Lost and Panzer…no, I didn’t see any fire damage from the circa 1980 fire that I could tell.
Lost, yes, I said red, but it was more like burgundy, just as in the photos Warren posted some time ago….although of course, 30 years later….
Panzer, no, the chandelier is gone.
Once upon a time….no, no ghosts of that Usherette, nor Mae West who was said to perform there….
Mr Bill and I met at the Liberty Dept Store the other day…we were just going to see if we can find out if anything remains of the theater can be seen inside the store aside from the different level of the curve of the Balcony that curves through the store, and of course, nothing remains aside from that.
We went upstairs to the furniture area of the store, and saw the door (that is usually alarmed) was open because a worker or someone was doing something there. So we took that chance to take a quick peak in the door for a few minutes, and we were startled to find in our quick peak that the original ceiling and balcony does still exist above the drop ceiling. You can still see the original dome of the ceiling, and the top of the proscenium arch is still there, but all the balcony seats were removed long ago. Of course time did take it’s toll though, but of course it’s been 30 years since it was last used as a theater. But rest assured, “part” of the Madison does survive, and even from that quick glimpse in semi-darkness, you can tell it was some beautiful place. The last paint scheme was red and gold from what can be seen quickly….That must have been the second scheme, as looking at old photos from the 1920’s, it appered to be a little more intricately painted originally than at it’s end, but don’t get me wrong, it was still a classy paintjob at the end too, which I would assume probably was done by the 50’s.
A shame that when it was first converted to a store by whoever used to own the place did not put a little thought into converting it to retail with a little more care to perserve some of the theaters features….such as how the Meserole Theater in Greenpoint was converted to a drug store, with all the old ceilings still exposed….
Oh well. We were glad we got the little peak…it made our day.
The door was probably closed and alarmed soon after once again, but we were lucky enough, if only for a couple minutes, to walk into “The Twilight Zone” on the other side of the door.
The ability to add photos directly to posts has always been able to be done, however, I read that the webmasters don’t want us to do that, and they do usually remove them. It’s probably so that the pages aren’t weighed down with loading. I believe they want us to just link to them as we have been doing. I have read that somewhere on the site, but forgot where.
Yes, because of the opening of the Holtsville theater. Also, the Patchogue Theater was not maintained as well as it should have at the end, that in combination of the Patchogue also needing an upgrade of course made box office reciepts suffer.
panzer, thank you so much for your wonderful photos of this old gem. Your assesment is right on the mark, and when I first visted the theater in the 80’s, it hasn’t changed much from that point, and is just as preserved as it was then. It would be a travesty to lose it at this point.
The only correction though to your assesment is the comment about the beige paint. That was done after the theater showed movies, in fact, in the late 80’s, while the walls were already painted beige, the ceiling was in fact not painted beige, and still had it’s original gold leaf and multi-colored paint. It was aged, but it was there. In fact, the walls were only painted up to about ¾ the height of the ceiling. The top ¼ of the walls, and the ceiling itself remained in original gold leaf paint. For example, the procenium arch had it’s two sides beige, but the top was the original gold leaf and multi-colored paint. And the paintline stopped at that point all along the building, and to the balcony, which was all still original paint. I wish I had photos from back then, as it still showed it’s original colors.
But that being said, the beige paint does keep the plaster in good shape, and the original paint on the ceiling DID need to be attended to and obviously they would only paint it one color, and not restore the paint if it was only being used as a flea market. The plaster is so well preserved throughout the building.
The curtain (asbestos?) in front of the stage also was still original into the late 80’s, but appears to have been painted now too.
If you look at this photo you took, you can slightly glimpse the two eras of painting. Just at the top of the proscenium, you see the top is slightly lighter in paint. That is the line at which the theater was painted beige into the late 80’s. The uper 1/3 of t ceiling was painted at a later date. View link
I don’t think that the Patchogue Theater closing had to do with it “not being able to make money”. The problem is just what LImovies said, that the land was worth more than anything they could ever make as a theater, and that is what the problem there was. That coupled with the fact that the Patchogue was in need of an upgrade to compete with the more modern multiplexs like the Holtsville Island 16. The Patchogue was beginning to show it’s age. People now have come tp expect things like stadium seating, and other amenities the newer multiplexes have.
Great page! There are some errors though, one of which says that “the only thing that remains of the Eltinge (Empire AMC25) is the exterior”. That is not correct, the interior auditorium survives as the lobby for the multiplex.
Never mind, I found it….but for some ODD reason, it wouldn’t come up in the search results, I found it by looking through my profile. Very strange that it didn’t come up by searching “Imperial”.
I figured I would ask this here, as this was the “Irving Theater”. I am trying to find the listing for the Imperial Theater which was at 157 Irving Ave. We had a listing here on the site, and I accidentally posted a recent photo of it in the Imperial Theater listing on Halsey St, forgetting there were two Imperial Theaters.
Why can’t I find the Imperial Theater that was at 157 Irving Ave on the site? I know we had a listing for it here, but perhaps it’s under another name now? I can’t find it under “former” names searching “Imperial” either. Any help on this would be appreciated.
Here’s the current photo I was trying to post here of it, at the corner of DeKalb Ave and Irving Ave (157 Irving Ave) in Brooklyn:
Vincent, the area Ridgewood around the Ridgewood never “got bad” like Bushwick did a few blocks away. It’s never been “unsafe” around the Ridgewood Theater. It was a little seedy perhaps, but unsafe, no. Ridgewood did not experience the same destruction that nearby Bushwick did.
I believe many theaters still had cartoons even into the 70’s. I remember seeing cartoons before the main movie at the Oasis and Ridgewood Theaters as a kid.
According to the tax records, there was a complaint about the marquee in August. That must have been given when the letters were removed. Sdomeone must have reported it. The city sent an inspector, and It was dismissed, as the what they did wasn’t illegal, even if unfortunate. They would have to apply for a permit to remove the marquee.
George, I agree with you, it’s horrible to think this theater has survived so well intact all this time, only to lose it now…but again, anything that preserves the interior would be better than going at it with jackhammers like they did to so many other theaters.
We can only wait and see, but this is yet another theater at an important and critical crossroads we can lose it now in the final hours…
You have to look at it realistically. Chances are slim to none that this would ever be a theater again in this location. But at the same time, there is no reason to “destroy” the building either. It could be converted tastefully into a new use, while preserving it’s integrity and interior and exterior architecture. There’s no reason to sledghammer it away.
I hope you are wrong Luis, but I am sure you are not wrong. This marquee thing is only the beginning. The writing is on the wall for this theater. It has been preserved for so long, even if a diamond in the rough, but either the original chandeliers still hang inside. The former owner has been very “kind” to the building.
But I am sure that the new owner, who just spent almost $2 million dollars for the building, probably has a different idea for the buidling than just using it as a flea market and BINGO hall. Unfortunately, I think we may be in the final hours of this theater. Until now, it was virtually intact inside. Unfortunately, the removal of the letters are probably a sign of what is to come.
I think it’s one that Warren posted in June. It’s a photo that is from the Madison’s final days in either the late 60’s or early 70’s.
Lost and Panzer…no, I didn’t see any fire damage from the circa 1980 fire that I could tell.
Lost, yes, I said red, but it was more like burgundy, just as in the photos Warren posted some time ago….although of course, 30 years later….
Panzer, no, the chandelier is gone.
Once upon a time….no, no ghosts of that Usherette, nor Mae West who was said to perform there….
Panzer65, send me an email…. subtalk66…at…hotmail.com
Lost, did you get my email I sent you this morning? If not, send me an email.
Mr Bill and I met at the Liberty Dept Store the other day…we were just going to see if we can find out if anything remains of the theater can be seen inside the store aside from the different level of the curve of the Balcony that curves through the store, and of course, nothing remains aside from that.
We went upstairs to the furniture area of the store, and saw the door (that is usually alarmed) was open because a worker or someone was doing something there. So we took that chance to take a quick peak in the door for a few minutes, and we were startled to find in our quick peak that the original ceiling and balcony does still exist above the drop ceiling. You can still see the original dome of the ceiling, and the top of the proscenium arch is still there, but all the balcony seats were removed long ago. Of course time did take it’s toll though, but of course it’s been 30 years since it was last used as a theater. But rest assured, “part” of the Madison does survive, and even from that quick glimpse in semi-darkness, you can tell it was some beautiful place. The last paint scheme was red and gold from what can be seen quickly….That must have been the second scheme, as looking at old photos from the 1920’s, it appered to be a little more intricately painted originally than at it’s end, but don’t get me wrong, it was still a classy paintjob at the end too, which I would assume probably was done by the 50’s.
A shame that when it was first converted to a store by whoever used to own the place did not put a little thought into converting it to retail with a little more care to perserve some of the theaters features….such as how the Meserole Theater in Greenpoint was converted to a drug store, with all the old ceilings still exposed….
Oh well. We were glad we got the little peak…it made our day.
The door was probably closed and alarmed soon after once again, but we were lucky enough, if only for a couple minutes, to walk into “The Twilight Zone” on the other side of the door.
They have recently built very nice condos on the site of this theater, and the adjoining lots.
As far as concerts go, $40-$100 isn’t bad. However, yes, they should have some “cheap” stuff, such as classic films or stuff, mixed in.
The ability to add photos directly to posts has always been able to be done, however, I read that the webmasters don’t want us to do that, and they do usually remove them. It’s probably so that the pages aren’t weighed down with loading. I believe they want us to just link to them as we have been doing. I have read that somewhere on the site, but forgot where.
Yes, because of the opening of the Holtsville theater. Also, the Patchogue Theater was not maintained as well as it should have at the end, that in combination of the Patchogue also needing an upgrade of course made box office reciepts suffer.
panzer, thank you so much for your wonderful photos of this old gem. Your assesment is right on the mark, and when I first visted the theater in the 80’s, it hasn’t changed much from that point, and is just as preserved as it was then. It would be a travesty to lose it at this point.
The only correction though to your assesment is the comment about the beige paint. That was done after the theater showed movies, in fact, in the late 80’s, while the walls were already painted beige, the ceiling was in fact not painted beige, and still had it’s original gold leaf and multi-colored paint. It was aged, but it was there. In fact, the walls were only painted up to about ¾ the height of the ceiling. The top ¼ of the walls, and the ceiling itself remained in original gold leaf paint. For example, the procenium arch had it’s two sides beige, but the top was the original gold leaf and multi-colored paint. And the paintline stopped at that point all along the building, and to the balcony, which was all still original paint. I wish I had photos from back then, as it still showed it’s original colors.
But that being said, the beige paint does keep the plaster in good shape, and the original paint on the ceiling DID need to be attended to and obviously they would only paint it one color, and not restore the paint if it was only being used as a flea market. The plaster is so well preserved throughout the building.
The curtain (asbestos?) in front of the stage also was still original into the late 80’s, but appears to have been painted now too.
If you look at this photo you took, you can slightly glimpse the two eras of painting. Just at the top of the proscenium, you see the top is slightly lighter in paint. That is the line at which the theater was painted beige into the late 80’s. The uper 1/3 of t ceiling was painted at a later date. View link
I don’t think that the Patchogue Theater closing had to do with it “not being able to make money”. The problem is just what LImovies said, that the land was worth more than anything they could ever make as a theater, and that is what the problem there was. That coupled with the fact that the Patchogue was in need of an upgrade to compete with the more modern multiplexs like the Holtsville Island 16. The Patchogue was beginning to show it’s age. People now have come tp expect things like stadium seating, and other amenities the newer multiplexes have.
Great page! There are some errors though, one of which says that “the only thing that remains of the Eltinge (Empire AMC25) is the exterior”. That is not correct, the interior auditorium survives as the lobby for the multiplex.
Very interesting webpage Lost. Thanks.
Here’s a photo I took a couple weeks ago from the DeKalb Ave side of the old Imperial Theatre:
Click Here for Photo
Never mind, I found it….but for some ODD reason, it wouldn’t come up in the search results, I found it by looking through my profile. Very strange that it didn’t come up by searching “Imperial”.
/theaters/8166/
I figured I would ask this here, as this was the “Irving Theater”. I am trying to find the listing for the Imperial Theater which was at 157 Irving Ave. We had a listing here on the site, and I accidentally posted a recent photo of it in the Imperial Theater listing on Halsey St, forgetting there were two Imperial Theaters.
Why can’t I find the Imperial Theater that was at 157 Irving Ave on the site? I know we had a listing for it here, but perhaps it’s under another name now? I can’t find it under “former” names searching “Imperial” either. Any help on this would be appreciated.
Here’s the current photo I was trying to post here of it, at the corner of DeKalb Ave and Irving Ave (157 Irving Ave) in Brooklyn:
Click here for Recent photo
Here’s an old photo I took of it back in 2004:
Click here for photo from 2004
Here’s a side glimpse of the Starr Theater, which is now a supermarket, that I took last week:
Click here for link
Vincent, the area Ridgewood around the Ridgewood never “got bad” like Bushwick did a few blocks away. It’s never been “unsafe” around the Ridgewood Theater. It was a little seedy perhaps, but unsafe, no. Ridgewood did not experience the same destruction that nearby Bushwick did.
The 46th St had a really nice marquee.
I believe many theaters still had cartoons even into the 70’s. I remember seeing cartoons before the main movie at the Oasis and Ridgewood Theaters as a kid.
According to the tax records, there was a complaint about the marquee in August. That must have been given when the letters were removed. Sdomeone must have reported it. The city sent an inspector, and It was dismissed, as the what they did wasn’t illegal, even if unfortunate. They would have to apply for a permit to remove the marquee.
George, I agree with you, it’s horrible to think this theater has survived so well intact all this time, only to lose it now…but again, anything that preserves the interior would be better than going at it with jackhammers like they did to so many other theaters.
We can only wait and see, but this is yet another theater at an important and critical crossroads we can lose it now in the final hours…
You have to look at it realistically. Chances are slim to none that this would ever be a theater again in this location. But at the same time, there is no reason to “destroy” the building either. It could be converted tastefully into a new use, while preserving it’s integrity and interior and exterior architecture. There’s no reason to sledghammer it away.
Perhaps how the drug store was put in the Meserole Theater. That buiding suits it’s new use fine, yet preserved the integrity of the building.
I hope you are wrong Luis, but I am sure you are not wrong. This marquee thing is only the beginning. The writing is on the wall for this theater. It has been preserved for so long, even if a diamond in the rough, but either the original chandeliers still hang inside. The former owner has been very “kind” to the building.
But I am sure that the new owner, who just spent almost $2 million dollars for the building, probably has a different idea for the buidling than just using it as a flea market and BINGO hall. Unfortunately, I think we may be in the final hours of this theater. Until now, it was virtually intact inside. Unfortunately, the removal of the letters are probably a sign of what is to come.
Did anyone try calling the number? What do they say?