Bainbridge Theatre
286 E. 204th Street,
Bronx,
NY
10467
286 E. 204th Street,
Bronx,
NY
10467
1 person
favorited this theater
The Mosholu Theatre opened in early 1926 on 204th Street near Bainbridge Avenue. It could originally seat 1100 and also featured a rooftop “garden theatre” which sat about 1000 more. The theater’s name was later changed to the Bainbridge.
Long after closing as a movie theater, the Bainbridge was reopened in 1995, as the home of the Bronx Dance Theatre, an organization which was founded in 1976. The Bronx Dance Theatre closed suddenly in 2000, and afterwards the space was turned into a furniture store. It then became a 99c store.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
To see several recent pics of the Bainbridge Theatre building, as well as pics of several other former theatres in the area, click here:
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Operated in the 1970’s and 1980’s By Jim Perkins and The Reggerio brothers with Bruce and Little John in the booth. Got my carbon
arc license there. The open air booth on the roof was setup with 16" turntables on drive shafts behind the lamphouses.
Initially a Western Electric sound system which was “harvested” in favor of a solid state system of meager performance.
Although optical sound dominated this period, 4 track magnetic setups, were available. I personally restored the 3 Altec A-7
speakers which were the very early bolt assembly style.
Tragically, vandalism was rampant and the business could not sustain the losses. The roof was filled with 4 feet of water in
one such incident so instead of new mohair velvet for the seats, new electric, roofing and boiler repairs took all the cash
from an SBA loan.
The movie “Ft. Apache, The Bronx” caused a riot resulting in rows of seats being ripped from the floor and hurled at the
screen. Several employees were hospitalized. I arrived in time to see the entire crew from “French Charlie’s” well oiled, armed to the teeth and ready for action arrive to a now empty space.
This is one of several neighborhood theaters (Bainbridge, Melba, Globe, Ascot, Dale, Fair) that I did period restoration
work to. Sadly, none have survived.
This was my childhood local theatre. Among zillions of other films, I saw “A Hard Day’s Night” there in 1964. The line wound around the corner and several blocks south, almost all the way to Mosholu Parkway. The number of patrons must’ve broken every fire law imaginable. During the film, firecrackers were set off, and the girls screamed endlessly. My own little slice of Beatlemania.
My theater from early 70’s to early 80’s when it closed.My favorite movies seen there were the james bond movies,carrie,cheech and chong,the pink panther and of course the warriors.sad to see it go.I miss sneaking in the fire exit door on perry avenue.and the rows and rows of seats that sometimes feel down.I also remember hearing stray cats meowing in the theater.great place at a reat time for Norwood.
Here is an undated photo:
http://tinyurl.com/4vl54r
That photo looks pretty good.
Here is an updated link for the photo posted on Jun 3, 2008.
It’s strange! In my mis-spent youth (I’m 75), I haunted almost all the movie houses in the Bronx/Yonkers Woodlawn-Wakefield neighborhod, from the Kimball to the Laconia, and also all the Fordham Road theaters, from the Paradise to the Grand to the Valentine [but not the Windsor or the Ascot, oddly]. But, for the life of me, I cannot recollect ever entering the Mosholu-Bainbridge — even though I remember seeing its marquee countless times from the old Number 4 Bus, which turned northward just a few paces away, and I remember walking under it while walking from Webster Avenue up to Bainbridge Avenue along 204th Street. I wonder why I skipped it.
Passed it yesterday. The marquee has been removed.
I went to this theater often in the70’s. It was converted to a twin in the late 70’s.