Cooperstown Theatre
137 Main Street,
Cooperstown,
NY
13326
137 Main Street,
Cooperstown,
NY
13326
3 people
favorited this theater
The Cooperstown Theatre was originally opened as Smalley’s Theatre. I was in Cooperstown from 1970-77; the theater was one of the Main Street activities available. With two showings each evening, the theater had a main seating area on the first floor and a balcony that was closed for the entire time I was there. There was a center ticket window outside, with double doors on either side admitting one into an interior lobby area. Another set of double doors led to the inner lobby and snack bar. There were restrooms on either side just under the stairs to the balcony. Two doors led to the two aisles down a slope toward the stage. The stage looked as if it had originally been constructed for stage shows.
I have quite a few schedule brochures from the theater. The loss in the 1980’s was a tragic one for the town, which has in the years since lost just about everything from Main Street except for the omnipresent baseball souvenir shops. A pity.
Contributed by
Stuart Gitlow
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
This theatre is, what would you expect, a large Baseball souvinier store. I was there in the summer and nothing remains inside that resembels a theatre. They flattened out the floor by building over it and added a 2nd level to it in the back.
This would have been a great theatre for showing baseball films during the day and main features at night, as there is no theatre close by.
I visited Cooperstown in 1963 when I was 9 years old. The night we arrived it was raining, so my parents took me to see Haley Mills in “Summer Magic”. It might have been this theatre.
Here is a 2007 photo.
I passed through Cooperstown and drove down Main Street and saw this theater cum Souvenier store. I thought the exact same thing that Jeff Arellano thought. What a perfect venue to show Baseball themed movies, documentaries, hall of fame stuff by day and first run films by night. But no……
At least they preserved the outside which is a handsome facade.
It’s a shame since I was just in Lake Placid a week ago and they have a beautiful theater right on Main Street that brings the street alive. It’s a great sight and though the Palace theater has been multiplexed the theater appears to have kept most of its architectural features intact.
As a whole though, Cooperstown looked to be a beautiful little town and next time I’m in the area I’ll spend some time there.
I bought baseball cards here:)
I saw many movies here before it closed in November, 1987. I was young and impressionable then, just a kid learning to love film. This place had a huge influence on me. I remember seeing E.T., Return Of The Jedi, Harry & The Hendersons, The Aristocats, Transformers: The Movie, The Great Mouse Detective, and Pinocchio. I also recall posters for Predator and The Black Cauldron. And even though it was technically called “The Cooperstown Theater,” everyone in town still called it “Smalley’s.”
The theater’s closure in ‘87 was a huge loss to the community but it just couldn’t compete with the mall theater in Oneonta in terms of new releases. As well, the first video stores were starting to open so the writing was on the wall, I guess. The son of the last owner still projected films from time-to-time in our High School afterward. I remember attending a screening of “The Soldier Of Orange” that he held at a local church.
The marquee is still there, lit up at night, though it is starting to look old and a little run-down. It’s a shame the Baseball Hall Of Fame didn’t step in and save it, use it to run baseball films or something, instead letting get gutted and turned into another tourist trap souvenir stand.