Stillwell Theatre
2402 86th Street,
Bensonhurst,
Brooklyn,
NY
2402 86th Street,
Bensonhurst,
Brooklyn,
NY
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I do remember the flea markets in the 70’s….was dragged there as a boy. I remember being interested in the “oldness” of the place, would walk around and explore. The sign was still up then: “Roll a Rama”.
The Roller-Rama had flea markets on Sundays, circa 1976 ? 1977 ? Anyone remember ?????????????
Don’t they always tell you it’s against the law to yell “fire!” in a crowded theater?
http://tinyurl.com/yglx77
The Bowling alley was on the sceond floor. The alley was destroyed in a fire that somehow did not damage the rest of the building.
Roll-o Rama was at one time a Roller Rink and a Bowling alley. My mother spent many an evening there calling Bingo for an organization she was with. She would come home smelling like cigarettes.
A C/O was issued for a new building at this address on March 13, 1928. Purpose of building is a 1785 seat motion picture theater. The architect was Charles A. Sandblom.
When the bowling alley was put in all the theatre decor was taken out. I bowled there also. The alley was destroyed in a fire in the late 1970’s and was never rebuilt.
I do not remember the Stillwell as a movie theater, but when it was a roller scating rink there was a lot of the theater left inside. Even though all the seats were gone, the decorative plaster work around the fire exit doors and the oval shaped domed celing(wich resembled a UFO to this ten year old) were dead giveaways to its movie house origin.Cannot say for sure if there was a balcony due to the many renovations that were done to it over the years.There seems to be no evidence of a fire escape outside.IN n the early 60s a second floor was added, probably at a great expense to the owners and a bowling alley called Bowl A Rama opened. One of the better alleys in the neighborhood, I bowled there for my high school team in 68 and 69.One day our team recieved free passes for two people to any Loews theater in Brooklyn. It was in April 68. I took my younger brother to the 46th st to see the movie The Bible. It was no 10 Commandments, but an interesting film based on the book of Genesis. The director, John Huston played Noah in the deluge sequence. Some old timers who remember the Stillwell told me the nickname of this theater was the Stinkwell. Not a good name!
Thanks YankeeMike, I remember for years after the United Skates closed the star symbol logo was visible on the side of the roof. Does anybody remember going here when it was the Stillwell Theatre?
Originally it was called the Brooklyn Roll-O Rama. They also held wrestling shows there from the 50’s thru the 70’s. It then closed for a few years in the early 80’s and reopened under the name you saw. It was only a roller rink under this name for a few years.
When this theatre was a roller rink, it was called “United Skates of America”. I think Consumers took over the roller rink area as a storage space when they opened in the late 80’s. The Genovese Drug Store (now Eckerd) opened in late 83.
I was in this theatre after it was converted to a roller rink. Originally you could see the theatre ceiling and interior walls. In the mid 1960’s they put in a second floor for a bowling alley and destroyed all the remaining movie decor.
This theatre was called Stillwell, not The Stillwell. Situated at 2402 86th Street, it had 1,800 seats.
Anyone know if this was the theatre that was converted to a roller skating rink. (The Brooklyn Roll-o-Rama)?