It made its first appearance in Film Daily Year Books in the 1932 edition. The 1931 edition lists three theatres for Carteret— the Majestic with 500 seats, and two with no further information beyond the names of Burkley and Crescent. I suspect that the Burkley became the Ritz. The 1932 FDYB lists both the Majestic and Crescent as closed, and has nothing about the Burkley. I also wonder if “Burkley” is the correct spelling.
posted by Warren on Jun 10, 2007 at 1:58pm
Built in 1922 by Joseph Siccardi. In the 1920s, owned by Sons of Italy Lodge and managed by Liberty Theater of Plainfield. The DeSabato family owned it from 1933 to 1952. It was open until the 1960s. A photo can be found on page 23 of Images of America South Plainfield.
In today’s Star Ledger, there is an article about the hotel being badly damaged by fire on 9/20/07. It will need to be razed. I think that the rebuilt theatre was a separate building from the hotel.
Just saw Stardust there on 9/21/07. What a wonderful experience. $5.25 for a ticket and $1 for candy. I haven’t seen those prices in many years. The interior is very clean. I didn’t notice any stairs so I doubt that there ever was a balcony in this theatre. The theatre’s small size and shape (square, not long and narrow) probably spared it from twinning. So sad to think of the potentially tainted funding from Adelphia. Their former headquarters is just down the street. Looks like a huge courthouse – very out of place in this simple town. Locals say it was built for $30M and now it is for sale for a steal at $1M.
“In 1940, the Braca’s bought the Madelyn Theatre and fishing pier for a corporation of which Mr. Cini was a member. Gar Gibbson bought and selected films and managed both theatres. Rita Braca Tracey was cashier of the Madelyn Theatre and operated the Candy Box. The movie on the pier was rebuilt twice after the hurricanes of 1944 and 1956 the fishing pier was rebuilt three times. The storm of 62 destroyed all the beachfront property, including the bowling alley, Penny Lynn Shop, the Pier and Popcorn Store operated by Jack and Jeanette Braca Gibson.” extracted from http://www.bracacafe.com/history.htm
see this post from the Ritz in Carteret:
It made its first appearance in Film Daily Year Books in the 1932 edition. The 1931 edition lists three theatres for Carteret— the Majestic with 500 seats, and two with no further information beyond the names of Burkley and Crescent. I suspect that the Burkley became the Ritz. The 1932 FDYB lists both the Majestic and Crescent as closed, and has nothing about the Burkley. I also wonder if “Burkley” is the correct spelling.
posted by Warren on Jun 10, 2007 at 1:58pm
Website outlining the toxic cleanup:
http://www.441route440.com/
Updated article in today’s Star Ledger. Sounds like the new owner wants to do this right. Can’t wait for the reopening.
Built in 1922 by Joseph Siccardi. In the 1920s, owned by Sons of Italy Lodge and managed by Liberty Theater of Plainfield. The DeSabato family owned it from 1933 to 1952. It was open until the 1960s. A photo can be found on page 23 of Images of America South Plainfield.
In today’s Star Ledger, there is an article about the hotel being badly damaged by fire on 9/20/07. It will need to be razed. I think that the rebuilt theatre was a separate building from the hotel.
Just saw Stardust there on 9/21/07. What a wonderful experience. $5.25 for a ticket and $1 for candy. I haven’t seen those prices in many years. The interior is very clean. I didn’t notice any stairs so I doubt that there ever was a balcony in this theatre. The theatre’s small size and shape (square, not long and narrow) probably spared it from twinning. So sad to think of the potentially tainted funding from Adelphia. Their former headquarters is just down the street. Looks like a huge courthouse – very out of place in this simple town. Locals say it was built for $30M and now it is for sale for a steal at $1M.
This is a duplicate of theater 2595.
An article in the 8/17/07 Star Ledger states that the theater has been sold and plans are in place to make it a live concert venue.
“In 1940, the Braca’s bought the Madelyn Theatre and fishing pier for a corporation of which Mr. Cini was a member. Gar Gibbson bought and selected films and managed both theatres. Rita Braca Tracey was cashier of the Madelyn Theatre and operated the Candy Box. The movie on the pier was rebuilt twice after the hurricanes of 1944 and 1956 the fishing pier was rebuilt three times. The storm of 62 destroyed all the beachfront property, including the bowling alley, Penny Lynn Shop, the Pier and Popcorn Store operated by Jack and Jeanette Braca Gibson.” extracted from http://www.bracacafe.com/history.htm
http://www.drive-ins.com/theater/nctsuns
Easy guys….I thought that I sent it with the original post:
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A web search of farm markets shows the current address as 3207 Bergenline.
This is a 1913 postcard of the original Montauk:
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old photos:
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1963 (at least) photo:
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Old photos/misc:
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circa 1946 photo:
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lots of photos/ads here:
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Old photo:
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There is a dismal looking AP file photo from 1969 in today’s Star Ledger. The article recounts the 1967 riots.
sorry, larger views:
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old postcards. Note that 2 are nearly identical but one lists the name as the Schubert
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http://oldnewark.com/busind/theatre/elwood.htm
According to the Bergen Record on 3/27/07 Page L01, this theater once showed silent films, placing it older than my 3/2/06 post.
located at 667 Princeton Avenue per the 1920 Trenton City Directory located at this link:
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Nice history:
http://www.acweekly.com/view.php?id=4198