Loew's Pitkin Theatre

Today at 11am marks the 82nd anniversary of the grand opening of Loew’s Pitkin. “Feast your eyes on this newest Loew wonder-theatre— a Castilian castle of surpassing beauty,” said an ad in The New York Times. On screen was MGM’s all-talking “So This Is College.” The stage presentation, originally created for the Capitol Theatre in midtown Manhattan, was “Cafe de Paree,” with music played by the Pitkin’s resident Symphony Orchestra…The opening date in this listing’s introduction needs to be corrected.

Thanks again Brad.

At least the Loews Pitkin building will become a school,they could tear the building down all together,I think it would be nice for me to go to a school that was once a movie palace.Large movie houses have always been “Creepy” in a good way.

my memories are of the sign outsideduring the summer saying how cool it was inside&boy was it cool!!,what a beautiful building to be cool and watch the latest Jerry Lewis movie, what a sin its present condition

The pitkin theater oh what memories . lived in Brownsville 1946 -1991. I was reading what everyone was saying about brownsville, it brought me to tears, because all we had to worry about is being kids. Sylvia wrote about the schools she went to,my sisters went to 84, my brother 66, I also went p.s.175 and surely remember kishe king.I went to J.H.S 263 on Chester St,when graduating from the 9th grade graduation was held at loews pitkin. The ceremony was so beautiful from the ambience of the theater. There was no such thing as cap and gown, the girls wore white dresses and the boys dark suits, when the organ played pomp and circumstanceand we marched out everyone felt like kings and queens. Brownsville had so many movies on saturdays we had the biggest arguments there was four of us and everybody wanted to go to a different movie, I was the youngest so Ididn’t care which ever one they picked they had to take me anyway.
Glad I became a member of cinema treaure the nostagia is off the hook ( have teenage grand children)

The NY Times posted a correction to the article I posted above on October 1; the reporter told me that the erroneous information was given to her by the architect of the redevelopment project.

You are correct; the clouds were projections from a cloud machine known as a Brenograph Jr. Dry ice?? Just goes to show you that some reporters will write about something they know nothing about.

I deplore the way in which the truth gets twisted by the press, as in the case of “Al Jolson’s last performance.” To the best of my knowledge, Al Jolson performed only once at Loew’s Pitkin, and that was just for a few minutes as part of a whirlwind p.a. tour of key Loew’s houses in 1949. Jolson died a year later, in October, 1950, and kept performing right up to the end. It’s possible that Jolson’s performance at the Pitkin was his last of that particular day, or of the Loew’s circuit tour, but nothing more significant than that.

Here is an article that I just found:

Showtime for School in Rundown Brownsville Theater
East | 7.29.10 | Matt Chaban

Where Al Joelson once performed, students will soon learn. (Courtesy POKO Partners)
Like many outlying parts of the city, Brownsville fell hard from its turn-of-the-century grandeur, with decaying reminders of its former greatness. Among them is the Loews Pitkin Theater, once home to the likes of Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle, Humphrey Bogart, and Al Joelson’s last performance, as well as thousands of eager movie goers. The building has been closed since 1969â€"until last week, when a ground breaking was held for a new charter school and retail complex. Curbed and Brownstoner were among those in attendance, and they got some pretty amazing pictures of the building’s decrepit interiors (see some after the jump). We’ve since been sent the above rendering by the developers, POKO Partners, who are working with Kitchen & Associates, a firm based in Collingswood, New Jersey on the renovation.

Something tells us they should have no trouble finding space for an auditorium. (Will Femia/Courtesy Curbed) According to POKO, the project will mesh what remains of the building’s sumptuous Art Deco interiors with high-tech, sustainable features, creating something at once historic and cutting edge. The base of the building will house some 70,000 square feet of retail with a 90,000-square-foot, 1,100-seat elementary and middle school above, run by Ascend Learning. The project is expected to be completed in the next 18 months. “The Loews Pitkin Theater is exciting because it embodies POKO¹s core values of revitalizing neighborhoods and enhancing communities through positive and responsible real estate development,” POKO President and CEO Ken Olson said in a release.

This is good news, the interior by the look of the photos is a total wreak. The roof is missing and the elements have taken their toll. At least the exterior will be cleaned and preserved and that is great. Much better than demolition which is usually the case with old buildings whose interiors have rotted away.

John, thanks for your comment. I was about the express the very same sentiment. Nowhere in the article does it say how the school will be incorporated into the site, but I assume it will be done in the same way as the RKO Bushwick. The Pitkin exterior is still beautiful and should be preserved. Unfortunately, from what I have read, the interior is just to far gone for any restoration. Overall, this is great news for the old Pitkin.

This webpage has a number of photos of Loew’s Pitkin; my apologies if any of them have been posted before: View link