Grand Theatre
1 S. Portage Street,
Westfield,
NY
14787
1 S. Portage Street,
Westfield,
NY
14787
2 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1941, this theater served the town of Westfield, New York. It had seating for 850, all on a single floor. Its last movie was shown in the 1980’s and was sadly demolished in 1994.
Contributed by
David Stear
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Recent comments (view all 152 comments)
Does anyone else in Westfield think that the ridiculous statues of Lincoln and Grace Bedell don’t belong on that site? I really hope old blueprints and plans for the Grand Theater can be found and that some eccentric billionaire decides to remove those statues to some attic or a remote area in some park in Westfield and then rebuilds the Grand Theater. How much did it cost to make and put those stupid statues there when that money could have been used to fix up the theater and at least use it for some alternative purpose? A community recreation center maybe? Who allowed something this stupid?! It’s just more evidence of the cloying, maudlin sentimentality so pervasive in society today. If those statues have to be anywhere why not put them at the site where Lincoln met Grace Bedell instead of adding insult to injury by putting them on the site of a razed theater?!
dstier: Well, your comments do spark interest and concern with me. As you know I have posted many a post on CT about the Grand which is the closest theatre to my heart in all of my theatre interest. I have never met the sculptor artist, Don Sottile, but I have spoken to him over the phone. He is a Westfield native and lives in Penn Yan NY now. I agree with you that it’s a shame that the Grand was razed and that the statues were not put in Moore Park or at the train station where Lincoln actually met Grace. I would like to see the theatre returned to that corner, but suppose it is not a reality in the near future or sadly, ever. I wish I had been living in the county when plans to demolish the theatre were being formed as I would have launched a campaign to Save the Grand. Through my library research I have come to learn many of the names and faces of those involved with the demolition. Part of me would like to hold them accountable, but it wouldn’t bring the theatre back to us. It was a major error and a decision that we all have to live with now. Every small town who still has a theatre in operation are very lucky.
To call the statues, ridiculous may not be the proper word as the statues, themselves, were very well done. The statues at the current location does allow tourists and locals to see them as they pass through town. Yet the bottom line is..that site would not have been chosen had the theatre remained on the corner of N. Portage and Main Street. Had the theatre remained I’m sure the statues would probably have been placed in Moore Park, if not the train depot on English Street.
I don’t know how much the statues cost, but will email Mr. Sottile.
I guess I really don’t have anything against the statues per se, on thinking about them again one realizes that the work put into them must have been appreciable. It’s just the fact that they had to put them there on that site. I think the site where they met would be the better spot. I would like to know, somehow, if tearing down the Grand Theater was put to some kind of popular vote.
dstier: I’m not sure if the decision to raze the Grand was put to some kind of popular vote. My hunch is that it was not. I have spoken to a view people who were around then so I will try to get an answer though I get the sense that many/most don’t want to talk about it. They realize that perhaps the wrong decision was made, but then again hindsight is always 20/20. I believe the Mayor of Westfield at the time was Joseph Pagano. He is deceased so I can’t go to him! I will tell you that I have spoken to Mayor Carr and mentioned the theatre to him. I was able to get him to agree with me that it was a loss for the community. Do you know a Willy Locke? He used to work at the theatre along with Bill Gollintz and Rick Clausen when Bob Mascaro was the manager and later Tom Tetreault. Willy has told me that IF he were to win the lottery he’d rebuild the theatre. And through my volunteer work for the Fenton History Center in Jamestown I have located the blueprints!
Does anyone know if the theater in Mayville was a Blatt Bros theater too?
eileenp: I’m not aware of the Blatt Bros being associated with the May Theatre that was in Mayville, but will try to locate that information.
eileenp: Blatt Bros was associated with the Corry Drive-In in Corry PA as the name is still on the back of the tall screen.
Very Grand at one time.