Hudson Theatre

Ron Newman on May 24, 2010 at 1:09 am

In the Google Cache for this page, I find all of these old comments. I do not understand why CinemaTreasures decided to delete them:

Here is a photo of the Hudson, taken during the summer of 2006:
View link
posted by monika on Mar 29, 2008 at 2:50pm

When was this last used as a movie theatre? I do not remember any ads for a theatre with this name when I lived in Columbus (1968-75).
posted by Ron Newman on Mar 29, 2008 at 9:15pm

Ron,
I have no idea. I lived in Columbus for a few years and it was never in use and looked as if it hadn’t been in use for quite some time. There were wooden crosses and a church services sign on the building at that time, which can be seen in the photo I liked above. The only information I have been able to get for this theatre is it’s name, though that is from no lack of trying.
posted by monika on Mar 31, 2008 at 8:35am

I went to a film there in the late ‘60’s. A real barn of a room…long and narrow. Nothing to get excited about…actually a rather dull place.
posted by MarkL on Jul 2, 2008 at 11:47am

As of February 2009, this building is still there and just as derelect as in the photo in the link above. Hasn’t been torn down yet.
posted by ZookieFreddie on Feb 22, 2009 at 8:52pm

The Hudson hasnt been used as a theater since at least the mid 70s. Even when used as a church the building looked derelict and abandoned. Its situated on a narrow lot hemmed in between a used parking lot and a house with little, if any, parking. (might be a few spaces behind the bldg) I suspect that’s why no one has bought and redeveloped the property. A real eyesore. The only activity there is from a bus stop in front of the building.
posted by TJ on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:43am

I meant it was next to a used car lot, not a parking lot. LOL.
posted by TJ on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:45am

The Hudson did have a decent sized marquee when I first moved to Columbus in 1982. The theatre was never operated as a movie theatre from 1982 on. So, given MarkL’s comment, it most likely closed sometime between 1965 and 1982.

I’m not sure, but I believe the marquee fell off the building in the mid-80’s.
posted by dn on May 24, 2009 at 11:09am

The theater looks even worse since I posted on here. Now there is a beat up couch sitting in the outside lobby area near the sidewalk. The front of the theater is filthy. What an eyesore! I know the theater hasn’t been open since the mid to late 70’s at least.
posted by TJ on May 25, 2009 at 4:46pm

According to Phil Sheridan, in Those Wonderful Downtown Theaters, The Hudson opened in 1931.

It was a neighborhood theaters for most of its life but showed exploitation and porn in the late 60s-early 70s.

I don’t know when it closed.

posted by DAKCMH on Jul 21, 2009 at 6:30pm

the auditors website shows husdson amusement co. in 1957 (not saying thats when it opened), starray corp in 1970, 1976 WEST TOWN STREET BETHLEHEM. now owned by “working for jesus” since 2001.
posted by retroguy on Feb 23, 2010 at 3:11pm

I dug a little deeper into those county records. (Thanks, Retroguy.)

First, the address listed above can not be correct. In Columbus, even numbers are on the north side of the street, and odd on the south. The Hudson is on the south side. The county site lists the address as 367 Hudson Street.

The property was first developed in 1920. The first indication of a theatre was in 1944, when the Ohio National Bank took over the property. A notation from 1948 indicates a “theatre”.

No real definite data, there, but something to check in the newspaper archives.
posted by MarkL on Feb 23, 2010 at 4:47pm

this theater is always being spray painted. good news someone also paints over it with blue soon after. i drove past one day last summer and saw the guy painting over the graffiti with the front door to the theater open.
posted by retroguy on Feb 23, 2010 at 6:15pm

my grandpa said he had been in the theater and remembered eating spaghetti next door after roller skating.
posted by retroguy on Feb 23, 2010 at 6:18pm

mld20 on July 11, 2010 at 7:35 am

Saw some horror matinees & In Search of the Castaways in the early 1960s there. Don’t remember it as anything special.

LLLower on September 29, 2010 at 4:19 am

The Last Man on Earth (1964). Vincent Price could deliver the most campy lines and make them perfectly believable. My older brother drove me to the Hudson Theater to see that movie and he parked at the curb directly in front of the entrance. I got out under the marquee, which extended almost to the street. By my memory it was a pleasant and simple theater. Not to far away were the Indianola, the Clinton, and farther north the Beechwold. Today only one of these operates as a movie theater. Before automobiles were common there were movie theaters. As automobiles became ubiquitous theaters were renamed as neighborhood theaters. I was told that the interurban line ran close to the Hudson. LLLower

Eliza on November 1, 2010 at 9:31 pm

I recently called the owner, Working for Jesus, trying to get a hold on the pastor. No luck. Wonder who might have gone inside the theater/ church before. Very curious how the church reused it.