Columbia Theater
1014 Beach 20th Street,
Far Rockaway,
NY
11691
1014 Beach 20th Street,
Far Rockaway,
NY
11691
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This was an old vaudeville house, and opened in 1913. Turned to a movies policy most likely in the 1930’s. When the Mott Street area declined, so did the movie attendance here, and this theater shut its doors. The theater has been demolished.
Contributed by
philipgoldberg
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
The RKO Columbia Theatre seated 1350 people.
The Columbia Theatre had Edgar T. Hovell as architect and first opened in July 1913 as a vaudeville house under B.S. Moss management, which explains how it eventually became part of the RKO Circuit. In its first decades, the Columbia also had an outdoor roof theatre seating 1,100. In 1970, an “indie” took over the Columbia and re-named it the Town, but the theatre closed several years after that and was demolished. Its address was 1014 Beach 20th Street. The only Far Rockaway theatre on Mott Avenue was the 585-seat Gem, at street number 1920.
Here are two 1944 views of the Columbia, which was the lesser of the two RKO theatres in Far Rockaway. The double-feature programs usually originated on the Loew’s circuit. In this image, “Cover Girl” was supported by “The Whistler,” both Columbia releases. Unlike the larger RKO Strand, which was all on one floor with stadium seating at the rear, the Columbia had a conventional balcony:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/127-2771_IMG.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/127-2773_IMG.jpg
Nice photos Warren. I remember walking past this theater many times in the early 60’s when I went to the beach in Far Rockaway. I never went inside to see a movie though. If the address above is correct, this building is gone. The only current addresses close to this one are 1008 and 1018 Beach 20th Street. There is now a vacant lot listed at the 1018 address.