Senator Theatre

JodarMovieFan, the Facebook group with prior owner has recently commented, that’s where I read of planned May reopening which they mentioned (and so I amended the Intro above).

There’s thesenatortheatre and true friends of the senator on Facebook. The truefriends facebook page seems more aligned with the previous owner and the group organized to save the theater prior to its ownership transfer. There has been no comments since Nov 2012.

The other facebook page appears to be the one run by the current owners, as there are about 11 pics posted on the renovation.

I wished they could have enlarged the screen from 40, to say 60'. Nostalgia sentiments aside, it doesn’t compete with the IMAX-lite auditoriums, although the sound system they had was killer nevertheless. Digital projection should be excellent here.

Although I didn’t add my name to the cluster of contributors to the Intro above, I wrote the language that says 3 auditoriums are being ADDED in addition to the original auditorium. No constriction whatsoever is being made on the original auditorium. Facebook has at least 2 sites, one from the prior owner, one from new owner. Both have photos.

Are they leaving the original auditorium intact as a single screen or are they ruining it by cutting it up?

Upon closer inspection of the remodel schematics, the mens room appears have the same number of urinals/stalls..maybe there’s an additional one or two. With the additional screens and traffic, they have to have bigger restrooms. When the place sells out, prior to the remodel, there would be lines out the door. One or two more urinals isn’t going to help much at all.

On the other hand, there isn’t anything to show what they are doing to the upper level. Before, they had it available for private party rentals. I imagine they are keeping at least the old crying rooms for rentals. It would have been nice to have made little balconies for all the auditoriums.

Bigger question: Why does the Senator’s interior, bearing little resemblance to its original appointments, listed on, and protected by Baltimore’s Historic Landmark register while the Parkway Theatre’s interior goes begging? The Parkway has much more original detail, albeit it in deplorable, but eminently restorable condition. Neither of the two development teams currently being evaluated to “restore” the Parkway are giving much indication that they plan to return the interior to its original, or even 1926 configuration. The Parkway desperately needs this additional layer of protection and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get it. See http://www.parkwaytheatre.com

Here’s a side view of the auditiorium in a 1940 trade ad: Boxoffice

I’m really curious in knowing what the theater’s sound/digital projector system will get installed in the renovation

(from the aforementioned article):

Here, in part, is one Kiefaber posted Sunday morning:

“The bevy of overlapping emotions that flow through me on a daily basis, exfoliating from a deep well of frustration and misunderstanding, are compounding as I witness a dear family loved one be torn asunder and into pieces, without anesthesia,” he wrote. “The screams haunt my days and nights. All that I can do of late at sunset, is wander the site of the day’s carnage, searching for any recognizable bits and pieces of skin and flesh, or chunks of snarled innards, respectfully collecting them each day for proper internment.”

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one word: cuckoo…

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I know it’s probably been noted before Jodar, but I know at one point extra subwoofers were added to the Senator’s sound system in 1998 for Roland Emmerich’s ‘Godzilla’ remake.

Don’t quote me but I think the installation of the 8-SDDS sound system debuted with ‘Episode I: The Phantom Menace’

Talk about teeny, tiny, little shoe box size theaters! More like screening rooms. I thought there was going to be just two screens added, but three?? The largest of the three has about 74 seats. I’m curious if they’re going to go all out and have decent sound systems without having them bleed over into the adjoining auditoriums. Or, imagine if sound from the main one were to bleed into the others. Not good.

Don’t quote me on this, but I had thought at the time of Episode One, back in ‘99, they were boasting the main auditorium had 40K watts of power, which would put it on par with the AMC’s ETX sound theater at Tysons Corner, VA. From my theatrical experiences here, I can still remember quite an aural experience..being compelled to 'move out of the way’ during the asteroid scene in Episode II; the Martian attack on earth in the ‘War of the Worlds’ remake, the Oliphant attack in the final ‘Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ and when Count Dooku uses the force to hurl Obi-Wan Kenobi from the left of the screen towards the back right.

OK are they going to carve up the beautiful main auditorium or just add screens ina na adjoining building?

Jodar: I believe that a hallmark of early moviegoing experience was loud and obnoxious behavior. I’m not condoning it but pissing off the balcony was common for matinees where the audience was mainly kids. If you want to recapture early moviegoing experience you will not object to comments and heckling.

The new operators have received initial zoning board approval to build a second screening room, a tapas restaurant, and a creperie; they must also get the approval of the historical commission: View link