Parthenon Theatre
329 Wyckoff Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
329 Wyckoff Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
6 people
favorited this theater
Located in the Ridgewood section of Queens. The Parthenon Theatre was a neighborhood house a few blocks away from the RKO Madison Theatre. It opened around 1920 with seating for 1,700. In later years it played move-overs from the Ridgewood Theatre and Madison Theatre and mostly sub-run double bills.
Contributed by
RobertR
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 315 comments)
As an update, I just wanted you to know that, at its most recent meeting, the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals unanimously voted to award the special permit that will enable the owners of the old Parthenon to operate a 24 hour a day gym on this site. The only pertinent condition placed upon the approval was that the owner must vigorously work to combat the graffiti problem that has long plagued this building. (This has been a REAL problem.) While the possible restoration of the old facade was not addressed, there is no reason why it should not be – and very good reasons why it should – as the project proceeds toward implementation. Hopefully the local community board,the press – and whoever else – will register their concerns and recommendations here. Stay tuned.
Thanks, John. I never knew the Parthenon as a theater, only as a bowling alley, Parthenon Lanes, in 1961. My mom and I would stop in there after eating lunch at Koletty’s nearby to spend the time before I had to back at St. Brigid School nearby at 12:45 PM for first grade.
I remember liking those big thick bowling pencils.
I must have walked by the Parthenon thousands of times on the way home from St. Brigid’s, both for lunch, and for the day, yet I do not recall when it stopped being Parthenon Lanes. It would have been some time between September 1961 and June 1969 when I graduated St. Brigid.
If you know when it stopped being Parthenon Lanes, please e-mail me. Thanks.
See you at Wilson Avenue station Saturday May 5 2012 at high noon.
Graffiti is not just a problem on ground level, the roof level has a severe problem with graffiti too, and it’s been up there for decades, people can see it with every M train that passes the building, it should be removed up there too.
Interesting updates. I’m wondering if anyone knows whether the Parthenon was built from scratch or if they renovated the brick trolley barn that sat in this location.
Tapeshare, my guess is that the Parthenon was probably a new construction project that replaced the former buildings on this site. Certainly, the distinctive Greek arch could only have been constructed with the new theater’s name in mind. Still, situations did and do exist where the walls of the previous building are not demolished but are instead incorporated in the new design. So anything is poosible though, in this situation, rather deubtful. Bway and Peter, do you have anything to add on this subject? (And Peter, since the May 5 walking tour fell through, I’m sorry that I will not meet you at that time.)
Hello everyone, been away from CT for awhile, I do recall reading from the old CT format that the answer to Peter’s question is that the bowling alley was short lived, the closing date was 1966. With all the configuration changes to this building, it is interesting to see if further alterations will uncover any architecture. Chances are the second floor ceiling has some.I believe a theater to gym conversion occurred in Brooklyn where the proscenium was dominant in the new design. I still wonder if anything exists currently, besides the brick facade under the siding.
In all likeliness, the theater was built as new construction on the site of the old Trolley barn. When seeing the original facade of the building, it screams “theater”. There is an old photo that shows the right most upper corner of the building was smashed off, probably when the el was built, and to facilitate the curve for the trains. So I am going to assume the building was built just before the el was placed in front of it. The el used to end at Wyckoff station, and then go down a ramp to ride on the surface to Metropolitan Ave. The el used to not turn right onto Palmetto St like it does now, it went anothe50 or 100 feet further onto Myrtle, and then turnaround a building that used to be at the corner of Myrtle and Palmetto (where the large brick building is now, where Koletti’s used to be). It then came down a ramp around the Ridgewood Grove site, before street running on Palmetto to Onderdonk Ave where it turned down it’s own ROW as the el does. In any event, when the el was extended through Ridgewood in 1914, that’s when the sharper turn was made to go around Palmetto as it does now. It is also quite possible the corner was knocked off even at a later date when they added the catwalk for workers to walk along the track, which isn’t original to the el.
I just briefly passed by the Parthenon – on the “M” train – about a week or so ago. The renovation work is proceeding and at least some of the old brick work on the front has been exposed. Hopefully, the new uses will be smart enough to make use of this resourse – and not just cover it over again. So let’s hope.
Snap some pics and post them here!
Just paased by the site today. The new gym is now operational but they have pretty much wrecked the theater’s old front in the process of doing this. The Parthenon’s roof, however, is still untouched.
While the new set up is quite attractive – a big improvement to the depressing old bingo parlor – the fact that no attempt was made to restore the old facade is unfortunate. But this could have been a lot worse.
Well – we atill have the old pictures.