Park Theatre

Looks like the Park is closed again. Shows have been canceled without notice going back to August 2023 and are not being rescheduled. Plans for the City of Cranston to buy the theater and turn it into a community center fell through, and owners will not say if the theater is permanently closed. https://www.wpri.com/target-12/12-responds-owner-says-park-theatre-will-pay-back-ticketholders/

This page needs to be updated with the information provided in Gerald DeLuca’s comment of June 25, 2005: The Park Theatre opened on November 17, 1924, and plans for the building were prepared by William R. Walker & Son. (William Russell Walker died in 1905 and his son William Howard Walker in 1922, so the architect for the Park Theatre of 1924 would have been the founder’s grandson, William Russell Walker II.)

The Park Theatre may be in danger again. The owners are behind $35,000 in taxes. The mayor just floated the idea of buying the theatre to use as a community center; he was shot down by the City Council and has reversed course. The theatre’s website shows the next four shows as postponed, but there are two more later in October that are not. https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/west-bay/cranston-mayor-reverses-course-on-plan-to-buy-park-theatre/

Thanks for this!

Closed again (hopefully only temporarily) due to roof and equipment damage from Monday’s massive rain storm. https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/west-bay/taking-it-day-by-day-cranstons-historic-park-theatre-shutters-after-roof-leak/

Auction tomorrow - http://www.auctionsri.com/scripts/qryfeature-details.asp?pkv=43055

There may finally be a buyer - https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2021/09/21/former-cranston-councilman-says-he-has-deal-buy-park-theatre/5801276001/

The building is being auctioned tomorrow - https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2021/04/28/park-theatre-cranston-auctioned-thursday/4872394001/

My Rocky Horror records show the closing date before renovations as Feb, 2001 rather than the 2002 posted above. We were doing the show there for a year. One night, in Feb, 2001, we were told it was suddenly closing and we had to evacuate our props right after the show.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2012/03/29/go/11246716.txt

An interesting article with several photos concerning the Park Theatre.

Their new webpage at: http://www.parktheatreri.com/ has a nice photo gallery of interior and exterior shots. The auditorium is all modern in style, but the layout is fairly traditional. And the priscenium arch is a nice classical touch, all varnished wood in a simple but traditional style.

Item in Boxoffice magazine, August 22, 1953.

“Peter R. Nelson, one of the best-known and well-loved showmen in the state, recently died at the age of 76. Nelson was at various times owner of the old Auburn Theatre and the Park in Cranston. At one time he also was associated in the operation of the old Bijou in Providence and the Royal in Olneyville. Entering the theatre business in 1920, he operated the Auburn for three years before selling his interests to the Park Theatre Corp., of which he remained a partner until 1936 During the period from 1933 to 1936 he operated the Park. For more than 30 years he also operated a store in the Park Theatre building, retiring in 1951 because of his health.”

October 15 Cranston Herald article says film screenings are a possibility.

October 28 Cranston Herald article about the reopening.

The official name is now “Rhode Island Center for Performing Arts” but the “PARK” sign has been removed, refurbished, and reinstalled atop the building.