Palace Theatre
165 Main Street,
Danbury,
CT
06810
165 Main Street,
Danbury,
CT
06810
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 101 - 119 of 119 comments
I don’t know where the clothes came from. When I worked there, the dressing rooms were all emptied. Anything of value is definitely gone. I heard that on the night they closed the theater, some of the employees destroyed a lot of what was left inside. I loved that old place and would love to see it restored. I hope that the DaSilva family decides to let someone take it over and make it into the showplace that it could be.
My friend’s boyfriend apparently is being paid by the landlords for the last few years to restore the Palace’s interiors. He told me he doesn’t believe in ghosts but clearly hears talking, whispering and laughter and slamming of doors when he’s along in the wee hours. He also told me he could take me on a tour. He said there are 5 floors of dressing rooms in the back and when he discovered them, there were still clothes on the hangers!
I just noticed today (and should’ve before) an enlarged copy of a program from a movie at the Palace at the Danbury Public Library. It is on the left of the door to the Local History Room. There are dancers on it but there is no name of the show. All it says is “Opening Program, Palace Theater, September 6, 1928.
From the 1929 Directory, 165 Main Street was called Danbury Theatres Inc. only in that year.
There is a picture of the Palace on page 19 of the Centennial Edition of the News-Times, Volume 2, 1933-1983. Also, my friend told me when he was first opening the Empress, he and his co-owner broke into the Palace and saw the original ceilings of turquoise and tile work. He said the little windows in the back of the building were the old dressing rooms, which are still intact, some 6 stories of them.
For some reason, the Palace wasn’t listed in the 1988 Directory. Any reason for the omittance? A changing of ownership?
I’m sorry, i made a mistake, it was changed to the Crown Palace Triplex.
Further research into present day’s directories show the Translux Palace open in the 1991-1992 directory. In the 1992-1993 directory, it is apparent that Crown bought them out as they did with the Cine on Eagle Road and Cinema Twin at the North Street Shopping Center. The Palace was changed to the Palace Triplex.
From the 1981 Danbury City Directory, The Palace is listed at 173 Main Street but that doesn’t seem right as that’s further down the block, unless the numbers were changed or storefronts were overhauled. In the 1982 Directory, The Palace is still listed at 173 Main Street but it’s name was changed to Trans-Lux Palace Theater. More updates later this week.
From the 1932 Danbury City Directory, the Palace Theater is listed at 165 Main Street. The 1939 City Directory has it showing motion pictures.
Hello. I share everyone’s concern on the status of the Palace theatre. It is indeed a sad situation. i am a playwrite/director in Danbury and put on a production in October at Danbury High School, then in December at Bethel High School. This month we will go t oWalnut Hill Community Church. My vision is of course to hold productions at the Palace. I called and personally spoke with Mr. DaSilva mid 2003. He assured me that the Palace would be partially renovated by now. How discouraging. I would love to have my productions at the Palace. It is such an ideal location and could bring so much economy and excitement to Danbury. There is NO place to go to for good theatre in Danbury but all of the surrounding towns have a theatre. All were too busy to accommodate me. I spoke with the mayor and there are plans to build a new 300 seat capacity theatre in Danbury but each of my shows were over 300 people. One show was over 450 people in Danbury. So, I am pleading and praying that Mr. DaSilva softens his heart and sell so that the Palace can be restored for many good uses in Danbury.
i live down the street from the palace and the empress. my friends have owned the empress club and studio for 5 years (the venue is under the orginal stage).
the palace is owned by slumlord, Joe Dasilva. that may be libel, but it’s the truth, spouted by many a tenant under him and i used to be his tenant.
he’s owned it for many years and refuses to sell it to the city for any price. we need it for a performing arts center/community center but he won’t sell. what good can he be getting from an abandoned building that he refuses or to do anything with? there was a tour of the place a few years ago and to add insult to our history, this past new years eve on first night danbury, i saw the palace listed as a place for one of the many shows that night! wtf?!? sure enough it was open but i had to catch a train and didn’t have time to wander in. i will be calling the mayor today as i know him and ask about the issue.
Sadly this Main Street theater could have been a treasure for the community. But instead it has become a blight on Main Street. The theater is forever gone because of an owner who will not sell it and does not have the vision or resources to develop it.
Warren Levy
To Whom It May Concern,
I am in the process of planning my parents 50th wedding anniversary and I really wanted to plan somthing different. I was thinking of planning a recpetion in a historical bulding and the Palace Theatre popped into my head. I came across this website in my search. I can not believe that anyone with the money that could afford to invest does not gobble this land mark up! This place may be money pit right now but in the long run could be a gold mine. Think of what they could turn this place into, Arts theatre/resturant/events hall. Someone save the theatre!
I worked at the Palace for many years including during the time when it was made into a triplex. The movie One Summer Love with Susan Sarandon and Beau Bridges was filmed there, so when I am nostalgic, I watch the movie to see the once beautiful theater. I loved the statue in the lobby and the beautiful chandeliers. It was a gorgeous theater and I am dismayed whenever I drive by the building and think of the ruin it has become. How sad!
It is a shame that an era has passed. These were beautiful theaters, The Palace, The Empress and the Capitol. Crystal chandeliers and murals all around, velvet curatins and seats. One even had a fountain in the lobby. Somehow you just don’t feel as special in the new theaters.
Sadly, all those old Danbury cinemas have closed since and the onlu theatre left in town is a Loews monsterplex. Most have been demolished. The Palace stands abandoned and the Empress next door has been carved into stores and a live music club, but all the rest are gone. The city tried to talk the group who has reopened the Avon in Stamford into rehabbing the Palace, but the theatre too far gone.
I can remember seeing “Gremlins” there with my sister in the early 1980s. I don’t think it had been triplexed at that time. I remember thinking the theater must have been fairly elegant at one time. I seem to remember standing at the back of the auditorium, underneath a curved balcony, overhead. It seemed like the perfect place to see a Saturday matinee. It was the only time I ever saw a movie there. There was also the Brandt Cine in Danbury and another theater at the other end of town, the North Street Cinema.
There are holes in the ceiling that have let decay take a foothold inside. The theatre is in such bad shape that it would take many millions of dollars to restore, and that is unlikely to happen.