Strand Theatre
181 Main Street,
Hackettstown,
NJ
07840
181 Main Street,
Hackettstown,
NJ
07840
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2020 UPDATE: The Producer and Owner of Paladin Knight Entertainment, LLC, Chris Lance, has created the Hackettstown Center for the Arts, a 501©3 non-profit entity that hosts concerts, art shows, plays, recitals, rentals, and more. They are using the space on the first floor of the Strand. It is has a sound system. No stage but has a lighting system. Climate controlled. Can hold hold up to 70 chairs. Because the ceiling is so low, movies aren’t an option right now. They have been open for just about over a year. More details on their web site. Just Google/Bing them.
2017 UPDATE. Although no longer showing movies, the Strand Theater is host to the Vienna Piano Company downstairs and Strand Studios Learning Center for Music, Film and Acting upstairs. The upstairs was the balcony of the theater and was renovated once again in August 2016 by the new music business that took over after the former tenant died. Thankfully, the murals on the wall downstairs are still intact, although not accessible to the public.
When did it close?
In the late 1940s the Strand was operated by the St. Cloud Amusement Company, headquartered in Washington, NJ. President was Harvey Newins.
Was owned by Alvin Sloan from the 30s to the 70s. See my last post from the Washington Theatre at /theaters/6644/
Still open selling pianos but there is now a for rent sign out front.
I remember going to this theater as a kid when visiting friend sin the area.
Listed in the 1970 Film Daily Yearbook as part of Brandt Theatres.
I was biking in Hackettstown last Friday and decided to visit the Strand around 5pm. It’s a relatively small theater and in the back outside, the staging area is virtually non-existent. They were open and the ticket booth is painted and between the 2 double entrance doors. You can go inside the ticket booth. As soon as you enter there are pianos everywhere and miniature studios and showrooms and it’s a very elegant place. The office and practice rooms are upstairs in the balcony. The sloping floor is no more than 15 feet from the entrance and slopes quite a ways down to the stage. The building is not very wide and feels cramped and must have when it was in operation. Further down on the left at about the back rows is a windowed in mini-stage with about 50 chairs and a piano for recitals. When you enter the end of the auditorium you can see the box seats on either side but they are walled in. (The wall is where their railings once were) and it’s a nice beige/peach shade of wallpaper that’s quite ornate. The proscenium was pretty slim, maybe 25 feet. The work room is in the back stage area and the owner showed me around. The ramp is still in use from the backstage to the outside doors on the side. He showed me where the stage once ended and where they put an addition to the floor to preserve it. The ceiling is not too high at all in the back, maybe 25 feet at most.
Bigger photos:
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My photos from 8/6/05:
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I pass this little theater whenever I take the bus to New York City, the bus drives right by it. The theater is now a piano store, but the owners seem to have gone through great care to keep the marquee in good condition. The neon is no longer in place, but they still use the marquee letters to advertise the piano store and it still has large letters spelling out STRAND.
A Kilgen organ, opus 4138, was installed in this theatre in 1928.
Yes, here’s a link to the daily record from april 2002 talking about the strand in the music store. View link
The store rebuilt the theater’s interior into its present business in 1987. their website is www.studio-46.com
Another link from the same newspaper date shows the old marquee still intact at View link (third picture down).