Stadium Theatre
2180 Third Avenue,
New York,
NY
10035
2180 Third Avenue,
New York,
NY
10035
1 person
favorited this theater
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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.
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.”
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.
A SUN THEATRE is listed at 2176 Third Avenue in the 1941 Film Daily Yearbook. Could this have been the Stadium?
I believe you are correct. I believe it’s the building linked below in Google Street View:
View link
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.
The last mention in the New York Times appears to be in 1938.
Any idea when this theater closed?
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!
Here’s a new link to a 1921 view of the auditorium: View link
I don’t know Al. Property records give the year built for this address as 1921. Currently a furniture store is listed for 2176-2180 Third Avenue. It’s possible that the build date is wrong or the Globe Theater was located in a different building.
A Paramount week ad from 1919 lists a Globe Theatre at 3rd Avenue and 119th St. Could this have been the Stadium?
A Wurlitzer theater organ opus 448 style 135C was installed in the Stadium Theater on 8/24/1921.
Here’s a local.live image of the location. It’s mostly all old buildings that survive on the blocks around 119th St, but can’t place which one may have been the theater. There is one vacant lot on the corner, but everything else remains. Perhaps one of you would have some luck figuring out which one it is. It would be nice to see if the building still exists:
Here’s the link:
View link
The stadium was a Randforce in this 1952 ad for “Room for One More”. That picture Warren posted above is wild. Can you imagine sitting near the back watching a movie in the old 33:1? Had to look like a Sony Watchman :)
View link
In Christmas of 1922 the Stadium joined the wide release of Mary Pickford’s TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY…and I mean wide.
33 runs in Manhattan alone.
The Stadium may have ended its cinematic life with Spanish-language movies, but apparently not under the name of Teatro Hispano. That name was used by the former Mount Morris Theatre (5th Avenue & 116 Street) from 1937 to at least 1953. Prior to that, the Mount Morris had also been known as the Campoamor and then as the Cervantes before becoming Teatro Hispano.
This interior photo is claimed to be of the Stadium Theatre, though I can’t swear that it is. But the stadium design does suit the theatre’s name. The distance from the projection booth to screen must have been considerable:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/stadium21.jpg