RKO Keith's Richmond Hill
117-09 Hillside Avenue,
Richmond Hill,
NY
11418
117-09 Hillside Avenue,
Richmond Hill,
NY
11418
18 people
favorited this theater
Located in the Richmond Hill section of Queens. The former RKO Keith’s Richmond Hill Theater opened in March 1929 with Radio-Keith-Orpheum Vaudeville on stage and the talkie movie “Strange Cargo”. It later showed second-run fare and double bills.
The RKO Keith’s Richmond Hill Theatre closed on June 25, 1968. Since then it has been used as a bingo hall and flea market.
Contributed by
philipgoldberg
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Recent comments (view all 518 comments)
I forgot about perhaps one of the best church conversions…. the 175th St in Manhattan….now the United Palace.
Other big church conversions: Loews Metropolitan in Brooklyn,Loews Elmwood in Queens, The Hollywood in Manhattan, and The Stanley in Jersey City! All are restored and, I believe, intact.
While I know others would disagree, I found conversions to discos highly succesful in many high profile efforts. Who can forget the amazing Studio 54 (Gallo Opera House), The Saint (Loews Commodore), Club USA (The Forum), Palladium (Academy of Music), Xenon (Henry Miller), Bond’s International Casino (International Casino). These clubs stand out as among the most illustrious in New York’s history. There was something incredibly special about dancing under the amazing archtecture that these theaters provided. In most cases, these theaters were saved for many years after they would have been torn down as a result of their successful turns as discoteques. Unfortunately, only one, Studio 54, is still around for us to enjoy today as it has been successfully returned to live theater. All of the others, sadly, have been demolished.
I also have to add, that I never saw any of these theaters while they were actually showing films. But I was able to enjoy and admire them many times during my “disco” years. I couldn’t even pick a favorite as each was spectacular in its own way; particularly The Palladium, Club USA and of course, The Saint!
Was Roseland in Manhattan a theater at one time? I have been in there a few times for concerts, and it seems like it may have been a theater at one time.
And of course there’s the Hammerstein Ballroom, still used for concerts, with the seats ripped out, but still has a lot of it’s theater features. I think it was the Manhattan Opera House.
Roseland was once a ice skating rink and later converted to a roller skating rink.
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A marquee photo as flea market can be seen near the end of the final installment of this multi-part article about Myrtle Avenue:
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What a shame the new owners of the building decided to take the historic RKO Keiths name off the marquee that was restored about 10 years ago.
So it has been over a year since the last posting on this theater. It appears nothing has changed, which I guess is good as that means it is still there and maintaining itself as a flea market. The RKO Keiths, along with the Loew’s Canal in Manhattan have got to be the largest and most promising of the unrenovated theaters in Manhattan. Unfortunately, the location of the Keiths makes it unlikely that the money will be spent to properly restore it. Ironically, it is the location that has allowed it to last this long relatively undisturbed.
Has someone already mentioned the old days when stars came in support of their films? I remember seeing Judy Garland plugging “Gay Purree.” Jahn’s ice cream parlor next door was an added aatraction.