Now a Blockbuster Video in the center of one of the wings of the plaza. If you look at the rear of the complex you can tell which store was the theater.
There are many details of the theater still visible in the furniture store. The poster cases and neat deco framing are still there, along with the box office. In fact the lobby is mostly intact except for the concession stand. In the auditorium, they’ve de-quadded the place. You can see the scars on the ceiling and walls from the removal of the dividing walls. The angel wing decorations above the exits on either side of the stage area are still there, along with the projectiopn booth. The back of the house is arranged in stadium-style, and there is furniture set up for display on the risers. Definitely worth a trip!
We opened our two new screens and expanded ladies room officially last Friday, 9/15!
Our seat count is now just under 1200. The new houses look much the same as the existing five, which will aleady turn two years old on 11/12! Stop by and check it out—-and be sure to say ‘hi’! Also, Katz’s Deli just opened across the street—excellent food.
If you’re in Connecticut you should come to the Criterion in New Haven—-we NEVER show commercials! We show the obligatory “EXIT” trailer, three or four “COMING SOON” trailers, then our Policy Trailer. That’s it!
When this palace closed as a movie house, it was called the Elmira Theatre and was run by the Dipson chain. They replaced it with the Elmira 1-2-3, which opened in 1977 a block away on College St, now closed. The street in front of the original theater was widened, thus the building lost its lobby building and back part of the auditorium. A new front was placed over the wound, and the house reopened as the Clemens Center. The street was renamed Clemens Center Parkway. Entrance is now at the left of the building.
I was in this complex last week. The lobby building pictured has been converted to retail. It was connected to the auditorium building by a brick ‘tunnel’, which has been demolished separating the former lobby from the auditorium. The house is still almost completely intact. The balcony is 100%, still with its seats and carpeting. Rest rooms are on the mezzanine. The orchestra level’s seats were removed for retail space some time ago. At one time since its closing as a theater in 1958, the space served as a beverage retailer’s warehouse with sales happening on the former stage. The asbestos fire curtain is hanging and the lower half has been painted white on both sides. Plaster is damaged throughout, with fluorescent light fixtures installed across the front of the balcony. Some of the murals are still there, albeit they’re tattered and hanging down in shreds. Keep an eye on this space…
This was the Campus. In the mid-80s, the theater was twinned by sectioning off the underside of the balcony, with a new projection booth added in the back. I spent every summer nearby and went to the Campus many times. The balcony was never open any time I went there. Right up to the early 90’s, the Campus was owned by the Graphic Circuit which had several sites in VT, NH, and ME, including the nearby (now demolished) Midd-Haven Drive-In.
If my memory serves me correctly, the Showplace was the last of the North Street theatres to close. The Capitol closed first, in the early 80’s, followed by the Palace then the Showplace. The trio were owned and operated by the infamous Western Massachusettes Theatres chain.
Since the photo above was taken, the marquee was restored. It is used to advertise the nursery and the town compost/recycling center now located on the drive-in lot.
The theater was raided and padlocked—several customers and the manager were arrested. From the Troy Record:
03/03/2006
Last picture show? Cinema Art raided
By: R.W. Groneman , The Record
TROY – Police led away one unidentified man in hand restraints Thursday night following a raid by city and State Police at the Cinema Art Theater, a long-running adult entertainment center at 289 River St.
Advertisement
About a dozen persons and at least one employee were in the theater at the time of the 7:15 p.m. raid, according to Det. Sgt. John Cooney, a spokesman for the city Police Department. Also inside were about a half dozen undercover troopers from the State Police.
Police arrived at the theater with a search warrant as part of “an ongoing investigation into activities in the premises,” Cooney said.
“There will be multiple charges and multiple arrests,” Cooney said at the scene. He said details will be released at a press conference at 10 a.m. today at Troy Police headquarters. He declined to provide more details Thursday night.
The theater, also knows as Cinema Art Show World, has exhibited X-rated movies for about four decades. In recent years it added private viewing booths. A sign on the door advertised DVDs and tapes for sale. Another sign cautioned that no minors were allowed inside.
In the normally quiet downtown area, Troy Police cruisers blocked off River Street between Second and Third streets.
About 20 minutes after the raid began, a bystander reported observing two apparent customers – one a man about 30 years old, and an older man – exit the theater individually, walk to their parked cars on River Street and drive away past the blocking police cruisers.
The police action involving about 20 officers “went off without incident,” Cooney said.
The operation was under the direction of Troy Police Capt. John Reigert, head of the Community Police Service Bureau. He deferred all questions to Cooney, the official police spokesman.
Cooney said it is common practice to enlist the support of the State Police for undercover operations.
Police left the scene at about 9:45 p.m. A code enforcement officer posted the building as closed.
While the raid was going on, the Troy City Council at its regular meeting a block away at City Hall on Monument Square was discussing an ordinance for the removal of junk cars.
Although not present at the scene, Mayor Harry Tutunjian “was aware of the ongoing investigation,” said his spokesman, Jeff Buell.
Buell arrived at the theater about an hour after the raid began.
Police officers were seen exiting the scene with handheld video cameras. Several boxes, perhaps of evidence, were loaded by police into an unmarked van. Rensselaer County District Attorney Patricia DeAngelis arrived later with a handful of aides.
FROM TODAY’S NEW HAVEN REGISTER
03/04/2006
Criterion to add 2 movie screens
Andy Bromage , Register Staff
NEW HAVEN â€" Criterion Cinemas is expanding from five screens to seven, city building records show, quelling some doubt about the viability of a downtown movie theater.
Cinema developer Bow-Tie Partners of New York pulled a demolition permit recently to knock down walls, a dome and an elevator shaft at 80 Temple St., a vacant restaurant space adjacent to the theater.
Cinema manager Joe Masher declined to comment on the expansion, but said a press conference on the project will take place March 31. Bow-Tie Partners executives Charley and Ben Moss, a father-and-son development team, did not return phone calls seeking details of the plan.
Criterion Cinemas opened in November 2004 to rave reviews and some doubts about how a downtown theater would fare. Built inside the old United Illuminating building, dubbed Temple Square, the cinema started out showing mostly art-house films before securing rights to show first-run movies.
Scott Healy, Town Green Special Services District director, said two more screens will expand Criterion’s film offerings that much more.
“The theater has been so successful that it has basically made it to the next level of theater,” Healy said.
Originally, Bow-Tie Partners had sought to anchor the theater with two restaurants, one on either side. Healy said that with all the restaurants opening across Temple Street, among them Diner 21 and Bella’s, Criterion opted instead to expand its theater.
Building records indicate demolition work on the ground and basement floors of 80 Temple St., on the corner of George Street. The price of the job is $20,000, records show. Sounds of heavy equipment inside the space on a recent day indicate that work has begun.
The cinema’s current capacity is 900 seats in five theaters, though it is unclear how many seats the expansion will add. The second, third and fourth floors of Temple Square house 44 luxury apartments.
“It is so exciting to see the theater doing so well in such a short time,” said Tony Bialecki, the city’s deputy development administrator. “And, I think, when many people had doubts about a contemporary theater opening downtown.”
Criterion’s swift rise to stardom follows years of farewells to classic Greater New Haven movie houses like the Forest Theater and Bowl Drive-In in West Haven and York Square Cinemas on Broadway.
“It’s exciting to watch Temple Street come alive at night,” Bialecki said. “It used to be dark and boarded up and cold. Now it’s just the opposite.”
Criterion has dished up trendy new offerings in recent months. On Fridays and Saturdays at 11:30 p.m., night owls can catch modern classics like “The Matrix” and “Full Metal Jacket” for $5 as part of Criterion’s Insomnia Theater series. Sunday mornings, Movies and Mimosas presents classics like “Cabaret” and “The Sound of Music” for $5, and drinks for $2.
Loews operated this theater for a good portion of the Crest’s last years, however an independent took it over for a short time before it closed for good. The seats were all on one level as the place never had a mezzanine or balcony. Access to the projection booth was outside—it was located in a hallway above the lobby which also held a few apartments.
I believe the amusement park closed sometime in the late 60’s-early 70’s. The building that served as the ticket and refreshment stand is still there, as are some train tracks laying in the overgrown grass. From what I’ve been able to gather, there was a small carousel, ferris wheel, tea cups, chair swing, and the train, as well as a miniature golf course.
A music store occupies the lobby and auditorium of the Embassy (later Pickwick) Theatre. The vertical sign frame and marquee are still there as well. There are some seats in the auditorium that were added for a film series that was shown in the theater a few years back.
There is a room that was built in the front half of the auditorium that is used as a recording studio—-this room also encompasses the former stage. The projection booth is used as a teaching room for music lessons.
Much of the plaster work in the auditorium has been refurbished.
The orchestra level functions as a bingo hall. It’s still in tact—with chandelier and all. The stage was recently converted to a non-smoking section, snack bar, and restrooms, once the lobby was walled off for a restaurant.
It was originally a twin theater, then three screens were added. Because of the low ceiling height of the three newer screens, the projectors for those three used a mirror system to bounce the image down to the floor of the projection booth and out to the screens. Clearview Cinemas was the final operator of this location.
The Mayfair was at one time a Walter Reade Theatre. It was located across the street from the current Hudson Valley Mall, and has been demolished for parking.
The original auditorium was demolished and a new building was added containing the five screens. There are three larger screens on the ground floor, and three smaller houses in the basement. There is no original interior decor left from the single screen days. The lobby was completely gutted and rebuilt.
Now a Blockbuster Video in the center of one of the wings of the plaza. If you look at the rear of the complex you can tell which store was the theater.
There are many details of the theater still visible in the furniture store. The poster cases and neat deco framing are still there, along with the box office. In fact the lobby is mostly intact except for the concession stand. In the auditorium, they’ve de-quadded the place. You can see the scars on the ceiling and walls from the removal of the dividing walls. The angel wing decorations above the exits on either side of the stage area are still there, along with the projectiopn booth. The back of the house is arranged in stadium-style, and there is furniture set up for display on the risers. Definitely worth a trip!
We opened our two new screens and expanded ladies room officially last Friday, 9/15!
Our seat count is now just under 1200. The new houses look much the same as the existing five, which will aleady turn two years old on 11/12! Stop by and check it out—-and be sure to say ‘hi’! Also, Katz’s Deli just opened across the street—excellent food.
I love that at this point in Boston the AMC Theatre has “LOEWS” signage on it, and the Regal Cinema has an “AMC THEATRES” sign on it!
If you’re in Connecticut you should come to the Criterion in New Haven—-we NEVER show commercials! We show the obligatory “EXIT” trailer, three or four “COMING SOON” trailers, then our Policy Trailer. That’s it!
When this palace closed as a movie house, it was called the Elmira Theatre and was run by the Dipson chain. They replaced it with the Elmira 1-2-3, which opened in 1977 a block away on College St, now closed. The street in front of the original theater was widened, thus the building lost its lobby building and back part of the auditorium. A new front was placed over the wound, and the house reopened as the Clemens Center. The street was renamed Clemens Center Parkway. Entrance is now at the left of the building.
The mall site is now New Roc City, where Regal has an 18-plex plus an IMAX theatre.
I was in this complex last week. The lobby building pictured has been converted to retail. It was connected to the auditorium building by a brick ‘tunnel’, which has been demolished separating the former lobby from the auditorium. The house is still almost completely intact. The balcony is 100%, still with its seats and carpeting. Rest rooms are on the mezzanine. The orchestra level’s seats were removed for retail space some time ago. At one time since its closing as a theater in 1958, the space served as a beverage retailer’s warehouse with sales happening on the former stage. The asbestos fire curtain is hanging and the lower half has been painted white on both sides. Plaster is damaged throughout, with fluorescent light fixtures installed across the front of the balcony. Some of the murals are still there, albeit they’re tattered and hanging down in shreds. Keep an eye on this space…
This was the Campus. In the mid-80s, the theater was twinned by sectioning off the underside of the balcony, with a new projection booth added in the back. I spent every summer nearby and went to the Campus many times. The balcony was never open any time I went there. Right up to the early 90’s, the Campus was owned by the Graphic Circuit which had several sites in VT, NH, and ME, including the nearby (now demolished) Midd-Haven Drive-In.
If my memory serves me correctly, the Showplace was the last of the North Street theatres to close. The Capitol closed first, in the early 80’s, followed by the Palace then the Showplace. The trio were owned and operated by the infamous Western Massachusettes Theatres chain.
Since the photo above was taken, the marquee was restored. It is used to advertise the nursery and the town compost/recycling center now located on the drive-in lot.
The theater was raided and padlocked—several customers and the manager were arrested. From the Troy Record:
03/03/2006
Last picture show? Cinema Art raided
By: R.W. Groneman , The Record
TROY – Police led away one unidentified man in hand restraints Thursday night following a raid by city and State Police at the Cinema Art Theater, a long-running adult entertainment center at 289 River St.
Advertisement
About a dozen persons and at least one employee were in the theater at the time of the 7:15 p.m. raid, according to Det. Sgt. John Cooney, a spokesman for the city Police Department. Also inside were about a half dozen undercover troopers from the State Police.
Police arrived at the theater with a search warrant as part of “an ongoing investigation into activities in the premises,” Cooney said.
“There will be multiple charges and multiple arrests,” Cooney said at the scene. He said details will be released at a press conference at 10 a.m. today at Troy Police headquarters. He declined to provide more details Thursday night.
The theater, also knows as Cinema Art Show World, has exhibited X-rated movies for about four decades. In recent years it added private viewing booths. A sign on the door advertised DVDs and tapes for sale. Another sign cautioned that no minors were allowed inside.
In the normally quiet downtown area, Troy Police cruisers blocked off River Street between Second and Third streets.
About 20 minutes after the raid began, a bystander reported observing two apparent customers – one a man about 30 years old, and an older man – exit the theater individually, walk to their parked cars on River Street and drive away past the blocking police cruisers.
The police action involving about 20 officers “went off without incident,” Cooney said.
The operation was under the direction of Troy Police Capt. John Reigert, head of the Community Police Service Bureau. He deferred all questions to Cooney, the official police spokesman.
Cooney said it is common practice to enlist the support of the State Police for undercover operations.
Police left the scene at about 9:45 p.m. A code enforcement officer posted the building as closed.
While the raid was going on, the Troy City Council at its regular meeting a block away at City Hall on Monument Square was discussing an ordinance for the removal of junk cars.
Although not present at the scene, Mayor Harry Tutunjian “was aware of the ongoing investigation,” said his spokesman, Jeff Buell.
Buell arrived at the theater about an hour after the raid began.
Police officers were seen exiting the scene with handheld video cameras. Several boxes, perhaps of evidence, were loaded by police into an unmarked van. Rensselaer County District Attorney Patricia DeAngelis arrived later with a handful of aides.
FROM TODAY’S NEW HAVEN REGISTER
03/04/2006
Criterion to add 2 movie screens
Andy Bromage , Register Staff
NEW HAVEN â€" Criterion Cinemas is expanding from five screens to seven, city building records show, quelling some doubt about the viability of a downtown movie theater.
Cinema developer Bow-Tie Partners of New York pulled a demolition permit recently to knock down walls, a dome and an elevator shaft at 80 Temple St., a vacant restaurant space adjacent to the theater.
Cinema manager Joe Masher declined to comment on the expansion, but said a press conference on the project will take place March 31. Bow-Tie Partners executives Charley and Ben Moss, a father-and-son development team, did not return phone calls seeking details of the plan.
Criterion Cinemas opened in November 2004 to rave reviews and some doubts about how a downtown theater would fare. Built inside the old United Illuminating building, dubbed Temple Square, the cinema started out showing mostly art-house films before securing rights to show first-run movies.
Scott Healy, Town Green Special Services District director, said two more screens will expand Criterion’s film offerings that much more.
“The theater has been so successful that it has basically made it to the next level of theater,” Healy said.
Originally, Bow-Tie Partners had sought to anchor the theater with two restaurants, one on either side. Healy said that with all the restaurants opening across Temple Street, among them Diner 21 and Bella’s, Criterion opted instead to expand its theater.
Building records indicate demolition work on the ground and basement floors of 80 Temple St., on the corner of George Street. The price of the job is $20,000, records show. Sounds of heavy equipment inside the space on a recent day indicate that work has begun.
The cinema’s current capacity is 900 seats in five theaters, though it is unclear how many seats the expansion will add. The second, third and fourth floors of Temple Square house 44 luxury apartments.
“It is so exciting to see the theater doing so well in such a short time,” said Tony Bialecki, the city’s deputy development administrator. “And, I think, when many people had doubts about a contemporary theater opening downtown.”
Criterion’s swift rise to stardom follows years of farewells to classic Greater New Haven movie houses like the Forest Theater and Bowl Drive-In in West Haven and York Square Cinemas on Broadway.
“It’s exciting to watch Temple Street come alive at night,” Bialecki said. “It used to be dark and boarded up and cold. Now it’s just the opposite.”
Criterion has dished up trendy new offerings in recent months. On Fridays and Saturdays at 11:30 p.m., night owls can catch modern classics like “The Matrix” and “Full Metal Jacket” for $5 as part of Criterion’s Insomnia Theater series. Sunday mornings, Movies and Mimosas presents classics like “Cabaret” and “The Sound of Music” for $5, and drinks for $2.
The theatre is getting new seats, carpeting, restrooms, and auditorium wall coverings and screens. It’s supposed to reopen in two weeks.
Loews operated this theater for a good portion of the Crest’s last years, however an independent took it over for a short time before it closed for good. The seats were all on one level as the place never had a mezzanine or balcony. Access to the projection booth was outside—it was located in a hallway above the lobby which also held a few apartments.
I believe the amusement park closed sometime in the late 60’s-early 70’s. The building that served as the ticket and refreshment stand is still there, as are some train tracks laying in the overgrown grass. From what I’ve been able to gather, there was a small carousel, ferris wheel, tea cups, chair swing, and the train, as well as a miniature golf course.
I think it’s closed…it’s not on the new AMC/Loews website, nor is it on Yahoo Movies.
A music store occupies the lobby and auditorium of the Embassy (later Pickwick) Theatre. The vertical sign frame and marquee are still there as well. There are some seats in the auditorium that were added for a film series that was shown in the theater a few years back.
There is a room that was built in the front half of the auditorium that is used as a recording studio—-this room also encompasses the former stage. The projection booth is used as a teaching room for music lessons.
Much of the plaster work in the auditorium has been refurbished.
This theater closed recently – it’s being converted to a Panera Bread restaurant.
The restaurant occupies the entire orchestra section of the auditorium. The stage is now Starbucks.
The Strand was located in downtown Elmira and was demolished in the 70’s. This was always the Heights.
The orchestra level functions as a bingo hall. It’s still in tact—with chandelier and all. The stage was recently converted to a non-smoking section, snack bar, and restrooms, once the lobby was walled off for a restaurant.
It was originally a twin theater, then three screens were added. Because of the low ceiling height of the three newer screens, the projectors for those three used a mirror system to bounce the image down to the floor of the projection booth and out to the screens. Clearview Cinemas was the final operator of this location.
The Mayfair was at one time a Walter Reade Theatre. It was located across the street from the current Hudson Valley Mall, and has been demolished for parking.
The original auditorium was demolished and a new building was added containing the five screens. There are three larger screens on the ground floor, and three smaller houses in the basement. There is no original interior decor left from the single screen days. The lobby was completely gutted and rebuilt.