Franklin Park Theatre
616 Blue Hill Avenue,
Dorchester,
MA
02124
616 Blue Hill Avenue,
Dorchester,
MA
02124
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 26 comments found
I was just talking with a friend about the Franklin Park a couple of days ago. It was two blocks from our home on Walcott St. I started going to Saturday matinees with my friends when I was almost 7. Films I saw there: “Invaders From Mars,” “The Mysterians,” “Not of This Earth,” “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad,” “It Came from Beneath the Sea,” “Old Yeller,” “The Ten Commandments,” “Tammy and the Bachelor.” It’s also where I was introduced to Jujubes.
This theater is currently classified as Gothic Revival in style, but the round arch, dentilated cornice, fanlights in the doors and all are Classical elements. Was the interior Gothic? Funk & Wilcox usually favored the Adamesque or Italian Renaissance styles for theater interiors during this period.
The Franklin Park’s facade is very similar to that of the Strand Theatre in Columbia Street, which was also designed by Funk & Wilcox, and has the same sort of “triumphal arch” entrance. In fact, of the five Funk & Wilcox houses for which Cinema Treasures has either photos or street views available, all have designs firmly rooted in Classicism.
I went by the theater today to take some photos, and thankfully it’s still standing and still looks great on the outside. There is clearly some fire damage around the old fire escape doors and vent but it looked great for what happened to it.
The old painted sign on the wall facing Columbia Road is still intact. “Franklin Park Theatre” and “Vaudeville” are faint but legible, amazing considering their decades of exposure.
In a 1918 Boston street directory, the Franklin Park Theatre is listed at 618 Blue Hill Avenue, east side of street, south of Columbia Road.
Well, in November 2010, they are listed in the on-line yellow pages at 616 Blue Hills Avenue, the address of the former theatre. I hope this means they have been able to repair the damage and move back.
Sheryl
Just rediscovered this site after several years. Thanks to you & Ron for the info about the Magnet Theater. While I remember going there, the name doesn’t ring a bell, but it was soooo long ago.
Do you still live in Cape Coral? I’ve been in Ft. Myers since ‘04. If you’d like to talk more about Dorchester, please contact me at
David
anyone remember CHARLE the door man at Franklin Park Theatre
My name is Marty Crichton and i grew up at the Franklin Park Theatre.
My farther Charlie worked there as a doorman. I would like to hear from anyone who remebers him or myself.
reas
More info: Boston Herald has related articles that you can link to from the one above (links on right). One of them:
View link
has a good photo from the back of the auditorium showing ceiling to be intact. The sunlight I referred to in my previous post may simply be from the media lighting. Fire officials are suspecting arson.
I certainly hope the insurance settlement is generous so they can restore this wonderful place.
One of the newspaper articles said that this was first called the Pilgrim Theatre, something I’d never heard anywhere else. Does anyone know if this is accurate?
The Boston Globe article (linked above) has a better picture shoring the roscenium and left side wall. It is definitely restorable – the decorative plasterwork is singed, but largely intact, although sunlight is clearly coming in through the parts of the roof that collapsed.
The Boston Fire Department now says this fire started in multiple locations and was deliberately set.
The Boston Sunday Herald today has an article about the fire written by Laura Crimaldi which twice refers to “the Web site CinemaTreasures.org.” There is a photo taken inside yesterday which shows the stepped boxes on the right auditorium wall. The interior was damaged by the fire but not destroyed. The congregation will meet next door at 618 Blue Hill Avenue where the church kitchen is located. They are awaiting word from their insurer before making plans “about the site’s future”. This article, on page 2, also quotes the Boston Fire Dept. spokesman as estimating the damage at $250K. There was a choir rehearsal in the church which ended about 8PM on Friday night, and the fire alarm was struck at 120AM on Saturday morning.
A longer Boston Globe article on the fire. $250,000 in damage, ouch.
The article says that in the 1960s, the theatre was called the Robert Gould Shaw House, “hosting theater productions and big name performers such as Ike and Tina Turner.”
The former Franklin Park Theatre, now home to New Fellowship Baptist Church, was seriously damaged in a 5-alarm fire early this morning.
The old painted FRANKLIN PARK THEATRE signs, though faded, are still quite visible and readable on this building.
Anyone know how many former Dorchester movie theatre buildings are still standing?
The ones I know about:
Franklin Park Theatre – now a church
Strand Theatre – now a live stage
Dorchester Theatre aka Park Cinema – now a Radio Shack and single-room-occupancy apartments
Oriental Theatre – now an electrical supply store and warehouse
Are there others now standing empty, or serving other uses?
The Magnet Theatre was at 301 Washington St. in Dorchester. It had quite an impressive facade, and over 1400 seats.
My mother seems to remember the name of the theater that gave away dishes as “The Magnet”??
The Franklin Park Theatre was at 616 Blue Hill Avenue. It’s a church now, and occasionally can be seen in TV news footage, since there have twice been shootings near it recently. The Liberty Theatre was nearby, but I don’t have the street number. The architects for teh Franklin Park were Funk & Wilcox, and it opened about 1914. I have 1390 seats. The MGM Theatre Photograph & Report form for this theatre has a photo dated April 1941. There is a triangle marquee with 4 lines of black letters on white background. What looks like the M&P herald is at the apex of the triangle. Movies are “Virginia” and Road Show". There are 3 pairs of double doors. The Report states that the house has been presenting MGM product for less than 5 years; That it’s in Fair condition, and is a “Nabe”, and the seats are 784 on the main floor, and 608 in the balcony; total: 1390.
David – I just found this site and after living in Dorchester through the 50’s and 60’s, I find we are now neighbors in Florida. I am in Cape Coral. Anyway, I do remember Lakin’s Candy Store and the Field Drug at the corner of Harvard St. and Talbot Ave. I can ask my parents about your other questions as they may remember.
I remember the Franklin Park Theater as well as the Morton & the Oriental from their heyday in the 50s.
Does anyone remember the name of the cafeteria which was located where Harvard St. & Talbot Ave joined up with Blue Hill Ave? And while I’m at it, does anyone remember the name of the street that was later named Ansel Rd. at the corner of the G&G.
There also was a theater on Washington St. near the four corners – where Harvard St. came into Washinton St. Don’t remember its name, but do remember that they frequently gave away dishes as a way to encourage business.
David Aiken, Fort Myers, FL
From the Boston Globe City Weekly, March 17, 2002:
Q. Can you find someone who will prove me right when I say that in the 1940s there was a theater on Blue Hill Avenue named the Liberty? I am not referring to the Oriental or the Franklin Park theaters. – R.S., Miami Beach.
A. Before, during, and after the 1940s, the Liberty Theatre, complete with a small white screen and a Wurlitzer Pipe Organ, was open for business on Blue Hill Avenue near Franklin Field. After it closed, the building was used as a church for many years. One Liberty Theatre fan recalls that performances in Yiddish would be featured there and, he says, if they apeared to have staying power, they would be moved up the avenue to the larger Franklin Park theater near Columbia Road.
From a Boston Globe obituary for Edward I. Milden, founder of the Grove Hall Cafeteria, published March 31, 1987:
Actors and actresses would come to the Grove Hall Cafeteria after performing at the Franklin Park Theater, which before becoming a movie theater, was a Yiddish Vaudeville Theater. Present-day performers such as comedian Norm Crosby freqeunted the cafeteria when in Boston.
The Dorchester Athenaeum website says:
Franklin Park Theatre, on Blue Hill Avenue at Ellington Street, close to Columbia Road, originally a Yiddish theatre, the actor who starred in Fiddler on the Roof (Zero Mostel?) played in this theatre.
Some photos:
Blue Hill Avenue in 1932, with theatre on right (second photo)
Theatre is now a church (second photo)