Rockland Theatre
36 North Broadway,
Nyack,
NY
10960
36 North Broadway,
Nyack,
NY
10960
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The Rockland Theatre was located at 36 North Broadway opened in 1928 and closed in 1967. It was demolished in 1978.
It was located north of Main Street, though it was quite large and had a fancy entrance with a huge awning with flashing lightbulbs, it didn’t draw as much attention as other theatres in the county. I heard that it had an 8 rank Wurlitzer in the theatre.
Contributed by
Kato Hetch
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According to a theater organ list, the Rockland Theater in Nyack, NY had a Wurlitzer organ opus 1760 style “F” installed on 10/20/1927. Status of organ: Sold.
I found a website with some information on Nyack theaters. I tried to link to the page but the link will not work. The information was given by Jim Leiner. This is the portion concerning the Rockland Theater.
The Rockland Theater was located at 50 North Broadway. It was a massive building on the west side of Broadway occupying most of the block between High and First Avenues. With seats for 1,700 customers and decorated with a Spanish flair, the theater opened May 16, 1928, with the silent film The High School Hero, staring Nick Stuart & Sally Phipps. Admission was 11¢. The first “talkie” to play in the theater was The Lights of New York.
The manager was Arthur J. Phillips. Organist Jack Taylor played The Star & Strips Forever, the first tune on the huge Wurlitzer Pipe Organ. William Motto, who learned his trade at the old Lyceum, was Rockland’s projectionist when it opened. Over the years the following men managed the theater: Arnold Childhouse, who went on to a career with United Artists, Hugh Finnegan, Billie Burke, Elton Lewis Sr., Leo Ardavany, who managed the theater for fifteen years, and finally Charles Santora.
During World War II, the local USO Club was located across Broadway and the theater became recreation time for G.I.s headed overseas. More than 5 million dollars of War Bonds were sold at the Rockland Theater when the admission price was 14¢. It was closed November 7, 1967, mainly due to the lack of parking and the opening of multiplex theaters in the malls. The building was demolished in 1978.
This is a cached version of the page that the above information comes from. It isn’t pretty but if it works, you will have the source for the above information.
The opening comment could not be more untrue. The Nyack Rockland theater was the showplace of rockland county. Many broadway shows were tested there and it was one of the most beautiful movie house in the north. I will be posting soon my own memories of this palace with photos I took before it was taken down in 1978. John babcock
The year given for this photo is 1970.