Loew's Woodside Theatre
58-02 Roosevelt Avenue,
Woodside,
NY
11377
58-02 Roosevelt Avenue,
Woodside,
NY
11377
4 people
favorited this theater
Loew’s Woodside Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp, with all of its 2,000 seats on the ground floor and a shallow stage suited only for movies. It first opened on the night of September 27, 1926 with a pre-release screening of MGM’s Buster Keaton comedy, “Battling Butler”. The next day, the Woodside Theatre began its regular policy of a feature movie and shorts, changing three times a week. The programs were first-run for the Woodside section of Queens and the adjacent communities of Sunnyside, Jackson Heights, and Elmhurst. With the arrival of talkies, the Woodside Theatre switched to double features.
For several decades, it was on the third tier of the seven Loew’s theatres in Queens. The Valencia Theatre got the programs first, followed a week later by the Triboro Theatre. Then the Woodside Theatre, plus the Prospect Theatre, Plaza Theatre, Hillside Theatre and Willard Theatre. All of those third-tier theatres were eventually divested by Loew’s as part of the Federal anti-trust action against it.
The Woodside Theatre was the first to go, sold in 1952 to St. Sebastian’s Roman Catholic Church, which had outgrown its original chapel. The church demolished the theatre entrance and lobby to build a Romanesque bell tower, but kept the auditorium intact. In 1998, to celebrate the parish’s 100th anniversary, most of the original auditorium decor was beautifully restored, though probably not in the exact same color scheme. That included not only the domed ceiling, but 40 columns along the side walls that were returned to their original marble with gold leaf capitals.
The site is well worth a visit if you’re in the area. Masses are held at 5 and 6PM on Saturdays and on Sunday mornings, as well as at other times. The phone number is 718-429-4442.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Wow, I never even heard of this theater until coming across it mentioned in the Loews Valencia. I have to remember to go here one day to see it for myself.
Bway, I was also surprised that this old theater has been off Cinema Treasures' radar screen, with only a handful of comments being registered. Perhaps the church fathers did such a good job of making the Woodside look like a church that no one thought that it could have been anything else. As my previous comment noted, the use of Romanesque architecture in converting the site really made it look authentic.
I hope you agree with my assessment when you make your visit. (The church is situated only 2 blocks from the #7/LIRR Woodside station.) A few pictures of the current exterior would really help provide a more complete profile of this fascinating place.
Perhaps another reason why so few comments have been registered on this page is that the conversion occurred so early – in the early 1950’s. Thus, probably very few people remember the time when the old Woodside was anything but a church.
Beyond this, the church itself does nothing to promote its cinematic past. Its web page provides a very comprehensive description of St. Sebastian’s origin – and the development of the Catholic religion in Queens – but says nary a word about the movie house conversion. This is really odd, given the fact that they should be very proud of this terrific achievement.
Toward the end of the attached terrific exploration of the lost Woodside, there are several fine external pictures of the old Woodside Theatre and the new St. Salvadore’s. This was put together by Christina Wilkinson (the Queen of Queens), who has done wonderful work for many West Queens communities in many different ways. Please enjoy the entire attachment, which links pertinent “non-topic” items with the real cinematic thing.
Hope the link works.
View link
Good to see that the building is still there as a church.Nice history.
Some June 2010 pictures of the former Loew’s Woodside are near the bottom of this page, as Forgotten New York revisits the neighborhood.
Nice photo of the LOEWS WOODSIDE/CHURCH.RickB.
Here’s a photo of the shuttered Loew’s Woodside before the church started making changes which included the removal of the marquee and entrance portion of the building: View link
Thank you so much TT for resurrecting – an apt religous term – this previously lost link that really establishes the connection of the old movie palace to its current religous use. This really represents one of the most successful re-uses of an old movie house than I am aware of.
Fifty-nine years ago today, Loew’s Woodside opened its final booking— a week’s engagement of MGM’s B&W “Lone Star,” starring Clark Gable and Ava Gardner, and MGM’s B&W “Calling Bulldog Drummond,” with Walter Pidgeon and Margaret Leighton. The Woodside’s closing would leave Loew’s with five theatres in Queens— the Valencia, Triboro, Hillside, Prospect, and Willard. Those last three were also due to be dropped, but would continue to operate under new managements. The Woodside had already been sold to St. Sebastian’s Church.