damage, and it creates a bowl like staging area, in which to bulldoze fallen brick & materials into scoopable piles. It also eliminates "cave-ins".

When saving partial buildings or surrounding structures is involved, it allows the crews to sort of shave off from the inside, what might otherwise undermine the structural integrity of everything else. By peeling away layers more delicately. It also prevents damage to the neighboring foundations.

I was there on Saturday nite. The top white frieze? is beautiful and although it was misting out, I managed to snap a few pics of the rear and front. It was pretty cool. Parking is now behind the building.