RKO Proctor's Theater
572-80 Main Street,
New Rochelle,
NY
10801
572-80 Main Street,
New Rochelle,
NY
10801
2 people
favorited this theater
Built in 1927, the Proctor’s Theater that sits on Main Street in New Rochelle now appears to be used for retail and office space. It last operated in the early-1990’s, and had been quadded. It is unknown as to the current state of the interior, however, the exterior has sadly lost its marquee.
Contributed by
MartyNartinez
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Recent comments (view all 33 comments)
On Friday January 26, 1962, the Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly-Joe DeRita) embarked on a three day promotional tour for their latest feature film, THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES. They were accompanied by “The Herculean Giant” (almost 8 foot tall Dave Ballard) and popular DJ Clay Cole, who was one of the stars of the co-feature, TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK.
On Saturday January 27, they appeared at the RKO New Rochelle at 1:05 PM.
The January 8, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine reported that the RKO Proctor’s Theatre had been reseated, reducing capacity to 2,688. Seats in some sections of the main floor had been staggered to improve sight lines, thus reducing the number of seats in alternate rows from 12 to 11. The ends of the 11-seat rows featured extra-wide standards. The theater’s side boxes had been removed at the same time, to enlarge the floor area for regular seating.
Here’s a 1961 ad for “healthfully air-conditioned” RKO Proctor’s:
View link
Several exterior views can be seen here in addition to this one: View link
The RKO, the Scenic and the Town can be seen in this 1969 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/y9rpuhc
Sorry, that’s the Loew’s on the left, not the Scenic.
Here are photos from 1968 and 1983:
http://tinyurl.com/ydc2xsy
http://tinyurl.com/yfjpov6
2009 photo of the Proctor Theatre.
View link
This is practically across the street from the Proctor’s. Narrow lobby, then turn 45 degrees to the right, the auditorium is set at a diagonal. At the Proctor’s, you’d enter and go straight back and then go to the right into the auditorium.
Growing up in New Rochelle in the 50s and 60s, I attended many movies at both Lowes and RKO which were magnificent theaters. The wrought iron work in the RKO made it something special. It’s a shame they were lost to capitalism, they should have been preserved for posterity. Given the resources I would re-build it in a heartbeat!