Alhambra Theatre
783 Knickerbocker Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11207
783 Knickerbocker Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11207
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Situated in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, the Alhambra Theatre was originally a vaudeville theatre operated by the Ward & Glynne circuit. It opened on December 31, 1914, and was designed by Arthur G. Carlson of the architectural firm Carlson & Wiseman and had a seating capacity for 1,500. In 1918, it was enlarged, with a balcony added, and the seating capacity became 2,200.
In 1923, when Loew’s Inc. acquired W & G’s Astoria Theatre in Queens, it also took over the Alhambra Theatre and ran it for a few years, but with movies that were at the end of their circuit bookings. It was remodeled in 1927 by noted theatre architect Thomas Lamb.
Loew’s eventually leased it to various “indie” owners, including Randforce Amusement Corp, the Alhambra Theatre ceased operation in 1951. After laying unused for several years, it was announced in December 1959 that it would be converted into a supermarket, initially operated by Safeway. It has now been used as a day-care centre for many years.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 114 comments)
John: I see that Carlson & Wiseman is already listed in the “Firm” field, and now that I’ve cited a source for attribution, Arthur G. Carlson will probably be listed in the “Architect” field, eventually. I try to post my comments during hours when they are most likely to be seen by one of the site’s moderators (Ken Roe is often online updating pages when it’s early in the morning my time, as he’s usually in London), but apparently nobody saw the comments I made this morning.
The “Architect” field on Cinema Treasures pages is set up to list by surname alphabetically, so if Carlson is added to this page his name would appear before Lamb’s. Quite often, though, on other pages an architect who remodeled a theater gets listed first, simply because the original architect’s name starts with a later letter of the alphabet.
It would probably require a extensive changes to the site’s code to create separate fields for original architects and later architects who only did remodeling jobs. I’m not sure that such a change would be the best thing to do, anyway. In some cases remodeling jobs were so extensive that they obliterated much, most, or virtually all of the original design, making the architect of the remodeling the de facto primary architect of the theater as most people knew it. I don’t know if Patrick and Ross have any plans for an overhaul of the site’s code, but I know that any such project would be complex and costly, so I’m not really expecting it. I know that the site’s resources are limited.
For now, I’d say the best policy is probably the one already in use; to list in their appropriate fields all architects and firms who did some significant work on a theater, but to also include their names in the description of the theater, along with whatever information is available about how much or how little each contributed to the design during each period of a theater’s history. Descriptions at Cinema Treasures do get updated as new information becomes available, but with so many theaters listed, and so few moderators on the site to do the rewrites, that can take a long time.
I’ve sometimes wondered if a Wiki might help speed up the process. A Wiki, not for the general public but for members, or maybe even only those members who ask to be involved, could provide a good-sized pool of people to update the descriptions (preferably with sourced information), and do it out of public view. Then the moderators could inspect the updated descriptions on the Wiki each day, and decide whether or not to put a particular rewrite onto that theater’s regular public page. Adding a Wiki would be a considerable amount of work, and some expense, of course, but the gains might be worth it.
Joe, thanks for the very detailed explanation of the CT process.
In further exploring the work of the Carlson and Wiseman firm, I noted that they are, at least in CT, responsible for only three other movie houses – the old Albemarle and Carlton and the still existing Alpine – all of which are or were situated in Brooklyn. So this was probably a pretty locally based firm. In addition, Wiseman – not Carlson – is the architect credited for the other three theaters. If true, this would make the Alhambra the only movie house, at least according to CT, that was designed by Arthur Carlson. This is yet another reson why he needs to be listed at the top of the page.
It’s not unusual for one partner in a firm to dominate in design while the other spends more time in managing the business. That was probably the case with Carlson & Wiseman. There’s quite a bit of information about Wiseman on the Internet, but very little about Carlson. But Harrison G. Wiseman was a very well-known theater architect in the early 20th century and designed many theaters outside Brooklyn, though the firm was based there. In one 1920 publication, the firm’s address was listed as 226 Henry Street.
Wiseman designed several theaters in Manhattan, some of them during the years of his partnership with Carlson, as well as theaters in other places. Cinema Treasures’s list of Wiseman’s work currently attributes 16 theaters to him, five in Manhattan (two Wiseman theaters there are not yet attributed: The Lido and the New Delancey. My recent comment on the New Delancey also gives the names of two early Wiseman houses that are either not yet listed at Cinema Treasures, or are listed but don’t have their original names listed as aka’s.)
There are also a few Wiseman-designed theaters that aren’t listed at Cinema Treasures because they’ve never operated as movie houses. But so far, the Alhambra is not just the only theater, but the only building of any kind that I’ve found attributed specifically to Arthur G. Carlson. Why Wiseman didn’t take the lead on this particular project I don’t know. Maybe he was just too busy.
First, site manager, thanks for adding Carlson’s name so promptly.
And Joe, thanks again for your commment about Wiseman. I had no idea that he was responsible for such gems as the landmarked City Cinemas Village East (this theater must have set the record for most previous names), the former Fillmore East and, one of my favorite neighhood houses, the still existing – and hopefully prospering – Cinemart. I also saw that you were recently successful in getting Wiseman’s name added as architect in CT to several theaters. Congratulations on that point.
Some GREAT news!
The demise of the day care center at the old Alhambra apparently did not occur, and I was misinformed in saying so. Instead, as verified by my site visit earlier today, the City and the landlord made an 11th hour – or perhaps 13th hour is more like it – agreement that keeps the center operating. The staff that I spoke to were very relieved that the worst had not occured and were very much looking forward to continuing to serve the youth of Bushwick in the future.
During my quick site visit, I told the staff that the center had once been a movie theater, and they knew it. When I asked if anything cinematic remained, they noted that, except for a lighting fixture on the top floor, the place had pretty much been gutted to accommodate its present – and hopefully future – use.
So, the old theater will continue to serve the Bushwick community, albeit as a day care center, for the forseeing future. This is really great news!
I just noticed that the top of the page has been changed to reflect the closing of the center that – as I just noted – did not occur after all. I hope the site manager will update this item accordingly – and I regret having provided inaccurate informtion. (I guess this is one of those things you just have to verify via a site visit.)
Thanks site manager so much for correcting the bad information that I received regarding the demise of this site as a day care center. I guess that while the advocates to save the day care center went to the press as much as they could as long as the center’s future remained in doubt, they pretty much forgot to tell the wider public about the center’s salvation once it had been achieved.
Anyhow, the center’s notice that they are still here apppears below, and I wish them the best for the future.
http://www.grandstreet.org/html/news.shtml
If you scroll up to the great vintage picture that Tinseltoes posted here on March 30 and enlarge it, you will note that a movie called “The Old Soak” – I’m not making this up – was playing at the time of the photo. Checking it out, I found that the movie – a detective drama that starred Gene Hershalt – premiered in late 1926. So this picture was probably shot in 1927, when the movie reached the “nabes”.
I just linked an article that I recently wrote in the terrific BushwickBk blog that discussed a number of old Bushwick theaters, including the Alhambra. Several vintage and current pictures of this site also appear in an extended slideshow that also includes a number of other old theater sites. Hope you enjoy it.
View link
Here’s a pre-construction sketch of the Alhambra Theatre: brooklynpubliclibrary