So is that entire block gone now? Back in the early 90s, I used to work in that area and shopped at a small mom & pop Ace Hardware store that occupied one of the storefront shops beside the theater. The shops all shared the theater’s terra cotta exterior. At the time the theater was being used for Latin music concerts, I think. They let me poke my head in one day when a band was setting up. Despite the fact that it looked so immense from the outside, it actually seemed quite intimate on the inside – and still in pretty good shape. What a shame that it was demolished. That area had really hit the skids by the time I was working there, so I’m sure it would have been difficult to find any use for it.
I know the theater was still operating in 1987 and early 1988 because I moved to the corner of Bryn Mawr and Sheridan in the summer of 1987 and we would go to see movies at the Bryn Mawr just about every weekend. As mentioned above, it was nothing special on the inside. The cheap ticket prices were the draw. Though the area had become sort of seedy by that point, we never felt as though we were in danger when we watch a film there. Walking down Bryn Mawr, however, was another story. You usually quickened your pace when you walked through that stretch between Winthrop and Kenmore. Luckily Bryn Mawr station was an A&B stop, (remember those?), so there was usually a lot of foot traffic on the street.
The theater must have reopened briefly after closing in 1975 because I saw “Twentieth Century” there in the winter of 1979. I think some of the local folks were trying to save it from the wrecking ball. They showed old films and cartoons. The theater was still in good shape – just a bit dusty. I remember the long staircase that lead to the balcony, the cavernous auditorium and the art deco lighting fixtures.
So is that entire block gone now? Back in the early 90s, I used to work in that area and shopped at a small mom & pop Ace Hardware store that occupied one of the storefront shops beside the theater. The shops all shared the theater’s terra cotta exterior. At the time the theater was being used for Latin music concerts, I think. They let me poke my head in one day when a band was setting up. Despite the fact that it looked so immense from the outside, it actually seemed quite intimate on the inside – and still in pretty good shape. What a shame that it was demolished. That area had really hit the skids by the time I was working there, so I’m sure it would have been difficult to find any use for it.
I know the theater was still operating in 1987 and early 1988 because I moved to the corner of Bryn Mawr and Sheridan in the summer of 1987 and we would go to see movies at the Bryn Mawr just about every weekend. As mentioned above, it was nothing special on the inside. The cheap ticket prices were the draw. Though the area had become sort of seedy by that point, we never felt as though we were in danger when we watch a film there. Walking down Bryn Mawr, however, was another story. You usually quickened your pace when you walked through that stretch between Winthrop and Kenmore. Luckily Bryn Mawr station was an A&B stop, (remember those?), so there was usually a lot of foot traffic on the street.
The theater must have reopened briefly after closing in 1975 because I saw “Twentieth Century” there in the winter of 1979. I think some of the local folks were trying to save it from the wrecking ball. They showed old films and cartoons. The theater was still in good shape – just a bit dusty. I remember the long staircase that lead to the balcony, the cavernous auditorium and the art deco lighting fixtures.