Oasis Theatre

Thanks, Bway. What street corner are we looking at here, and in what direction are we facing, in this photo ?

Tha address on the top of the page is wrong, and is an outdated address from before Queens went into the new numbering system in the 20’s or 30’s. If someone clicks on “map” with that address, it will give them improper location.
The proper address for the Oasis Theater, and the address it had for most of it’s life, and now the CVS holds is:
63-57 Fresh Pond Rd

Michael, thanks for all your comments. Yes, I remember the Oasis being extremely load when it was a roller rink. My ears were always ringing when I got out of there. It was a great theater when I used to go there for that, and had many good times at the rink too in it’s afterlife.
The Oasis still stands…well partly anyway. I believe there were several fires after the rink closed. When the building was converted to what it is now, a CVS pharmacy, all the stores that were along Fresh Pond Road, attached to the front of the theater were removed, as well as the entire left side of the building, the lobby and cafeteria areas. The only part of the building still standing is the main auditorium, which now houses the CVS. The former lobby area is now the parking lot for the CVS.
I will be in the area in a few weeks, and plan to take a current photo of what’s left of the building, so check back here in a about two or three weeks for the photo link.

some corrections… studio 54….. I meant…. it was about as big as studio 54

I spelled martenelli wrong…

Michael…

My friend Richie used to manage this theatre and had a whole photo albums of pictures he took there. I mentioned in an earlier post that UA dumped some money in the place shortly before they closed it. They painted and relit the marquee and he had a great photo of him and his staff posing by it, one in daytime and one at night. Remember the name OASIS was lit with incandesent bulbs like the 15 watt ones? I have not talked to him in years but would love to call him and ask him to scan them for me. Besides the Disney fims does anyone remember the 4 wall runs that played in mass release from Pacific International? Grizzly Addams, In Search of Historic Jesus, The Adventures of the Wilderness Family they would be in mass release and the Oasis played alot of them. One was about the question of life on other planets and narrated by Orson Welles. I cant recall the name. Besides the Oasis they would play The Arion, Drake, Cinemart, Haven and all the other neighborhood houses.

Thanks. The 1947 one is most likely the style of the one I remember before being modified for the Oasis Roller World’s new marquee style.
The way I remember it as a theater marquee back in the 70’s was very “50’s” looking, with moving lights, etc, so it is probably the 1947 one. “Oasis” was in skinny letters and either orange or brown.

For those interested, the “Our Neigborhood” of the “Times Newsweekly” had a photo of the Oasis one week. It shows the Marquee of the Oasis when it first opened. At some point the lettering and neon letters were changed, as this is not the same sign I remember from the 70’s before the theater closed to movies.
Here’s the link:
View link

Hi Bway! – to answer some of your questions, the pyramids didn’t rotate…just the lighting beneath and above. They housed the large EV speakers until we decided to mount them on the wall. There were sirens at the base of each corner of each pyramid and big rotating “hollywood” style lights in the top of the middle “monolith” between both pyramids. Regarding CVS, I had the opportunity to view the construcion of it – I gave them a sob story of how sad I was to see the old building chopped apart and they gladly let me in behind the temporary wood surround. The old dome was sadly demolished as it was a safety hazard – much of the steel above it was tired and the plaster work must have weighed tons. I remember the catwalks already swinging and squeaking while I walked across them back in early 80’s. I actually JUST sold the large 36" diameter disco ball that hung through the middle of it. The seating I’m sure is still under there – the slab was still intact while the construction was going on. The old basement (aka. the old skateroom) is still there – there was a small apt. setup down there alongside it by the Martinelli’s w/ a bathroom and office – on the latenights it was handy to catch some sleep before the next day’s early “kiddy” session. To get back to the seating, we found it while exploring the tunnels. At stage-left, beneath the DJ booth, there was a trap door in the floor with a stairwell that went down to a big cavernous room. In the room was another short flight of stairs that led to a small trap door – going through the door it opened back up to a HALLWAY! And that led to another room which was approximately right under the screen. In that room was a bricked up doorway. Curiousity got the best of me one night so a few of us went down with a coleman lantern and a sledge hammer. When we broke threw, sand spilled out all over – I know what it was like now to discover a tomb in ancient Egypt! We didn’t even have to go too far to find the first row of seating. I realize now that it would have been magnificent to swipe a few of them. Beyond that room the hallway continued, turned to the right, and then shrunk down to what I think was a utility tunnel with old steam lines. Following that tunnel brought us back to the power room adjoing the old skate rental room under the main lobby – we had sooo much fun! In the tunnel we even found boxes of extra Marqee letters – again I regret not taking every last one of them. I’ll look for those photos tonight – I know I have interior and exterior..and certainly some have me up in the DJ booth and my friends down on the floor.
Also, there were actually 2 fires. One was an electrical problem in the “booking office” – one of the small storefronts – that damaged the office and the new skateroom. Then the second fire came after closing… caused by the sign manufacturing store on the far corner of the block. That took out most of the storefronts and heavily damaged the interior wall of the rink.
I just walked over to my “cabinet of memories” and I found several old Oasis movie theater tickets for Pinochio and Cinderella, a stack of the round plastic chips used for skate rental with the Oasis logo, and the wood pipe organ tube I found during one of my wandering through the ceiling.
And a quick funny story – It was the first place I got drunk. We had closed one night for a special political party and we had a temporary liquor license. Although I was underage, I was the only one that could work that night that knew how run all the lighting so Mr. Midha let me work. Afterward, during cleanup, I “tasted” one of the drinks and actually liked it! So I drank some more, and then more, and then it hit my little 13 year old body. I recall stumbling home and vomiting in some poor womans tomato garden on 60th place. That was the night my dad taught me the trick of keeping one foot on the floor (hanging over the bed) to help minimize “the spins”! Hahahaha… I’ll never forget that.

Now if only I could afford the old Rigewood Grove Arena….. :–)

It is in fact still Ridgewood… I live just 2 blocks away. I remember all the disney movies as well. But right after the theatre closed, I was happily employed by both the Martinelli’s and it’s later owner, Mr. Midha – from the age of 13 to 21 I think. I started as a skate guard, graduated to DJ (And yes, it WAS LOUD!), and finally wound up managing on the weekends. It was fascinating to roam around “behind the scenes”. There were numerous underground tunnels, rooms, shaftways, and even an old locked safe on the second floor! In my years there, we found the frame and some pipes behind the old screen for what was the old pipe organ, the infamous safe that we tried to get into a number of times, the old projection equipment, the unexplained tunnels that ran from end to end of the building, and catwalks up in the ceiling (which I used to change the lamps in the “dome”). I still have a lot of the lighting equipment and even the big ElectroVoice speakers sitting in my basement from when it closed down – I’m sure my neighbors appreciate them! I still even have my Reidel “Gold Star” skates w/ GM2 plates and the AllAmerican wheels – which was the typical dance skate of the day. And just for sake of record, there were only 2 pyramids with a box'ish column between them that had 2 large rotating spots in it (invisible from normal eye level). Under the pyramids, the seating was still there! Buried in sand. The entire space was buried in sand, with a thin slab poured on top, and then the maple flooring over it. The pyramids were removed when Subash Midha bought the business and we wrapped the center area with a railing – the interior of which hosted a lot of breakdance contests! Anyone remember the “Harman Breakers”?! The employees used to watch from either the DJ booth or up in the balcony – but the balcony was filthy and we had to drape sheets over the seats just to sit down.
I have hundreds of great memories from that place which was almost a second home to me while I was growing up – both owners (though sometimes a bit odd) were always kind and warm to those who worked for them. It’s really a shame the neighborhood doesn’t still have a gathering place like that for younger people. It’s almost sad to drive past and see it as a CVS now. If anyone has any questions about the actual structure, feel free to contact me – I knew it intimately as I did most of the electrical, hvac, and general maintenance myself. I’ll post a few photos when I get a chance.

Just to add to Warren’s great description. As far as I know the Oasis does in fact sit in Ridgewood, not Glendale, and it always had been Ridgewood.
I remember the Oasis well as a child visiting there. Most of the movies I had seen there were Disney movies with my mother. After closing to movies in the 70’s for a very short time before becoming a roller rink, they had sort or local bands or something playing there. That didn’t last long.
I remember the roller rink well, as I went there many times as a teenager. All the seats on the main level were removed and three pyranmids put in the middle (where you scated around, or you could sit to take a break). They put dancing neon Eqyptians in the former screen area, and the Proscenium survived intact. The concession stand area was in the same spot from when it was a theater.
All the chandeliers survived the conversion, as did the glass stained fixtures along the walls. The fancy fixtures on the ceiling under the balcony were still used and remained lit, although dimmed while the roller sessions were going on. The chandeliers and glass stained fixtures usually remained off during the roller skating sessions, although occasionally blinked on and off with some songs, and they usually lit them during the final song of the sessions, which was usually “New York, New York”. The music was always extremely loud in the Oasis Roller Rink.
The balcony, although totally unused in the Oasis Roller Rink days was entirely intact during it’s life as a roller rink. You could see the seats up above while skating.
The Oasis did sit empty for many years after the Oasis Roller World closed. The Oasis also burned during that time. The lobby area and the stores that use to face Fresh Pond Road were all demolished after the fire. The main auditorium remains as CVS. I don’t know what ornamentation still survived after the fire, or conversion to a CVS above the CVS ceiling. It’s unfortunate, because all the ornamentation and fancy lighting fixtures were still intact from it’s conversion from theater to roller rink.