Plaza Theatre
393 East Main Street,
Patchogue,
NY
11772
393 East Main Street,
Patchogue,
NY
11772
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 202 comments
this theater was A typical in every way .. the only different features , sunken lobby , the auditoriums had a few rows of stadium style seating in the rear.
I don’t think the interior of the Plaza was typical at all. It certainly wasn’t an antique like the Patchogue Theater or the Rialto, but again, it had those sparkley walls and little nuances that made it “fancy.” Does anyone know exactly when the Plaza was built?
Gustave, are you sure you are thinking of the Plaza? I think you may be thinking of the old Ward and Glynne’s Patchogue theater (now the Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts), which was in fact spectacular, and glorious inside. The Patchogue Theater has been meticulously restored.
AFAIK, I believe the Plaza was quite plain inside, and very average, again, typical “60’s” construction.
I think you are confusing the Plaza Theater with the Patchogue Theater further down on Main St:
/theaters/7402/
the inside of this theater was average to good very plain but nice..
It was a very stage theater like, wasn’t it? Jazzy. Definitely a period piece. Too bad some retro thinking entrepreneur doesn’t go in and restore it…Easy for me to put someone else’s money to use recreating my memories!
I recall the inside as being spectacular for a theater that was only open for movies, and did not put on stage productions.
I drove by the other day, and there is now grafitti all over the bricks above the marquee. It seems that it gets worse every day.
Gust, I never found the building all that attractive, I find it to be
60’s construction at it’s blandest, but granted, it looked much better when it was open.
Why doesn’t someone restore it? It had a nice look inside before all the pigeon poop.
It was a UA when it played this classic double bill
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From what I remember, the original plan was to build apartments there, and they were going to keep the look of the mill. I remember seeing the plans, and thinking that it was really cool. But when studies were done, toxins were found in the soil that ruled out apartments.
Here’s some history on the plant that I found on newsday.com:
So Patchogue it is, but no longer do villagers set their clocks by the noon whistle from the giant Patchogue-Plymouth Lace Mill, which closed in 1954. Most of the mills succumbed in the 1940s and ‘50s, outpaced by foreign competition and by the industry movement to the South and overseas for cheaper labor.
The lace works, now a burned-out hulk, was once known as “the Patchogue College because so many Patchogue kids went there when they finished high school,” says Marjorie Roe, president of the Greater Patchogue Historical Society. Workers also came by stagecoach from Sayville and other South Shore communities. The mill employed as many as 1,200 during World War II, when it manufactured camouflage netting and other war products.
Paradoxically, it may have been curtains for the lace mill because its products were too good for this modern, disposable world. “They lasted forever and never had to be replaced – I still use a lace tablecloth my mother bought in the ‘30s,” says Roe, a sixth-generation descendant of Capt. Austin Roe, a chief spy for Gen. George Washington during the Revolutionary War.
Yes. Longislandmovies is correct.
Actually, I also miss the Lace Mill. Unfortunately it’s water under the bridge, but before they allowed it to rot and deteriorate to what it became, it would have been so nice if they had used it for something like condos or loft apartments. So many apartment complexes were built in the 70’s and 80’s. If they had forgone some of them, and used the lace mill instead, they would have saved a historic building, and saved some of the land where the other complexes were built.
sweezys still own the property and lease the building.
I went to school with the Sweezy’s, Karen Sweezy, anyway. Very nice girl. I guess I’m one of the few who actually misses the Lace Mill? I know it was a disaster area, but it was part of Patchogue’s charm. To be honest, my family was pretty poor and we shopped a lot more at John’s Bargain Store than Sweezy’s… ;–)
Unfortunately, Swezey’s would have went under even had they not moved. The move was a last ditched effort to try and save an ailing business. The were struggling for years before alread. They had hoped the move would save them, but unfortunately it didn’t. They were struggling for years, and the addition of Kohl’s to the area was the final nail. That was a chain that had similar merchandise to Swezey’s. It’s unfortunate, but the writing on the wall for the end of the era started long before they moved to the Lace Mills site.
Phew…I’m glad someone else remembered the sparkly walls. You know how time has a way of playing tricks on you. I saw Funny Girl at The Plaza. I know. That REALLY dates me!
I think they need to fill sweezys. It’s too bad they moved and then went under, because Ocean Avenue was the perfect location for them.
By the way, I also loved the blue, sparkly walls of the Plaza. I went there with my father to see GREASE, and I loved that elegant form of googie that was the auditorium.
I was never to the Rialto, but amen to that! By the way, Patchogue, I think is back, there seem to be more stores there.
I used to work at the Rialto, and I filled in for a sick cashier at the Plaza one night. At that time it was a UA theater, just as the Rialto was. I remember that the interior, I think the walls, were like a blue or beige plaster with glitter mixed in. All I know is it was sparkley. It was an odd layout too, with that huge, long lobby. I believe it is true that it didn’t do as well as the Patchogue Theater or the Rialto. Remember back in the day, Patchogue was the only town around for shopping, food, and entertainment. I grew up in Sayville, but Patchogue was exotic by comparison! I hate to see the damage that malls and multi-plexes have done to the community.
There was nothing better than shopping at Sweezys, having lunch at Swankee’s, and then seeing a movie at the Rialto.
I did not know Dog was a term for box office, sorry Longislandmovies.
When i say dog i mean box office #s
Dog throughout it’s life? I recall the beautiful blue curtains, and lights that adorned the theater when it was a single screen. That was no single screen woofer.
This theater was a dog when it was open.
I read all the posts here and saw the pictures on that website showing all of garbage inside. The fact is, this theatre has the most depressing story of all, one that shows how irresponsible and simply foolish the bureaucrats and property owners were in letting it go to pot the way it did. Now some hoodlom can get bored, toss a rock at it and the whole structure can just collapse or even explode then burn to the ground. They had better do something about this “Crap-chogue” landmark as soon as heavenly possible.
An “Amadeus” poster is still up? Man, that would be really frightening in a place like that.
I LIVE IN EAST PATCHOGUE AND I SEE THIS THEATER EVERY DAY. THIS IS ONE THAT SOMEDAY WILL JUST BE TAKEN DOWN . No hope for this one.
Hello;
I would like to say that I saw the pictures on the website above. Somebody should purchase this theater, or speak to East Patchogue Village Leaders to restore for, maybe, a playhouse. Then again, I’m a Theater Major as a returning student at Stony Brook, so I may always think this way. However, I recall seeing Grease there and having the majestic, perhaps Googie styling, with the curtains lit with flood lights surround the seats in all their glory. A film about the 1950s in a 1950s theater. I think the last movie I saw there I ran out on, I got frightened at Ghostbusters. That was after they made it a multiplex. Why shouldn’t they fix it for that? We have a professional playhouse in Pathchogue, why not an amateur one?