LONGISLANDMOVIES—What I do not get is why they put so much into such a small theatre and then a few years later they want to sell it all? I don’t think the price is that bad considering that it probably cost a mil or two (if not more) for the renovations. But I think the biggest problem is with the third floor. Who is going to want to buy a building that has one floor owned by someone else?
I guess one thing that could have prompted the sale could be the recent trend in releasing DVD’s within 3 months (or less) when a movie leaves the theatre. I saw Harry Potter Goblet of Fire at the Cinema Deluxe 16 in Holbrook (I live on LI too). I went to see it in January just the last week prior to it being removed from the theatre. Low and behold, come March I had already bought it on DVD. I noticed the same thing happen to other big movies like Narnia. I would believe that this trend is going to seriously cripple the movie industry. Given the high price of movies on Long Island coupled with the price of gas, I would think most people would rather wait the few months for the DVD release rather than go to the movies. If that is the case, many more theaters will go up for sale.
I am curious to hear your take on this.
I am actually looking to buy a theatre…but for live acts (and not on Long Island either). If I find a dual purpose theatre and can show movies too, then so be it.
Yes I am a big Styx fan and as stated above, I ended up doing so much research on the paradise theatre and other theatres here in this forum that I realized my old dreams of actually owing/running and old theatre…primarily for live acts. But I decided it is time to stop dreaming and actually do something. I am hoping to buy a classic theatre as we speak :). I owe most of this dream to this very album. But moreover I hope to save just one more classic theatre for those to enjoy now and for time to come. Enjoy old theatres, enjoy classic rock and welcome to Cinema Treasures.
Ahhhh the Smell-O-Vision. It failed once…it will do so again. Perhaps the ONLY good reason to have one of these is to pump popcorn smell into the auditorium. I heard of that done several times. Works too…people get up and come back with popcorn.
I don’t know if you are aware of it, but you are not too far away from the absolutely gorgeous John Eberson Indiana movie theatre in Terre Haute. Instead of getting your own place…perhaps you can share some of your ideas with them. Their website has been down for a while and I am a bit concerned about that. Perhaps you could work with with them. I know you mentioned you are not looking to make a ton of money. But if you don’t need to make a living on this project, and you want to work in a beautiful theater, you might want to give them a buzz. Later if you still want your own place, the experience gained here would be priceless.
The Indiana is breathtaking. The facade alone is incredible. This theater was recently and lovely restored.
I myself am looking into a theater, but for Performing Arts purposes.
While I do think your idea is cool, it is not practical in its current state (I will explain what you can do to make it better). Both Evan and Gabby are both correct. You couldn’t make a living off this project unless you think bigger or offer more. As you probably already know, there is a reason why just about all the small single, twins, and trip screen theatres have disappeared. There is very little money in films. Have you noticed it is only the huge cineplexes with a dozen or more theatres are the only ones that make it nowadays? Yup, there is strenth in numbers…but even so there is still very little profit in movies. The only money to be had in movies is made off the consessions. That is where the true profit lies in movies. I am pretty sure you have screamed when you paid $5 for a coke and $5 for a small bag of popcorn…but face it, if the theatres didn’t charge those high prices, they couldn’t exist.
Combined with what I said above AND the fact that your idea is VERY specialized, I believe it would die a very quick and painless death. There just wouldn’t be enough interest to support something like this.
But there is something you can do. What you could do is expand on some of the ideas others posted here. I had a similar idea to yours a while back, but lacked the ‘$’.
Getting to the details we know the big problem is the ‘novelty effect’ as Gabby has pointed out.
So I came up with an idea that could work for you. But like in my case you will probably need mega $ for it to work.
I believe what would work is if you transformed your theme theatre into a small entertainment center.
This is an entertainment complex. I live close to the Long Island Farmingdale one. This should give you some ideas.
Pretty cool place huh? Ok, now keeping that in mind…lets move on.
What a good idea for you would be to find yourself a small multiplex theatre that has closed down. In my area alot of UA multiplexes have closed down because they were built too small and the bigger chains (Loews (AMC) and National Amusements) put them out to pasture. Many don’t have the new stadium seating which is popular now. So the end result is that UA shut most of the theatres down and there a bunch of them floating around, sitting empty, waiting to be used again…or waiting to be destroyed. If this is the case in the area you are planning your project, you could probably pick up a building like this for a good price. Say you have a dozen theatres in the multiplex to work with. What you could do is keep half of them and with the other half, build a entertainment center around it based on movie themes. Offer a differnt theme in each of the theatre. Have one be your horror, one sci-fi, one anime, one old B&W’s. In the remodeled area you could build an area that has video games, redemption games. Hyperbowl(a video version of a bowling alley. Put in a small restaurant.
Now you have given the people a reason to STAY. If they stay, they will patronize your services. You will make more $ off each person.
Now you have the makings of something feasible. Not only have a place that not only you can open to a wide range of public interest, but you can also cater out to parties, special events, schools, etc.
As I said, this is a massive undertaking and will require the big bucks…several mil to give you an idea. But if you can get the bucks and have good finacial backing (i.e. investors). This is very well possible.
I believe I can help you out with this one (not financially, but idea wise), but would be a tremendous undertaking and you would have alot of homework to do.
Do you know what Business Plans and Feasiblity studies are?
If not, then that is good place to start your research.
LOST MEMORY—Thank you for providing that information for me. That was something I had to look into for myself and you did it for me. While it may be discouraging…it is still very important information. It is showing me that even though the town does intend to make good on this area (as I read elsewhere). These facts are showing where the town is at now…and that is very important. From the looks of it, it isn’t promising. You did save me alot of time and webwork. I made the mistake of buying a house here on Long Island without thoroughly checking out the neighborhood, but that was because I was living in an apartment initially and HAD to move out as the landlord was selling. I mostly based my purchase on the type of house and cost. It was a mistake. I will NOT make that mistake again. This time it is different and I have TIME to check this stuff out. I also have learned not to put all my eggs in one basket. This theatre is just one of a few that I am currently looking into. But with the knowledge I have gathered on this theatre and the information you just provided…sad to say, I will be chalking this theatre off my list. Perhaps in the future the Paris will be waiting for someone to revitalize it when the town conditions improve, but I don’t think it will not be anytime soon.
LOST MEMORY—Yes, I am taking this as a good sign as well. I am still doing research on the area. I am curious to see more pictures of the Paris. Hopefully it will prove to be a worthwhile project. While I do not need a classic theatre for the operation I am planning…I do admit I am a sucker for the old Atmospherics. I seem to be good at finding them too :). I definately would like to see pictures of this theatre when it was under the old “Capitol” name. It would be very fitting to return it to that name…sounds better too!
LOST MEMORY—I take it then this must quite a ‘depressed area’. Is it showing signs of turn around or is it a problem area with little or no hope? I was under the impression that Worcester was not a bad area…but reading what you sent as well as earlier postings here, I am getting the gist this may not be that good of an area. That site on Preservation Worcester isn’t reassuring if all these historic structures are pretty much just sitting and deteriorating.
BARRY—Thank you for in basic information of the layout of the theatre. I was curious to see interior pictures of the theatre. But the only thing I found was on the Preservation Worcester site and then it only has a picture of one wall of the interior…and it doesn’t look good, that is for sure. That horrible blue has to go!
I concur with LongIslandMovies and Wirelessmedia. This building has NOT been demolished, but converted in to the aforementioned business'. Status should be changed for accuracy.
When it was a theatre, back when I was a kid, I always hated it. It was small and overpriced. Staff was always pompous like they knew it better (just like all the RKO’s in the area). Alas…up the block was the grand Babylon theatre (see that posting here) which WAS a beautiful single screen theatre, with a balcony. Alas that was made into a triplex in the late 80’s. Now it is dull and boring and no different than the rest of those huge multi-mega plexes you see out there.
I put the answer to my UPTOWN question here instead of one the Paradise site considering that this doesn’t belong there.
WOW, we have another winner! Like I said, I HAVE heard of the Uptown before and saw pictures of the outside…but not the inside. Boy did I get a crash course on it tonight! For one, it is HUGE! I didn’t know was that it is LARGER than Radio City! One thing for sure…it is like the Granada or Marbro on steroids. ME LIKES!!
However, there seems to be quite a bit of controversy stirred up around this beauty. Many Many hands in the pot. You hit it on the head when you said “it is daunting.” But it does seem like there is quite a bit of interest in it and I am crossing my fingers that something good turns out for the Uptown. I just can’t see something like this being lost. I am happy learn it it WAS NOT demolished and it is still standing AND moreover, it is restorable. I most definately will get the Annual on this one.
Thank you for the info. Also it is nice to hear the UPTOWN is still standing. I originally wrote a longer reply to your answer above…but because it was related to the UPTOWN and the not the Paradise…I moved it there. Take a look see.
Been doing some research on the Granada lately and low and behold I have to make a correction to what I said above in terms of the Granada’s marquee. As it turns out the artist DID get inspriation from the Granada’s marquee as well, but at the point I wrote the post above I didn’t know the Granada’s marquee was changed and originally looked like this:
I got the THSA 1999 Annual on these theatres. A MUST for anyone intersted in them. The book also explains the slight difference between the Granada and the Marbro as well. There are two other theatres covered in there as well…The Regal and Diversy I believe. But the pictures and documentation is incredible. Many many thanks to Jim Rankin for pointing these out to me. As he puts it, “You will not find better pictures anywhere”.
After my readings, I must say that it does upset me that both these theatres were destroyed. But what angers me the most is that the Granada hung on to the 90’s and it seems like very little was done to save it. I know, I know it is easier said than done to save an old theatre and it does appear us theatre lovers are in the minority. But the big picture (pun intended) is once these gems are destroyed…they are gone and will never be replaced.
There are few instances of hope. I was very happy to learn that the Bronx Loews Paradise was recently saved and restored. This theatre is not too far from me…and I only learned about it recently as well. I will be checking this one out for sure!
JIM—I skimmed through the others as well, but last night I started reading the 1999 Annual first, which is the Levy and Klein theatres. The pictures are beautiful and the documentation is absolutely fantastic. I really WISH there was something like this for antique carousels (another interest of mine). But from what I saw in the Paradise annual, I must say, for anyone that has the slightest interest in this theatre or wants to do a research project on it…this is a must. Good call JIM!!! Oh, Jim, one last thing…as I mentioned before. Do you or the THSA have any information on the Beaver Falls Granada?
BRYAN—That is something I didn’t know. I always thought it would be a cool idea to have a small rec room for kids when waiting for show to start, or during intermissions and low and behold I was amazed to see that it has been done already and in the very theatre I am always singing praises about. With the exception of the Uptown I have not heard about the other theatres…well not in detail anyway. I didn’t know the Uptown had a playroom either. I remember the Uptown was used for concerts. Does the Uptown still exist or did they release the Chrome Breasted Silver Back Theatre Eater on it?
JIM—I received my package from the THSA today. I just want to tip my hat off to you for directing my attention to these. I just skimmed through the one on the Paradise and I am totally impressed! The pictures are unbelieveable. Very extensive documentation. So if there is anyone out there hesitant on buying these…DON’T! These are a MUST! They are well worth the price just for the pictures alone!
Get a load of this! The Paradise actually had a playroom for children with a mini carousel!! The book has an awesome spread in the middle showing off the theatre’s prescenium. It is FAN-TAS-TIC! The books have building layouts and cross sections. Architectual concept drawings…If one would want to rebuild the Paradise, this would be the first book to get!
As Jim pointed out to me earlier, and it is very true in every word, if you really want to ‘See’ the Paradise in all it’s glory, you must get this book. I concur!
I been trying to look up some more information on this theatre in regards to its history and some current pictures. Also, does anyone know of the current real estate broker handling the theatre?
Glad you here you made a trip to the Capitol. Yeah, I did some reading on it and it was heavily altered. But at least the facade is mostly intact. Still it is a nice looking theatre.
As for this site…I have not experienced lost postings yet…just the annoyances I mentioned. Mainly with the search engine not working right. Also this site dosen’t work well with Mozilla (web browser).
I hate to bring up another off topic. But would you or the THSA have any information on the Granada Theatre in Beaver Falls PA? I know there is a listing for it here on CT, but not much information is available about it in terms of history or pictures. I will put future postings on that theatre there if I have any more questions for you about it.
Anne, have you made any headway in finding out any more details on this theatre? You mentioned you wanted to use it for performing arts. Is it set up for that? Is there a stage? Usually it is much easier to convert a performing arts theatre-turned movie house, back to it’s original format. But converting a movie house, that was designed as such…is much harder. The capacity though is very nice, slightly small, but for intended purposes of hosting performing arts related functions, it should do. Moreover, since it was in use not too long ago, it will probably need very little work to be done.
I myself am looking to get into the theatre business myself and I have worked with performing arts schools in the past. Owning a theatre has been a dream of mine for a long time. Perhaps we can talk more via emails…I do not want to drop too much off topic stuff here.
But first and foremost. Do you even know if the theatre is for sale?
JIM—Yep that would be a good thing to do. Anyway, do you have information on that Capitol Theatre I mentioned above? Would you know if it still stands? I tried doing a theatre search here at CT, but about half the things on this site are working and the search engine isn’t one of them. The site is very slow too.
JIM—Yep that would be a good thing to do. Anyway, do you have information on that Capitol Theatre I mentioned above? Would you know if it still stands? I tried doing a theatre search here at CT, but about half the things on this site are working and the search engine isn’t one of them. The site is very slow too.
Ahhhh, what I would do to go back in time to check out all these wonderful theatres. The Paradise would be #1 on my list. Anyone have a flux capacitor and a Delorean laying around?
Well, this answers my question above. Some theatres STILL have kept their old “electric fantastic” marquees. This one is on a theatre in Poukeepsie, NY.
Granted this one is small and probably would never come close to the grandeur of that of the Paradise, Granada, or Marbro. But it is still very 20’s
Hello.
LONGISLANDMOVIES—What I do not get is why they put so much into such a small theatre and then a few years later they want to sell it all? I don’t think the price is that bad considering that it probably cost a mil or two (if not more) for the renovations. But I think the biggest problem is with the third floor. Who is going to want to buy a building that has one floor owned by someone else?
I guess one thing that could have prompted the sale could be the recent trend in releasing DVD’s within 3 months (or less) when a movie leaves the theatre. I saw Harry Potter Goblet of Fire at the Cinema Deluxe 16 in Holbrook (I live on LI too). I went to see it in January just the last week prior to it being removed from the theatre. Low and behold, come March I had already bought it on DVD. I noticed the same thing happen to other big movies like Narnia. I would believe that this trend is going to seriously cripple the movie industry. Given the high price of movies on Long Island coupled with the price of gas, I would think most people would rather wait the few months for the DVD release rather than go to the movies. If that is the case, many more theaters will go up for sale.
I am curious to hear your take on this.
I am actually looking to buy a theatre…but for live acts (and not on Long Island either). If I find a dual purpose theatre and can show movies too, then so be it.
JG
Hello,
Does anyone know if this theatre can support live acts? Is it still for sale?
Thank You,
JG
Hello Rick-
Yes I am a big Styx fan and as stated above, I ended up doing so much research on the paradise theatre and other theatres here in this forum that I realized my old dreams of actually owing/running and old theatre…primarily for live acts. But I decided it is time to stop dreaming and actually do something. I am hoping to buy a classic theatre as we speak :). I owe most of this dream to this very album. But moreover I hope to save just one more classic theatre for those to enjoy now and for time to come. Enjoy old theatres, enjoy classic rock and welcome to Cinema Treasures.
JG
There are lots of nice names to choose from :):
Granada (one of my faves)
Majestic
Capitol
Valencia
Paladium
Palace
Orphium (I actually hate this name, but it has been used many times before).
Got a theme? Here is a name
Mayan
Paradise
Egyptian
Venitian
Parisian
OR Name it after the town (if another theatre doesn’t have it already)
Or come up with something unique
Good luck with your project.
JG
Ahhhh the Smell-O-Vision. It failed once…it will do so again. Perhaps the ONLY good reason to have one of these is to pump popcorn smell into the auditorium. I heard of that done several times. Works too…people get up and come back with popcorn.
JG
Hello Countryboy,
I don’t know if you are aware of it, but you are not too far away from the absolutely gorgeous John Eberson Indiana movie theatre in Terre Haute. Instead of getting your own place…perhaps you can share some of your ideas with them. Their website has been down for a while and I am a bit concerned about that. Perhaps you could work with with them. I know you mentioned you are not looking to make a ton of money. But if you don’t need to make a living on this project, and you want to work in a beautiful theater, you might want to give them a buzz. Later if you still want your own place, the experience gained here would be priceless.
The Indiana is breathtaking. The facade alone is incredible. This theater was recently and lovely restored.
Here take a look:
/theaters/1677/
Impressive, huh?
Enjoy and good luck with your endeavors.
JG
Hello Meaghan,
I myself am looking into a theater, but for Performing Arts purposes.
While I do think your idea is cool, it is not practical in its current state (I will explain what you can do to make it better). Both Evan and Gabby are both correct. You couldn’t make a living off this project unless you think bigger or offer more. As you probably already know, there is a reason why just about all the small single, twins, and trip screen theatres have disappeared. There is very little money in films. Have you noticed it is only the huge cineplexes with a dozen or more theatres are the only ones that make it nowadays? Yup, there is strenth in numbers…but even so there is still very little profit in movies. The only money to be had in movies is made off the consessions. That is where the true profit lies in movies. I am pretty sure you have screamed when you paid $5 for a coke and $5 for a small bag of popcorn…but face it, if the theatres didn’t charge those high prices, they couldn’t exist.
Combined with what I said above AND the fact that your idea is VERY specialized, I believe it would die a very quick and painless death. There just wouldn’t be enough interest to support something like this.
But there is something you can do. What you could do is expand on some of the ideas others posted here. I had a similar idea to yours a while back, but lacked the ‘$’.
Getting to the details we know the big problem is the ‘novelty effect’ as Gabby has pointed out.
So I came up with an idea that could work for you. But like in my case you will probably need mega $ for it to work.
I believe what would work is if you transformed your theme theatre into a small entertainment center.
Here take a look at this website:
http://www.jillians.com/
This is an entertainment complex. I live close to the Long Island Farmingdale one. This should give you some ideas.
Pretty cool place huh? Ok, now keeping that in mind…lets move on.
What a good idea for you would be to find yourself a small multiplex theatre that has closed down. In my area alot of UA multiplexes have closed down because they were built too small and the bigger chains (Loews (AMC) and National Amusements) put them out to pasture. Many don’t have the new stadium seating which is popular now. So the end result is that UA shut most of the theatres down and there a bunch of them floating around, sitting empty, waiting to be used again…or waiting to be destroyed. If this is the case in the area you are planning your project, you could probably pick up a building like this for a good price. Say you have a dozen theatres in the multiplex to work with. What you could do is keep half of them and with the other half, build a entertainment center around it based on movie themes. Offer a differnt theme in each of the theatre. Have one be your horror, one sci-fi, one anime, one old B&W’s. In the remodeled area you could build an area that has video games, redemption games. Hyperbowl(a video version of a bowling alley. Put in a small restaurant.
Now you have given the people a reason to STAY. If they stay, they will patronize your services. You will make more $ off each person.
Now you have the makings of something feasible. Not only have a place that not only you can open to a wide range of public interest, but you can also cater out to parties, special events, schools, etc.
As I said, this is a massive undertaking and will require the big bucks…several mil to give you an idea. But if you can get the bucks and have good finacial backing (i.e. investors). This is very well possible.
I believe I can help you out with this one (not financially, but idea wise), but would be a tremendous undertaking and you would have alot of homework to do.
Do you know what Business Plans and Feasiblity studies are?
If not, then that is good place to start your research.
Hopefully I got your gears turning.
Have a good day :).
JG
Hello
LOST MEMORY—Thank you for providing that information for me. That was something I had to look into for myself and you did it for me. While it may be discouraging…it is still very important information. It is showing me that even though the town does intend to make good on this area (as I read elsewhere). These facts are showing where the town is at now…and that is very important. From the looks of it, it isn’t promising. You did save me alot of time and webwork. I made the mistake of buying a house here on Long Island without thoroughly checking out the neighborhood, but that was because I was living in an apartment initially and HAD to move out as the landlord was selling. I mostly based my purchase on the type of house and cost. It was a mistake. I will NOT make that mistake again. This time it is different and I have TIME to check this stuff out. I also have learned not to put all my eggs in one basket. This theatre is just one of a few that I am currently looking into. But with the knowledge I have gathered on this theatre and the information you just provided…sad to say, I will be chalking this theatre off my list. Perhaps in the future the Paris will be waiting for someone to revitalize it when the town conditions improve, but I don’t think it will not be anytime soon.
Thank You again…
Geo
Hello
LOST MEMORY—Yes, I am taking this as a good sign as well. I am still doing research on the area. I am curious to see more pictures of the Paris. Hopefully it will prove to be a worthwhile project. While I do not need a classic theatre for the operation I am planning…I do admit I am a sucker for the old Atmospherics. I seem to be good at finding them too :). I definately would like to see pictures of this theatre when it was under the old “Capitol” name. It would be very fitting to return it to that name…sounds better too!
JG
Hello…
LOST MEMORY—I take it then this must quite a ‘depressed area’. Is it showing signs of turn around or is it a problem area with little or no hope? I was under the impression that Worcester was not a bad area…but reading what you sent as well as earlier postings here, I am getting the gist this may not be that good of an area. That site on Preservation Worcester isn’t reassuring if all these historic structures are pretty much just sitting and deteriorating.
BARRY—Thank you for in basic information of the layout of the theatre. I was curious to see interior pictures of the theatre. But the only thing I found was on the Preservation Worcester site and then it only has a picture of one wall of the interior…and it doesn’t look good, that is for sure. That horrible blue has to go!
JG
Hello
Does anyone know if this theatre is for sale, or has any updated pictures of the theatre interior?
It says this theatre is two. How is it divided?
Is the area the theatre located in good or bad (given the nature of the report above).
Any information would be of help.
Thank You,
JG
I concur with LongIslandMovies and Wirelessmedia. This building has NOT been demolished, but converted in to the aforementioned business'. Status should be changed for accuracy.
When it was a theatre, back when I was a kid, I always hated it. It was small and overpriced. Staff was always pompous like they knew it better (just like all the RKO’s in the area). Alas…up the block was the grand Babylon theatre (see that posting here) which WAS a beautiful single screen theatre, with a balcony. Alas that was made into a triplex in the late 80’s. Now it is dull and boring and no different than the rest of those huge multi-mega plexes you see out there.
JG
Hello:
For JIM RANKIN
I put the answer to my UPTOWN question here instead of one the Paradise site considering that this doesn’t belong there.
WOW, we have another winner! Like I said, I HAVE heard of the Uptown before and saw pictures of the outside…but not the inside. Boy did I get a crash course on it tonight! For one, it is HUGE! I didn’t know was that it is LARGER than Radio City! One thing for sure…it is like the Granada or Marbro on steroids. ME LIKES!!
However, there seems to be quite a bit of controversy stirred up around this beauty. Many Many hands in the pot. You hit it on the head when you said “it is daunting.” But it does seem like there is quite a bit of interest in it and I am crossing my fingers that something good turns out for the Uptown. I just can’t see something like this being lost. I am happy learn it it WAS NOT demolished and it is still standing AND moreover, it is restorable. I most definately will get the Annual on this one.
JG
Hello JIM,
Thank you for the info. Also it is nice to hear the UPTOWN is still standing. I originally wrote a longer reply to your answer above…but because it was related to the UPTOWN and the not the Paradise…I moved it there. Take a look see.
JG
Hello All,
Been doing some research on the Granada lately and low and behold I have to make a correction to what I said above in terms of the Granada’s marquee. As it turns out the artist DID get inspriation from the Granada’s marquee as well, but at the point I wrote the post above I didn’t know the Granada’s marquee was changed and originally looked like this:
photo.%20%3cbr%3eHABS%20ILL,16-CHIG,109-30&displayProfile=0)
SAWEET! There it is. I love this marquee.
But y'all wanna see double. Getta loada this:
(Click on the picture to make it big)
View link
Yup! Twin sisters.
I got the THSA 1999 Annual on these theatres. A MUST for anyone intersted in them. The book also explains the slight difference between the Granada and the Marbro as well. There are two other theatres covered in there as well…The Regal and Diversy I believe. But the pictures and documentation is incredible. Many many thanks to Jim Rankin for pointing these out to me. As he puts it, “You will not find better pictures anywhere”.
After my readings, I must say that it does upset me that both these theatres were destroyed. But what angers me the most is that the Granada hung on to the 90’s and it seems like very little was done to save it. I know, I know it is easier said than done to save an old theatre and it does appear us theatre lovers are in the minority. But the big picture (pun intended) is once these gems are destroyed…they are gone and will never be replaced.
There are few instances of hope. I was very happy to learn that the Bronx Loews Paradise was recently saved and restored. This theatre is not too far from me…and I only learned about it recently as well. I will be checking this one out for sure!
G'day all and enjoy the pix.
JG
Hello—
JIM—I skimmed through the others as well, but last night I started reading the 1999 Annual first, which is the Levy and Klein theatres. The pictures are beautiful and the documentation is absolutely fantastic. I really WISH there was something like this for antique carousels (another interest of mine). But from what I saw in the Paradise annual, I must say, for anyone that has the slightest interest in this theatre or wants to do a research project on it…this is a must. Good call JIM!!! Oh, Jim, one last thing…as I mentioned before. Do you or the THSA have any information on the Beaver Falls Granada?
BRYAN—That is something I didn’t know. I always thought it would be a cool idea to have a small rec room for kids when waiting for show to start, or during intermissions and low and behold I was amazed to see that it has been done already and in the very theatre I am always singing praises about. With the exception of the Uptown I have not heard about the other theatres…well not in detail anyway. I didn’t know the Uptown had a playroom either. I remember the Uptown was used for concerts. Does the Uptown still exist or did they release the Chrome Breasted Silver Back Theatre Eater on it?
JG
Hello—
JIM—I received my package from the THSA today. I just want to tip my hat off to you for directing my attention to these. I just skimmed through the one on the Paradise and I am totally impressed! The pictures are unbelieveable. Very extensive documentation. So if there is anyone out there hesitant on buying these…DON’T! These are a MUST! They are well worth the price just for the pictures alone!
Get a load of this! The Paradise actually had a playroom for children with a mini carousel!! The book has an awesome spread in the middle showing off the theatre’s prescenium. It is FAN-TAS-TIC! The books have building layouts and cross sections. Architectual concept drawings…If one would want to rebuild the Paradise, this would be the first book to get!
As Jim pointed out to me earlier, and it is very true in every word, if you really want to ‘See’ the Paradise in all it’s glory, you must get this book. I concur!
Now it is time to get to some heavy reading :).
Hello,
I been trying to look up some more information on this theatre in regards to its history and some current pictures. Also, does anyone know of the current real estate broker handling the theatre?
Thanx,
JG
Hello Jim—
Glad you here you made a trip to the Capitol. Yeah, I did some reading on it and it was heavily altered. But at least the facade is mostly intact. Still it is a nice looking theatre.
As for this site…I have not experienced lost postings yet…just the annoyances I mentioned. Mainly with the search engine not working right. Also this site dosen’t work well with Mozilla (web browser).
I hate to bring up another off topic. But would you or the THSA have any information on the Granada Theatre in Beaver Falls PA? I know there is a listing for it here on CT, but not much information is available about it in terms of history or pictures. I will put future postings on that theatre there if I have any more questions for you about it.
Thanx,
JG
Hello..
Anne, have you made any headway in finding out any more details on this theatre? You mentioned you wanted to use it for performing arts. Is it set up for that? Is there a stage? Usually it is much easier to convert a performing arts theatre-turned movie house, back to it’s original format. But converting a movie house, that was designed as such…is much harder. The capacity though is very nice, slightly small, but for intended purposes of hosting performing arts related functions, it should do. Moreover, since it was in use not too long ago, it will probably need very little work to be done.
I myself am looking to get into the theatre business myself and I have worked with performing arts schools in the past. Owning a theatre has been a dream of mine for a long time. Perhaps we can talk more via emails…I do not want to drop too much off topic stuff here.
But first and foremost. Do you even know if the theatre is for sale?
Geo
Hello Jim,
Nevermind…I found what I was looking for here:
http://www.overturecenter.com/history.htm
YUP, it still stands…and is in use. But the beautiful marquee is GONE! Grrrrrrr.
Hello
JIM—Yep that would be a good thing to do. Anyway, do you have information on that Capitol Theatre I mentioned above? Would you know if it still stands? I tried doing a theatre search here at CT, but about half the things on this site are working and the search engine isn’t one of them. The site is very slow too.
JG
Hello
JIM—Yep that would be a good thing to do. Anyway, do you have information on that Capitol Theatre I mentioned above? Would you know if it still stands? I tried doing a theatre search here at CT, but about half the things on this site are working and the search engine isn’t one of them. The site is very slow too.
JG
Ahhhh, what I would do to go back in time to check out all these wonderful theatres. The Paradise would be #1 on my list. Anyone have a flux capacitor and a Delorean laying around?
JG
Hello
JIM.
I am getting pretty good at this theatre research thing :).
http://www.wagnersign.com/bardavon-903.jpg
Well, this answers my question above. Some theatres STILL have kept their old “electric fantastic” marquees. This one is on a theatre in Poukeepsie, NY.
Granted this one is small and probably would never come close to the grandeur of that of the Paradise, Granada, or Marbro. But it is still very 20’s
JG