Ascot Theatre
2313 Grand Concourse,
Bronx,
NY
2313 Grand Concourse,
Bronx,
NY
3 people
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The Ascot opened in 1935, located in the Fordham area of the Bronx on Grand Concourse near 183rd Street. This long-closed theater has been divided into several retail stores but retains a still-beautiful terra-cotta facade.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
Back in the 1950’s I recall that the Ascot was part of a small chain of theaters called “J.J. Bronx.” Other theaters in the chain were the Earl and Luxor (showed same films as RKO’s in the Bronx) and the Jerome, Kent, Surrey and Casino (showed second and third run double bills). These seven theaters were part of the chain for a number of years. Other theaters joined the chain for shorter amounts of time. They included the Mount Eden, Park Plaza (ex-Skouras), Burnside and Fairmount (ex-Loew’s). In the late 1950’s or early 1960’s the Hillside and Willard (ex-Loew’s)in Queens joined the group and the name was changed to “J.J. Theaters.
A photograph I took of the Ascot Theatre in June 2005:
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/220964102/
In this 1950s image, the Ascot can be seen at the far end of the corner commercial block. The taller building to the right of the Ascot is the Concourse Center of Israel synagogue. Like Loew’s Paradise, the Ascot had an attraction board above the entrance instead of a marquee, since such overhanging structures were prohibited on the Grand Concourse:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bxascot.jpg
Referring back to TomG’s comment of 2/19/06, the chain was called J.J. Theatres, Inc. in 1963. Address was 1501 Broadway, NYC, WIsconsin 7-9024. President was Julius Joelson. Max Fried was assistant to president and film buyer. Lou Klein was purchasing agent. Other JJ theaters in 1963 were the Casino, Earl, Kent, Luxor Surrey and 167th Theater in the Bronx and the Hillside Theater in Queens.
Here’s a new link to the image described above on 9/22/06: View link
This is a new link to a nice 1960s photo of the Ascot Theater.
If you delete the word “demo” from the June 4 link, you can see the photo without it being re-posted.
Its not a problem to repost the link. Here is an updated link for the 1960s photo of the Ascot Theater.
I’ve seen a relatively recent photo of the Ascot with its (flat) marquee sign still intact. The photo may come from either the great “Forgotten NY” website or the fine “Welcome to Bronx Pictures” website. Block black letters on the marquee read, in two lines: “COMING SOON JESUS CHRIST”. Has the Ascot ever been used as a Church, especially in recent years? That’s not quite the way I remember the old theater….
The “COMING SOON JESUS CHRIST” picture I mentioned in my previous note came from the terrific “Forgotten NY” website. According to its photographer, the photo was made in Summer 1999.