Park Lane Theater
232 Broad Avenue,
Palisades Park,
NJ
07650
232 Broad Avenue,
Palisades Park,
NJ
07650
1 person
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Listed in the 1941 edition of Film Daily Yearbook, this theater was closed in 1986.
Any additional information on this theater would be greatly appreciated.
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
It was open in 1941 (listed in that year’s edition of F.D.Y. as the Park Lane Theatre with 1,421 seats).
Ad for West Side Story from the early 60s, courtesy of Bill Huelbig:
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Note spelling as Park Lane in the upper left.
In our family we always referred to this theater as “the dollar show”. All seats were $1 well into the 1970’s. I saw “The Omega Man” and “Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?” here, among others.
1971 ad. Note the theater chain “Adams”. Courtesy of Bill Huelbig:
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1959 ad (center – very top) courtesy of Bill Huelbig:
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In 1952 the Park Lane closed for renovations. A new air conditioning plant was installed, and the large louvres in the right and left box areas were left with unfinished plaster borders. The seats, we thought 1,500, were replaced with about 1,200 wider, padded seats offset row by row for better visibility. But more importantly, a new, brighter, wide screen was installed for the coming Cinemascope process, and its proportions fit the proscenium arch perfectly (it was made up of vertical ‘strips’ and could ‘fly’ so the stage was useable, for instance, by Leonia High School graduations.) This was when the “Adams” sign appeared outside over the marquee. First run films were Su-Tu and Wed-Sat, with a weekly kiddy matinee every Saturday. The screen was reportedly the largest in Bergen county, and the 1953 opening of “The Robe” in Cinemascope was a spectacular event.
This large house was gutted and is now a three-story upscale mall featuring small shops and restaurants. It is called the RODEO Shops. It features numerous Korean-oriented shops which reflects the demographics of the town.
There seems to be no visible traces inside the building. The exterior of the building, especially the auditorium facing Henry Avenue, was nicely restored.
It looks like this theater was a twin in the 1980s. Here are two photos:
Photo1
Photo2
Really looks well restored from the outside. Was biking down here and you couldn’t help but notice the building. Restaurants and shops with glass facade. If you make a turn behind it on Brinckerhoff, there’s a driveway directly under the stagehouse with a ramp for the parking garage that’s in the stagehouse (the ramp to the top) and it goes back some. Brilliant adaptive reuse. I liked it a lot.