Island Theatre
2875 Richmond Avenue,
New Springville,
NY
10314
2875 Richmond Avenue,
New Springville,
NY
10314
3 people
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The Island Theatre was located in the New Springville district of Staten Island. A spacious modern house when first opened in 1965. When twinned in 1975, it was the first Staten Island theatre to be twinned.
First movie: “My Fair Lady”. Last movies: Island 1: “Full Metal Jacket”, Island 2: “Adventures In Babysitting”. Staten Island home of “Rocky Horror” after Fox Plaza dropped the film. Originally built and run by Fabian Theaters. Built on the site of former Staten Island Drive-In.
Contributed by
Pete Delaney
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
There was another Island Theater.
On Hollis Avenue in Queens between 204th Street and 203rd Street.
Now a church of some kind.
One of the two reopening movies at this theatre after the twinning was “Jaws”. After demolition, it was replaced with an extension of the adjacent KMart Shopping Plaza
Could this be this Island?
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Robert, how you have discovered that photo is truly amazing.
Yes indeed, the surely is the Island Theater, once located on Richmond Ave. The theater closed in 1987 upon the opening of SI first 10-13 plex theater in Travis. Later the multiplex in Travis decreased their size to half of what they originally opened with.
i recall seeing “jaws” and “the stone killer” here , it was a decent theatre. as for the travis multiplex , it appears about to close soon. however i don’t think it ever was decreased by half , it has had 14 screens for a number of years now.
This was my favorite theater on Staten Island. I remember seeing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” there.
When did you go to Rocky Horror? I was there 84 through 86-87.
I remember when the theater ran “Jaws”; the way the theater handled the crowds was very poor. The theater was just reopened after twinning, but “Jaws” ran in only one part; the other half was dark. I waited over two hours to get in, and barely got a seat. It turned out that the film was oversold; blocks of tickets were counted as one seat, and some people had to stand. The second half of the theater was reserved for some festival of Disney flicks they ran a few summers in the mid-1970’s. I had no kids back then, and I considered that a waste of space.
That picture brings back memories. I saw “E.T.” on a preview at the Island a few days before the flick opened; the main feature was “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.” That was possibly my last trip to the Island. When I was working on Staten Island and wanted to see a movie when I was done, I’d truck off to the Amboy Cinemas in Jersey, as they had matinees year round. Something that didn’t start on Staten Island until the UA theater opened in ‘87. That whole shopping center is changing. The K-Mart Auto Center near the theater is long closed, and now, the K-Mart store, that has been there since the early 1970s, is closing. The early buzz was that the K-Mart would be torn down and a Target would be built. The K-Mart will probably be gone by this Thanksgiving; the “Store Closing” sign is up. I haven’t heard any recent news about what’s coming in, though.