Fifth Avenue Cinema I & II
3150 5th Avenue N,
St. Petersburg,
FL
33713
3150 5th Avenue N,
St. Petersburg,
FL
33713
4 people
favorited this theater
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Two screens on November 7th, 1975. Another ad posted.
General Cinema was the last operator of this theatre. They acquired it from Loews in 1972 and operated it until 3/30/1989. Was last known as the Fifth Avenue Cinema I-II.
I worked as the projectionist at the FIFTH AVENUE CINEMA for GENERAL CINEMA both when the theatre was a single screen house and as a twin. The projectors were CENTURY with CENTURY sound heads. The projectors were running 6,000 foot reels. When it was made into a twin, both sides were the same with the exception that theatre one now had CENTURY “reverse scan” sound heads with both theatres having KELMAR amps. The arc lamps were ASHCRAFT “ CORE-LITEs. The booth utilized CINAMATION automation with a matrix board and diode pins for programming. The arc lamps would "self-strike” by means of “bullets” places between the positive and negative carbons. These “bullets” would explode when power was applied, thus establishing the arc. We never used them because they tended to blow ash onto the reflectors. I have still photos and video of the booth in operation. I also have one of the CINEMATION automation units ( with diode pins.) GENERAL CINEMA ( a wonderful company to work for ) did it right. This was the only theatre I worked that had four arc lamps and FIVE rectifiers with switches to change rectifiers if one went bad. Now that’s class.
I posted the grand opening ad in the photo section for this cinema.
Thanks for the info Nick.
Nick see Mustang Drive-in.
Thanks,Nick.
The Loew’s St. Pete was bought out by GCC at about the same time they bought the Loew’s in Tampa. I think this was about 1972. Shortly afterwards both theatres were twinned and renamed. The Loew’s in Tampa became the Austin Cinema I & II and the Loew’s St. Pete became the 5th Avenue Cinema I & II.
S.Porridge,It does look like GCC took over looking at that Road marquee.
Grand opening with “THUNDERBALL” Great opening Flick. Much better than when Loew’s in Tampa opening a major theatre with the soft-core"CANDY".
Forgot to mention the alternate name indicated at the page above: Fifth Avenue Cinema. While I’m here, this page has a current exterior photo:
http://www.kingofpeacemcc.com/pages/rentals.html
King of Peace MCC’s history page fills in some blanks:
http://www.kingofpeacemcc.com/pages/history.html
Based on the font of the sign, looks like General Cinema took over at some point.
Another LOEWS that is a church now.
Thanks, Mike. I need St. Paul, MN, Milwaukee, WI, San Diego, CA, Buffalo, NY, Kansas City, MO, Indianapolis, IN, Tampa, FL, Columbus, OH, Phoenix, AZ, Portland, OR, Providence, RI, Charlotte, NC, and Toronto, ONT – various years for each from 1957-1975. I’m trying to document what played each week in the first-run theaters or the date and theater(s) that other b-type films opened. I’ve been having my library borrow microfilms through Inter-Library Loan, but can only get 6 reels at a time (roughly 2 or 3 months) and it takes forever for stuff to come. The one market for which I have no research is Tampa, FL. I’ll consider St. Pete as part of that metro area, but does the St. Petersburg paper also have listings for Tampa? And how do you get to where you can type in the various dates you want – the link above just has December 25, 1965. Thanks!
Major cities covered are St. Petersburg and Pittsburgh only. but the archive will grow over the years. also good archives for Victoria,TX, Rome,GA and Salt Lake City,UT. They also have many smaller Quebec papers.
Mike Rivest – what newspapers can you find like the links you posted for http://news.google.co/newspapers above – it could save me years of newspaper research if I knew how to work google’s newspaper archives – can you get most big city papers in the microfilm-type versions you put here?
What’s an “all-electric” movie theatre? Did earlier theatres in this city have hand-cranked or gas-lit projectors?
Actually Loews was sold to TriStar Pictures, who later merged with their parent Columbia Pictures when Sony bought them. Just wanted to mention that.
another ad at View link along with the Crossroads
Grand opening ad at View link
Thanks Ron! That description does make it sound just like a moderist box, however, if one was to look at The Ziegfeld in New York (which I believe opened around 1968) you would think the same. Instead, the interior of The Ziegfeld (in my opinion) fully qualifies this theater as a movie palace. I believe it is the last “Palace” built in New York. I hope that the city has the wisdom to landmark The Ziegfeld when it hits its 50th anniversary.
Since drumrboy above actually went to services in this theater he might be able to shed light as to what the interior of this theater looks like.
I am the person who added this theatre page to CinemaTreasures. Unfortunately I do not know anything more about the theatre, besides what I posted above from the Loew’s 1965 corporate annual report. Here is a link to page 7 of that report. You will need to rotate it 90 degrees in order to read it. I do not know whether the printed annual report was in color; this copy is in black-and-white.
The page has an artist’s drawing (not a photo) of the new theatre, which appears to me to be a non-descript modernist building with blank sidewalls but a lot of glass windows in the entry lobby. There is no marquee, but instead a free-standing sign outside the entrance. The drawing’s caption reads:
“Loew’s new Theatre in the heart of St. Petersburg, Florida, adjoins one of Florida’s largest and most successful shopping center complexes. Opens Dec. 25, 1965.”
Also on the same page is this text:
“Loew’s Theatres growth program is proceeding according to plan, with a minimum of twenty new theatres projected during the next two years. Before leasing arrangements are consummated, each theatre location is carefully researched as to immediate and future potential. The majority of these acquisitions will be located in important shopping centers situated in fast-growing suburban communities. Each theatre will provide extremely large parking facilities, be equipped to project all modern screen sizes, including 70 millimeter films, be seated with rocking-chair seats and be colorful in decor. Capacities will range from 1,200 to 1,400.”
There is no mention on this thread as to the style this theater was constructed in. There are no photos posted. Why was Loews so proud of this opening? What made is special? Another poster states that the building is “meticulously maintained”. What exactly is being maintained? Any info would be appreciated.
This theatre is not torn down. I just attended church services there last week. The building is intact and meticulously maintained. Though it is a church, the exterior is restored and perfectly maintained.
this theater has been torn down i was in st petersburg in may of 2006