Yeah, unfortunately,I don’t remember if I took a photo the day I went by last year. If I remember correctly, “Pirates of the Caribbean” was the movie on the marquee, in the animated sign. I have to look through my photos.
Thanks Marty for your description. From the sound of it it’s almost exactly the way I remember it from 15 to 20 years ago, the last time I was in there.
See my post from April 2004 and August 2004, near the top of the messages for a description of how I remember it.
I also saw that MSNBC footage. It had tried out, but you could see that the water was up and over the seats. They were walking through with flashlights.
Yeah, it’s unfortunate that they left actually, as they had big plans to renovate the theater I believe. The RKO Keiths Richmond Hill is far from a lost theater. Much of the original ornamentation is all still there, and even the sloped floor is still there. It needs a tremendous amount of work, but it’s not “lost”.
Actually, the owner even seems to have a little bit of interest in the building, as when they movie company uncovered the original marquee, and then left, the owners are “working” with it quite nicely.
Of course, renovations would only go as far as they would need to go at this point, as obviously they want to make money on their building, and there is no “need” to return the theater to it’s glory when it’s only being used as a bingo hall and flea market….but who knows, one day…..
Beautiful. What a shame.
I unfortunately only visited the theater once, and that was back in the mid-90’s. I saw “A Stranger Among Us”, with Melanie Griffith there. It was a special place indeed. It still opened and closed the curtains before and after the previews. I remember thinking to myself how dramatic it was to have the curtains opening and closing, something I hadn’t seen since I was a kid.
I sat in the balcony for the movie, another thing you don’t get to do too often, as so many of the old theaters have either been chopped up or closed completely.
I remember that day like it was yesterday, the Trylon was a special place indeed. I vowed to go back again after “A Stranger Among Us” to see other movies, but I guess that wasn’t to be. “Andy” above said it best. You don’t know what you’ve missed till it’s gone.
Unfortunately, cinematreasures no longer seems to accept photos.
You can try free www.photobucket.com and then post the links to your uploaded photos here. That’s seems to be the site of choice around here. But you can also try webshots, or other free photo sites too. I just happen to like photobucket.
Yeah, I do agree, the colors are gaudy, if that’s even the word for it. I think poor John Eberson would probably fall over in his own puke if he was to walk into the theater, but then again, you may not notice the mess he made, as it would blend right in with the colors on the walls…
But then again, at least it’s being maintained….it could be worse, just think of the condition of the Keith’s and others…..at least the Valencia survives….and paint is just that, paint. The plaster is and ornamentation is all intact.
I even saw that some bars were open on Bourbon St again, for the workers and residents remaining. It was nice to see some “normalacy”, even if by candlelight. I was impressed by how much they cleaned up already. I saw footage of by the Convention enter, and there were groups of people with brooms, chainsaws, bulldozers, and dumpsters cleaning up the mess. They were hoping to have much of the French QUarter and downtown clean by the end of this week.
Progress in all the mess finally taking shape.
Rebuilding the city has to start somewhere. And as Ian said, without the historic parts of New Orleans, there’s not too much left to rebuild in this city. Aside from the shipping and port activities, tourism IS New Orleans' biggest economy. Without tourists, New Orleans will continue to be the ghost town it is now after this tragedy. The tourist activity IS what gives many of these people that lost their homes jobs. Without the potential for future tourists, they might as well stay away, and they may as well fill in the entire city with the debris, and call it a lost city.
This is not to minimize what has happened there, and the human toll is by and large the most important aspect of it., However, mIt is quite relevant to talk about the future of the city after this nightmare, as it affects just about every resident that plans to come back again. Without tourism, many of their jobs are lost, and tourists are attracted by the history – it’s old buildings, and everything that makes New Orleans a great city – and the theaters are a part of that.
At this point, the news says most of the people that want to leave New Orleans have. At that point, the cleanup and rebuilding will begin. What has happened is a total tragedy, however, I don’t see how talking about the future of the city (which the theaters are a part of) is inappropriate at this point. It may have been a week ago, but at this point, cleanup has already begun in downtown, I have seen video footage of it. MSNBC says that they expect to have much debris in the dry areas of the French Quearter and Downtown part of the city cleaned up in less than 7 days. They have already begun.
The old Patchogue theater across from the old Patchogue Stationary is now The Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts, near the lace mill. It has been meticulously restored in the mid 90’s, and while it no longer shows movies, it is used by Bellport’s Gateway Playhouse for Broadway Shows, as well as other activites.
The Plaza theater was on the east side of Patchogue near where the old Finast was near Washington Ave and Phylis Drive.
I can just imagine the projection cutting through the smoke. I believe that many of the theaters had the smoking section in the balcony.
Warren, no wonder you “hate” the “desecration” of the valencia….I didn’t know you worked there at one time!
I wonder if the church that is now housed in the Empire Theater still uses the old organ.
Yeah, unfortunately,I don’t remember if I took a photo the day I went by last year. If I remember correctly, “Pirates of the Caribbean” was the movie on the marquee, in the animated sign. I have to look through my photos.
Ah yes, just like I remember it. It is a sight to be seen. I love what they did with the marquee.
Thanks Marty for your description. From the sound of it it’s almost exactly the way I remember it from 15 to 20 years ago, the last time I was in there.
See my post from April 2004 and August 2004, near the top of the messages for a description of how I remember it.
I actually saw it w few days before that.
I also saw that MSNBC footage. It had tried out, but you could see that the water was up and over the seats. They were walking through with flashlights.
Yeah, it’s unfortunate that they left actually, as they had big plans to renovate the theater I believe. The RKO Keiths Richmond Hill is far from a lost theater. Much of the original ornamentation is all still there, and even the sloped floor is still there. It needs a tremendous amount of work, but it’s not “lost”.
Actually, the owner even seems to have a little bit of interest in the building, as when they movie company uncovered the original marquee, and then left, the owners are “working” with it quite nicely.
Of course, renovations would only go as far as they would need to go at this point, as obviously they want to make money on their building, and there is no “need” to return the theater to it’s glory when it’s only being used as a bingo hall and flea market….but who knows, one day…..
Oh, I forgot to ask in my above post. How old are the photos above?
Beautiful. What a shame.
I unfortunately only visited the theater once, and that was back in the mid-90’s. I saw “A Stranger Among Us”, with Melanie Griffith there. It was a special place indeed. It still opened and closed the curtains before and after the previews. I remember thinking to myself how dramatic it was to have the curtains opening and closing, something I hadn’t seen since I was a kid.
I sat in the balcony for the movie, another thing you don’t get to do too often, as so many of the old theaters have either been chopped up or closed completely.
I remember that day like it was yesterday, the Trylon was a special place indeed. I vowed to go back again after “A Stranger Among Us” to see other movies, but I guess that wasn’t to be. “Andy” above said it best. You don’t know what you’ve missed till it’s gone.
It’s nice to see they even left the vertical sign up! EVen if they took the letters off.
Unfortunately, cinematreasures no longer seems to accept photos.
You can try free www.photobucket.com and then post the links to your uploaded photos here. That’s seems to be the site of choice around here. But you can also try webshots, or other free photo sites too. I just happen to like photobucket.
Yeah, I do agree, the colors are gaudy, if that’s even the word for it. I think poor John Eberson would probably fall over in his own puke if he was to walk into the theater, but then again, you may not notice the mess he made, as it would blend right in with the colors on the walls…
But then again, at least it’s being maintained….it could be worse, just think of the condition of the Keith’s and others…..at least the Valencia survives….and paint is just that, paint. The plaster is and ornamentation is all intact.
The theater looks to be in beautiful condition, and extremely well kept – even if the colors are sort of gaudy now….
I even saw that some bars were open on Bourbon St again, for the workers and residents remaining. It was nice to see some “normalacy”, even if by candlelight. I was impressed by how much they cleaned up already. I saw footage of by the Convention enter, and there were groups of people with brooms, chainsaws, bulldozers, and dumpsters cleaning up the mess. They were hoping to have much of the French QUarter and downtown clean by the end of this week.
Progress in all the mess finally taking shape.
And another album in the same site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rotoflex/sets/740498/
There’s some great photos I found of the interior of the State Palace here, only a month or less before this nightmare that struck New Orleans:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rotoflex/
Granted though, I don’t think they always have been, but I think I noticed it back around June sometime that it is now on Pacific Time.
The times are on Pacific time.
Rebuilding the city has to start somewhere. And as Ian said, without the historic parts of New Orleans, there’s not too much left to rebuild in this city. Aside from the shipping and port activities, tourism IS New Orleans' biggest economy. Without tourists, New Orleans will continue to be the ghost town it is now after this tragedy. The tourist activity IS what gives many of these people that lost their homes jobs. Without the potential for future tourists, they might as well stay away, and they may as well fill in the entire city with the debris, and call it a lost city.
This is not to minimize what has happened there, and the human toll is by and large the most important aspect of it., However, mIt is quite relevant to talk about the future of the city after this nightmare, as it affects just about every resident that plans to come back again. Without tourism, many of their jobs are lost, and tourists are attracted by the history – it’s old buildings, and everything that makes New Orleans a great city – and the theaters are a part of that.
At this point, the news says most of the people that want to leave New Orleans have. At that point, the cleanup and rebuilding will begin. What has happened is a total tragedy, however, I don’t see how talking about the future of the city (which the theaters are a part of) is inappropriate at this point. It may have been a week ago, but at this point, cleanup has already begun in downtown, I have seen video footage of it. MSNBC says that they expect to have much debris in the dry areas of the French Quearter and Downtown part of the city cleaned up in less than 7 days. They have already begun.
Ooops, typo alert above, I meant the late 80’s, McCrory’s closed, not the late 90’s…..
The old Patchogue theater across from the old Patchogue Stationary is now The Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts, near the lace mill. It has been meticulously restored in the mid 90’s, and while it no longer shows movies, it is used by Bellport’s Gateway Playhouse for Broadway Shows, as well as other activites.
The Plaza theater was on the east side of Patchogue near where the old Finast was near Washington Ave and Phylis Drive.
I can’t see the flood photos, it says “unauthorized file”. Does anyone have direct links to the photos?