Stadium Theatre
2180 Third Avenue,
New York,
NY
10035
2180 Third Avenue,
New York,
NY
10035
1 person
favorited this theater
Time has forgotten this neighborhood cinema on Third Avenue at E 119th Street. The Stadium Theatre opened in 1921, and was one of NYC’s first to convert to Spanish-language films (circa 1938-39). More information is needed about its history. A property search suggests that the building was last in retail use as a furniture showroom. It was demolished in the 2000’s
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
Here’s a new link to a 1921 view of the auditorium: View link
Wow, it seemed very long, unless that’s just the type of lens that was used. If not, the screen would have been awfully far away!
Any idea when this theater closed?
The last mention in the New York Times appears to be in 1938.
Google street views show a building at SW corner of the intersection which obviously was once a theatre – lots of decorative brickwork and the entrance facade and stagehouse. Looks like it was gutted decades ago; old-style windows along the auditorium wall which faces the sidwalk. Old entrance now has a laundry with a Furniture Warehouse in the auditorium.
I believe you are correct. I believe it’s the building linked below in Google Street View:
View link
A SUN THEATRE is listed at 2176 Third Avenue in the 1941 Film Daily Yearbook. Could this have been the Stadium?
The following item appeared in the February 26, 1921, issue of The Film Daily:
lostmemory’s comment of July 15, 2008, cits the property record giving the build date of the building as 1921, so it most likely was the Stadium that the item referred to.In views taken from Third Avenue, Google Street View shows a nearly new building on the southwest corner of the intersection, while in views taken from 119th Street it still shows the old building, which has obviously been demolished since those views were taken. The Stadium is no more.
Yes, the corner street view from just inside 119th Street shows the old building and verifies that the building’s last commercial use was as a wharehouse/showroom for Island Furniture, with an address of 2178 Third Avenue per the signage that wrapped around the corner. It also advertised 3 floors of warehouse, so it’s very likely the interior was already gutted long before the building was demolished for the new structure. A temporary sign hung over the awning on Third Avenue, stating “Lost Our Lease Everything Must Go.”
Am I crazy, or does the vintage interior photo posted by Warren on December 10, 2008, show what appear to be a pair of open transom windows at the top of the side wall of the elevated loge seating? Further down along the same wall, in the orchestra section, there may also be sets of windows just below the ceiling. Odd for a purpose-built cinema. If one manipulates the street view down 119th Street, the windows evident along the sidewall of the old building would seem to correspond to the suspected windows seen in Warren’s photo. In the street view, all the glass looks like it was blacked out.