Centereach Theater

1970 Middle Country Road,
Centereach, NY 11720

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robboehm
robboehm on June 2, 2021 at 3:06 pm

Be nice if someone could find a photo.

rivest266
rivest266 on June 1, 2021 at 9:18 pm

The Prudential Centereach theatre opened on November 21st, 1963. Grand opening ad posted.

robboehm
robboehm on May 18, 2009 at 2:25 am

I figured it was something, not just me since there’d been no activity since the 14th. But it was my baby and I’m just as anxious to see it up as previously. Then I can pursue a couple of others in the works.

robboehm
robboehm on May 18, 2009 at 2:14 am

And I know for certain there was one in Moriches and where. The problem is I’m having difficulty getting enough material together for more than a skeletal posting. Also, they seem to have fallen behind on new theatres. I put up a posting on the 15th and the last newbies they show are for the 14th. On my three previous creations I saw results in 24 hours or less.

robboehm
robboehm on May 18, 2009 at 1:44 am

True, but I wonder where the Drive In site got the info to begin with.

Bway
Bway on May 17, 2009 at 11:47 am

If I am not mistaken, there was a drive in somewhere around where the mall is now, but not entirely sure where….I think near where Rt 25 and Rt 347 meet.

robboehm
robboehm on May 8, 2009 at 9:13 pm

I somehow stumbled onto a Drive-In site and was looking for LI theatres. It’s pathetic how poor the site is. But one thing sparked my curiosity. They mentioned a Drive-In in Centereach. There was none to my knowledge can anyone confirm?

Bway
Bway on April 20, 2009 at 7:40 pm

Is that when it closed?

Nyce475
Nyce475 on January 10, 2009 at 5:58 am

The fire occured in the late 80’s/early 90’s in the cheap johns discount store and spread to damage the theatre. I dont beleive that it sustained fire damage, but major smoke and water damage.

ChuckNet
ChuckNet on September 21, 2007 at 1:29 am

Actually saw Smurfs and the Magic Flute there back in 84…it later became a Blockbuster Video near the end of the decade, then turned into a discount gift store sometime in the early 90s before they razed the shopping center to make room for the present one…the sole link to the past on that lot is KFC, which survived the transition fully intact (as it was a separate establishment from the main shopping center).

Bway
Bway on June 8, 2006 at 2:55 pm

Bronx-boy. Yes, it has become terribly suburban. Sprawl is everywhere.

iarussi
iarussi on April 29, 2005 at 8:00 am

I spent my summers in Selden, N.Y. when
the area was still a quiet area to live in.
The Centerach Movie house was a great place to spend a Saturday afternoon, nothing fancy, just good wholesome movies.

The area has gone downhill and is far from the little town it used to be. I was recently back in Centereach and was saddened by what the area has become

I will always have the memories of seeing John Wayne and other heroes on the screen. While hanging out with my cousins

Bway
Bway on January 8, 2005 at 4:39 pm

Ooops, I just noticed a typo in my post above lostmemory’s. It’s now an “Autozone” auto parts store. US1 was the store before the mall was demolished.

Bway
Bway on January 8, 2005 at 4:38 pm

Yeah, I noticed that Chinese Restaurant last night too. It was called Wing Wang or something like that, and a typical small store in a shopping center. I guess the theater was roughly in the location where the Chinese restaurant is now, but of course, not the same building, because the former building was demolished.

Bway
Bway on January 8, 2005 at 3:35 am

This is the shopping center that now has US1 Auto Parts and El Dorado BBQ and Bar. I was just at El Dorado this evening. Where was the theater in this shopping center? On the El Dorado west side or the AutoZone auto parts store side on the east?

uncleal923
uncleal923 on November 30, 2004 at 4:08 am

I did not know the building went on fire. Thanx.

deleted user
[Deleted] on November 26, 2004 at 4:58 pm

The Centereach Theater was a small theater maybe 600 seats that was lost in a large fire that destroyed most of the mall. A new mall has replaced the one the theater was located in.

uncleal923
uncleal923 on November 18, 2004 at 4:03 am

I don’t think anything holds the spot for that theater. The whole building was demolished for the latest shopping center in that spot. In other words, the closest theater to the area may be the Loew’s Multiplex in Stony Brook.

Bway
Bway on October 20, 2004 at 3:39 pm

Currently, either Auto Zone or US1 Auto parts is in the “new” shopping center. A Chinese restaurant now holds the old Centereach address, 1970 Middle Country Road, although it has nothing to do with the old theater, as of course because the theater had been demolished.

Orlando
Orlando on October 20, 2004 at 5:02 am

Prudential/United Artists at first, then by a booker from United Artists in its' last years as an independent running Disney product which was this theatre’s bread and butter. The manager of this theatre under UA ran this house very weel and was well liked by all. This house closed in the early eighties.

RobertR
RobertR on October 20, 2004 at 4:18 am

Who operated this theatre?