The Boulevard Theatre was opened by Carl and Joyce Amundson in 1955, and was located on Elk Grove Boulevard near Williamson Drive. It was later renamed the Elk Theatre. I believe the building has been demolished, but I’m not positive.
The Temple Theatre was listed at 300-302 Petoskey Street in a 1926 directory, and could be the same Temple Theater mentioned in the July 29, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World. The item concerned Norman J. Feldman, former manager of the Temple, who had just become manager of the new Palace Theater on Howard Street.
The Temple might have been one of the theaters owned by F. M. Cory, whose obituary in the April, 1916, issue of the trade journal The Grand Rapids Furniture Record said that, in addition to his furniture business, Mr. Cory had operated three movie theaters in Petoskey, the first of which he had opened in 1908.
In addition to its page for the Gaslight Cinemas, Water Winter Wonderland has this page featuring a photo of the house as the Temple Theatre. It gives the location as Lake Street, but the theater was on Petoskey at the corner of Lake.
The September 9, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had an item about the Washington Theatre:
“Richmond, Ind.—A new theater, to be known as the Washington, will be opened in Richmond within the next few weeks. The men who are back of the project are Dr. Charles E. Duffln, H. H. Englebert and Clarence Finney. Roy Parks, who recently severed his connections with the Arcade theater, probably will manage the new house.”
The house was remodeled and converted to movies before being renamed the Washington, though. The March 18, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had said that the remodeled and redecorated Gennett Theatre in Richmond had reopened with “Birth of a Nation” as its first attraction.
Until the exact address can be found, the location of this theater should be changed to N. 8th and N. A Streets (the theater faced 8th Street, but the real estate office now on the site uses an A Street address.) Richmond has multiple streets of the same number and letter, with the result that Google Maps is putting the pin icon at NW A Street and NW 8th Street, over a mile west of the theater’s actual location. I’ve updated Street View to the correct location, but the map pin is currently still at the wrong spot.
David and Noelle’s list of known Boller Brothers theaters lists the Murray Theatre as a 1919 project, and gives it the AKA Kay Theatre, presumably its opening name.
The book Kay County’s Historic Architecture, by Bret A. Carter, says that the Murray Theatre was located on Grand Avenue. Puzzling over some old photos, I’ve concluded that the Murray Theatre was at the location now occupied by a retail store, Merrifield Office & School Supply, at 206 E. Grand Avenue. The building is probably the same one the theater was in, but if so the front has been remodeled beyond recognition.
This photo (at the WorthPoint collectibles site, so the URL might go dead at some point) shows the Murray Theatre on the right. The building to the right of the theater still stands, and its band of six windows on the second floor is easily recognizable, as is the distinctive parapet of a building across the street.
A 1939 guide book to New York lists this house as the New Chatham Square Theatre, and says that it was showing Chinese language movies after 11:00 PM. It was one of fifteen foreign language movie theaters listed for Manhattan, and was the only one featuring Chinese films.
The December 13, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World ran this item: “R. Goelet, 9 West 17th Street, will alter a loft building into a modern moving picture building, to cost $7,000. S. Kotinsky, 5 Chatham Square, is the lessee.” It’s unclear from the wording whether the new theater was actually at 5 Chatham Square. Possibly Mr. Kotinsky was already operating a theater at that address, and was opening another one elsewhere.
The July 8, 1915, issue of The New York Times said that the Reliable Investment Company, headed by Joseph Weinstock, had leased the property at 31 Park Row from the Jay Gould estate, and on expiration of the lease of the current tenants (on May 1, 1916) intended to replace the existing building with a moving picture theater.
I’m not sure if the original building, which dated from 1881 or 1882, was ultimately demolished, or was merely remodeled. However, plans for altering the City Hall Theatre building were filed in 1922, according to the February 4 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide. Architect Louis A. Sheinart was responsible for the plans, which included removing an existing wall, installing a new wall, beams, seats, stairs, and a marquee. A bowling alley was also mentioned as part of the project.
On April 22, 1919, the NYC Board of Appeals reversed a decision by the superintendent of buildings and allowed H. G. Wiseman to apply for a permit to build a theater on the northeast corner of Avenue Q and E. 12th Street in Brooklyn, which is the Triangle’s location. Architect Wiseman was applying on behalf of the owner of the proposed theater, James P. Kelly.
Assuming that the project was carried out in 1919, presumably Carlson & Wiseman designed the theater. Although an earlier comment by Warren G. Harris says that the Triangle was opened by the Century circuit in 1936, Google Street View shows that the side of the building along 12th Street, which has not been remodeled like the Quentin Road facade, is built with a type of brickwork characteristic of the 1920s and earlier, not the 1930s or 1940s.
It’s possible that the theater was built in 1919 and operated for a while, but was closed for some time before being reopened by Century in 1936. If someone has access to Brooklyn directories from the early 1920s they might find the house listed, perhaps under a different name, and probably with an Avenue Q address.
Minutes of a December 21, 1920, meeting of the NYC Board of Appeals reveal that the theater at 650 Tremont Avenue was designed by architect Eugene De Rosa.
The September 6, 1913, issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide said that architect L. F. Schillinger was taking bids for a brick motion picture theater to be built for Edward Butt and Henry Freise. The 45x113-foot building was to be on the south side of Fulton Street, 57 feet east of Hale Avenue. That’s the location of the Norwood Theatre, but the date doesn’t match up with the November, 1914, building permits mentioned in previous comments. If the project was delayed for a year, it’s possible that Schillinger’s original plans were abandoned.
The Webster Theatre originally had seating all on one floor. About 1919, a balcony was added. The expansion led to a demand from the city fire commissioner for increased fire protection, and architect Harry T. Howell filed an appeal with the Board of Appeals on behalf of the owners, Wardwin Realty Company, on January 16, 1920. The minutes of the meeting at which the appeal was granted include this description of the theater:
“…the building is fireproof, one story and balcony in height, 57 ft. 6 in. by 150 ft. in area, occupied as a theatre for moving pictures with 881 seats in the first story and 287 seats in the balcony, a total of 1,168 seats….”
From Google Street View, it looks like the upper portion of the building that contained the balcony has been demolished.
It looks like A. Stockhammer’s involvement in this theater project ended soon after the notice in the April issue of The American Architect was published, and the new developer, Isaac Miller, switched architects.
Minutes of a May 27, 1919, meeting of the NYC Board of Appeals say that permission was granted for a theater to be built on the property at 1408-1420 St. Johns Place, Brooklyn. The application had been made on May 5 by R. Thomas Short, on behalf of owner Isaac Miller.
The minutes of a December 9, 1919, meeting of the Board of Appeals establish that R. Thomas Short was the architect of the theater then under construction at 1408-1420 St. Johns Place.
The April 11, 1914, issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide has an item that must be about this theater:
“WASHINGTON ST, e s, 27 n High st. 1-sty brick stores and moving picture show, 37x100, gravel roof: cost, $10,000 ; owner, Jacob Somers, East 3d st and Neptune av: architect, Geo.
Suess, 2966 West 29th st. Plan No. 1949.”
Cezar Del Valle’s post about the Pearl Theatre at Theatre Talks cites an April 11, 1914, Brooklyn Eagle item saying that a theater was to built on Broadway 75 feet east of Eastern Parkway for Herman Weingarten. Del Valle’s Brooklyn Theatre Index identifies the architect as Albert Kunzi, and says the house operated as the Pearl Theatre from August, 1914, until 1929. The post includes a photo of the building that currently has the address 1903-1905 Broadway, but I don’t think the theater was in that building. I suspect that the address 1903 has been shifted to that building at some point.
The “Theatres” section of the April 11, 1914, issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide has this item about the same project:
“BROADWAY, n s, 35 e Eastern Parkway, 1-sty brick moving picture show, 42.8x100, slag roof; cost, $10,000; owner, Herman Weingarten,
676 Humboldt st; architect, Albert C. Kunzi, 182
Harman st. Plan No. 1973.”
Both publications appear to have gotten the exact location of the building wrong. 1901 Broadway is west of Eastern Parkway, east of DeSalles Place. I doubt there would have been a theater east of Eastern Parkway, as a spur of the elevated railroad runs across the property at that location.
A 1919 item in The American Contractor, about another theater being built for Herman Weingarten, gives his address as 1901 Broadway. Perhaps he had his office in the Pearl Theatre at that time.
After some digging, I’ve discovered that the Parthenon was designed by architect Harry A. Yarish. Yarish designed a couple of projects for Weingarten, but so far the Normandy/Carver is the only Weingarten house I’ve found attributed to Montrose Morris Sons.
The 1920 edition of the Bulletin of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York contained an item about the theater at 329-339 Wyckoff Avenue in (then) Brooklyn. The architect, Harry A. Yarish, had filed an appeal on behalf of the owner, Herman Weingarten, seeking a modification in the fire commissioner’s demands about a standpipe in the theater. The item includes a partial description of the building:
“…the building is fireproof, one story and mezzanine in height, 104 ft. 3 5/8 in. by 123 ft. 4 l/2 in. in area in the first story and 73 ft. 3 5/8 in. by 123 ft. 4 ½ in. in area
above; occupied as a motion picture theatre, the auditorium seating 1,700 persons; with three stores on Wyckoff avenue separated from the auditorium by fire walls, and a store on Palmetto street at the screen end of the theatre having an entrance into the lobby; occupied in the mezzanine for toilet rooms, offices and picture booth; there being located at the rear of the theatre, a platform with a toilet room on one side and an organ room on the other, with a doorway to the platform from each room… appellant claims there is no stage or scenery….”
Yarish’s appeal was dated June 26, 1920. As the item says that the building was “…occupied as a… theatre….” it had most likely opened earlier that year.
The Lorin Theatre was completely rebuilt in 1916. That year’s September 23 issue of The Moving Picture World said that the Lorin had opened on Saturday, June 24. The old theater had been closed on March 5 and demolished.
An article about Spokane’s movie theaters in the July 15, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had this to say about the Casino Theatre:
“The Casino theater was opened in 1907 by the late John H. Clemmer, a pioneer in the moving picture industry in the northwest. Upon his death in 1911, Dr. Howard S. Clemmer, his son, took it over and managed it until last year when he opened the new Clemmer theater. Will T. Reed is now managing the place, which is owned by the Clemmer estate.”
A 1919 issue of The American Architect said that Columbus architect F. L. Packard was designing a theater and store building for H. A. Marting, to be built at Ironton, Ohio. The project was to cost $100.000. Putting this together with the other information I cited in my earlier comment, I’d say this item surely referred to the Marlow Theatre project.
An earlier comment mentioned William R. Walker & Sons as architects for the conversion of the church into the Scenic Theatre. The same firm designed an expansion and alterations for the theater in 1919, according to an item in one issue of The American Architect that year. The Google Books scan is missing the page with the issue date on it, but the page with the item is marked as Vol. CXV, No. 2250, which should have been published in February.
This 2010 article in The Day gave the name of the architect of the Capitol Theatre as W. H. Lowe. I’ve been unable to find anything about Connecticut architects named either W. H. Lowe or W. H. Lane on the Internet, but I suspect that the author of the article got the name right.
This page from the Brownstoner weblog provides a brief history of the Normandy Theatre, which was built for Herman Weingarten in 1919, and was designed by the architectural firm Montrose Morris Sons.
The Utica is the only theater in the neighborhood that fits the timing and description of the proposed house mentioned in an April, 1919 issue of The American Architect:
:“A. Stockhammer, 1368 St. Johns Place, is having plans prepared by Carlson & Wiseman, Architects, 226 Henry Street, for two story theater, 100 x 120 ft., brick and steel, on St. Johns Place and Schenectady Avenue. $150,000.”
An item in the July 30, 1910, issue of The American Contractor said that Cincinnati architectural firm C. C. & E. A. Weber were working on plans for a theater at 6th and Monmouth Streets in Newport for J. J. Ryan. The project was to cost $45,000.
An earlier issue of the same publication had listed a smaller version of the same project, to cost only $10,000 and seat fewer than 500, but the plans were apparently scaled up. The Weber’s firm designed a number of theaters, including the Orpheum (RKO Orpheum) in Cincinnati and the Hiland Theatre in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. In 1910, they were also designing a theater at St. Louis for Ryan & Cornelius, the same brokerage firm behind the Temple Theatre project, but I’ve been unable to track down which St. Louis house this was. In 1917, the firm designed a theater at Bluefield, West Virginia, but again I’ve been unable to discover its name, or whether it was actually built.
There’s no evidence that either of the Weber brothers had any formal architectural training, and it is known that at least some of their major works were designed by employees or associates of the firm. This might have been the case with these theaters as well.
The July 16, 1910, issue of The American Contractor said that construction contracts had been let for a 7-storey office building and theater on South Salina Street in Syracuse. This had to have been the Empire Theatre.
The item said that the architects and engineers for the project were Taber & Baxter. I’ve found references to architect Wellington W. Taber, but haven’t found Mr. Baxter’s full name, or discovered if he was also an architect or was the engineer with the firm.
The Boulevard Theatre was opened by Carl and Joyce Amundson in 1955, and was located on Elk Grove Boulevard near Williamson Drive. It was later renamed the Elk Theatre. I believe the building has been demolished, but I’m not positive.
The Temple Theatre was listed at 300-302 Petoskey Street in a 1926 directory, and could be the same Temple Theater mentioned in the July 29, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World. The item concerned Norman J. Feldman, former manager of the Temple, who had just become manager of the new Palace Theater on Howard Street.
The Temple might have been one of the theaters owned by F. M. Cory, whose obituary in the April, 1916, issue of the trade journal The Grand Rapids Furniture Record said that, in addition to his furniture business, Mr. Cory had operated three movie theaters in Petoskey, the first of which he had opened in 1908.
In addition to its page for the Gaslight Cinemas, Water Winter Wonderland has this page featuring a photo of the house as the Temple Theatre. It gives the location as Lake Street, but the theater was on Petoskey at the corner of Lake.
The September 9, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had an item about the Washington Theatre:
The house was remodeled and converted to movies before being renamed the Washington, though. The March 18, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had said that the remodeled and redecorated Gennett Theatre in Richmond had reopened with “Birth of a Nation” as its first attraction.Until the exact address can be found, the location of this theater should be changed to N. 8th and N. A Streets (the theater faced 8th Street, but the real estate office now on the site uses an A Street address.) Richmond has multiple streets of the same number and letter, with the result that Google Maps is putting the pin icon at NW A Street and NW 8th Street, over a mile west of the theater’s actual location. I’ve updated Street View to the correct location, but the map pin is currently still at the wrong spot.
David and Noelle’s list of known Boller Brothers theaters lists the Murray Theatre as a 1919 project, and gives it the AKA Kay Theatre, presumably its opening name.
The book Kay County’s Historic Architecture, by Bret A. Carter, says that the Murray Theatre was located on Grand Avenue. Puzzling over some old photos, I’ve concluded that the Murray Theatre was at the location now occupied by a retail store, Merrifield Office & School Supply, at 206 E. Grand Avenue. The building is probably the same one the theater was in, but if so the front has been remodeled beyond recognition.
This photo (at the WorthPoint collectibles site, so the URL might go dead at some point) shows the Murray Theatre on the right. The building to the right of the theater still stands, and its band of six windows on the second floor is easily recognizable, as is the distinctive parapet of a building across the street.
The Internet Broadway Database has a page for Cinema 49 with a single photo.
A 1939 guide book to New York lists this house as the New Chatham Square Theatre, and says that it was showing Chinese language movies after 11:00 PM. It was one of fifteen foreign language movie theaters listed for Manhattan, and was the only one featuring Chinese films.
The December 13, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World ran this item: “R. Goelet, 9 West 17th Street, will alter a loft building into a modern moving picture building, to cost $7,000. S. Kotinsky, 5 Chatham Square, is the lessee.” It’s unclear from the wording whether the new theater was actually at 5 Chatham Square. Possibly Mr. Kotinsky was already operating a theater at that address, and was opening another one elsewhere.
The July 8, 1915, issue of The New York Times said that the Reliable Investment Company, headed by Joseph Weinstock, had leased the property at 31 Park Row from the Jay Gould estate, and on expiration of the lease of the current tenants (on May 1, 1916) intended to replace the existing building with a moving picture theater.
I’m not sure if the original building, which dated from 1881 or 1882, was ultimately demolished, or was merely remodeled. However, plans for altering the City Hall Theatre building were filed in 1922, according to the February 4 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide. Architect Louis A. Sheinart was responsible for the plans, which included removing an existing wall, installing a new wall, beams, seats, stairs, and a marquee. A bowling alley was also mentioned as part of the project.
On April 22, 1919, the NYC Board of Appeals reversed a decision by the superintendent of buildings and allowed H. G. Wiseman to apply for a permit to build a theater on the northeast corner of Avenue Q and E. 12th Street in Brooklyn, which is the Triangle’s location. Architect Wiseman was applying on behalf of the owner of the proposed theater, James P. Kelly.
Assuming that the project was carried out in 1919, presumably Carlson & Wiseman designed the theater. Although an earlier comment by Warren G. Harris says that the Triangle was opened by the Century circuit in 1936, Google Street View shows that the side of the building along 12th Street, which has not been remodeled like the Quentin Road facade, is built with a type of brickwork characteristic of the 1920s and earlier, not the 1930s or 1940s.
It’s possible that the theater was built in 1919 and operated for a while, but was closed for some time before being reopened by Century in 1936. If someone has access to Brooklyn directories from the early 1920s they might find the house listed, perhaps under a different name, and probably with an Avenue Q address.
Minutes of a December 21, 1920, meeting of the NYC Board of Appeals reveal that the theater at 650 Tremont Avenue was designed by architect Eugene De Rosa.
The September 6, 1913, issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide said that architect L. F. Schillinger was taking bids for a brick motion picture theater to be built for Edward Butt and Henry Freise. The 45x113-foot building was to be on the south side of Fulton Street, 57 feet east of Hale Avenue. That’s the location of the Norwood Theatre, but the date doesn’t match up with the November, 1914, building permits mentioned in previous comments. If the project was delayed for a year, it’s possible that Schillinger’s original plans were abandoned.
The Webster Theatre originally had seating all on one floor. About 1919, a balcony was added. The expansion led to a demand from the city fire commissioner for increased fire protection, and architect Harry T. Howell filed an appeal with the Board of Appeals on behalf of the owners, Wardwin Realty Company, on January 16, 1920. The minutes of the meeting at which the appeal was granted include this description of the theater:
From Google Street View, it looks like the upper portion of the building that contained the balcony has been demolished.It looks like A. Stockhammer’s involvement in this theater project ended soon after the notice in the April issue of The American Architect was published, and the new developer, Isaac Miller, switched architects.
Minutes of a May 27, 1919, meeting of the NYC Board of Appeals say that permission was granted for a theater to be built on the property at 1408-1420 St. Johns Place, Brooklyn. The application had been made on May 5 by R. Thomas Short, on behalf of owner Isaac Miller.
The minutes of a December 9, 1919, meeting of the Board of Appeals establish that R. Thomas Short was the architect of the theater then under construction at 1408-1420 St. Johns Place.
The April 11, 1914, issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide has an item that must be about this theater:
Cezar Del Valle’s post about the Pearl Theatre at Theatre Talks cites an April 11, 1914, Brooklyn Eagle item saying that a theater was to built on Broadway 75 feet east of Eastern Parkway for Herman Weingarten. Del Valle’s Brooklyn Theatre Index identifies the architect as Albert Kunzi, and says the house operated as the Pearl Theatre from August, 1914, until 1929. The post includes a photo of the building that currently has the address 1903-1905 Broadway, but I don’t think the theater was in that building. I suspect that the address 1903 has been shifted to that building at some point.
The “Theatres” section of the April 11, 1914, issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide has this item about the same project:
Both publications appear to have gotten the exact location of the building wrong. 1901 Broadway is west of Eastern Parkway, east of DeSalles Place. I doubt there would have been a theater east of Eastern Parkway, as a spur of the elevated railroad runs across the property at that location.A 1919 item in The American Contractor, about another theater being built for Herman Weingarten, gives his address as 1901 Broadway. Perhaps he had his office in the Pearl Theatre at that time.
After some digging, I’ve discovered that the Parthenon was designed by architect Harry A. Yarish. Yarish designed a couple of projects for Weingarten, but so far the Normandy/Carver is the only Weingarten house I’ve found attributed to Montrose Morris Sons.
The 1920 edition of the Bulletin of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York contained an item about the theater at 329-339 Wyckoff Avenue in (then) Brooklyn. The architect, Harry A. Yarish, had filed an appeal on behalf of the owner, Herman Weingarten, seeking a modification in the fire commissioner’s demands about a standpipe in the theater. The item includes a partial description of the building:
Yarish’s appeal was dated June 26, 1920. As the item says that the building was “…occupied as a… theatre….” it had most likely opened earlier that year.The Lorin Theatre was completely rebuilt in 1916. That year’s September 23 issue of The Moving Picture World said that the Lorin had opened on Saturday, June 24. The old theater had been closed on March 5 and demolished.
An article about Spokane’s movie theaters in the July 15, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had this to say about the Casino Theatre:
A 1919 issue of The American Architect said that Columbus architect F. L. Packard was designing a theater and store building for H. A. Marting, to be built at Ironton, Ohio. The project was to cost $100.000. Putting this together with the other information I cited in my earlier comment, I’d say this item surely referred to the Marlow Theatre project.
An earlier comment mentioned William R. Walker & Sons as architects for the conversion of the church into the Scenic Theatre. The same firm designed an expansion and alterations for the theater in 1919, according to an item in one issue of The American Architect that year. The Google Books scan is missing the page with the issue date on it, but the page with the item is marked as Vol. CXV, No. 2250, which should have been published in February.
This 2010 article in The Day gave the name of the architect of the Capitol Theatre as W. H. Lowe. I’ve been unable to find anything about Connecticut architects named either W. H. Lowe or W. H. Lane on the Internet, but I suspect that the author of the article got the name right.
This page from the Brownstoner weblog provides a brief history of the Normandy Theatre, which was built for Herman Weingarten in 1919, and was designed by the architectural firm Montrose Morris Sons.
The Utica is the only theater in the neighborhood that fits the timing and description of the proposed house mentioned in an April, 1919 issue of The American Architect:
An item in the July 30, 1910, issue of The American Contractor said that Cincinnati architectural firm C. C. & E. A. Weber were working on plans for a theater at 6th and Monmouth Streets in Newport for J. J. Ryan. The project was to cost $45,000.
An earlier issue of the same publication had listed a smaller version of the same project, to cost only $10,000 and seat fewer than 500, but the plans were apparently scaled up. The Weber’s firm designed a number of theaters, including the Orpheum (RKO Orpheum) in Cincinnati and the Hiland Theatre in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. In 1910, they were also designing a theater at St. Louis for Ryan & Cornelius, the same brokerage firm behind the Temple Theatre project, but I’ve been unable to track down which St. Louis house this was. In 1917, the firm designed a theater at Bluefield, West Virginia, but again I’ve been unable to discover its name, or whether it was actually built.
There’s no evidence that either of the Weber brothers had any formal architectural training, and it is known that at least some of their major works were designed by employees or associates of the firm. This might have been the case with these theaters as well.
The July 16, 1910, issue of The American Contractor said that construction contracts had been let for a 7-storey office building and theater on South Salina Street in Syracuse. This had to have been the Empire Theatre.
The item said that the architects and engineers for the project were Taber & Baxter. I’ve found references to architect Wellington W. Taber, but haven’t found Mr. Baxter’s full name, or discovered if he was also an architect or was the engineer with the firm.