Adams Theatre
13 School Street,
Quincy,
MA
02169
13 School Street,
Quincy,
MA
02169
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Roger Glade Rand
Functions: Retail
Styles: Beaux-Arts
Previous Names: New Adams Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The New Adams Theatre was located on School Street, diagonally across from the Firestone tire store, near the St. Johns church and on the site of the Quincey Arena, which closed on June 24, 1941 was partly incorporated into the building of the theatre. It was opened on September 25, 1941 with Alice Faye in “That Night in Rio” & George Sanders in “The Saint in Palm Springs”. The Adams Theatre was closed on June 1, 1957 with Walt Disney’s animated feature “Cinderella” & Aldo Ray in “Nightfall”. The building is used for retail today.
Contributed by
mb848
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
This is from Boxoffice magazine, May 1941, and may answer the question posted above:
QUINCY-Plans are afoot to remodel a skating rink on School Street into a theater.
ken mc- very interesting. I didn’t realize that it dated from the 1940s and not the 1930s and that it was a remodeled skating rink. It probably opened in late-1941 or in 1942.
It should be pointed out that the Adams was undoubtedly named for President John Adams and President John Quincy Adams whose side-by-side birthplaces are located only a 10 or 12 minute walk from the theater and are maintained by the National Park Service.
The inscription at the top of the theater says “Arthorp Building”.
I went there to the “flicks” from the mid-1940s until it closed and it was always the “Adams” Theatre. But the building which contained the entrance could have had another name, like “Arthorp”.
The Adams was not the first theater in Quincy to be constructed in a remodeled skating rink. In 1906, the Scenic Temple was built in the old Quincy Coliseum, a skating rink and dance hall on what is now Upland Road near Quincy Square. The Scenic Temple presented both early movies and live small-time vaudeville acts on stage.
In the Streetview photo above, the Adams was in the 2-story white building down the street, not in the brown-brick building nearest the camera. There was a marquee there; you walked in and then turned right to face the screen.
Here is an article about the Adams Theatre from Boxoffice of January 3, 1942. The conclusion of the article is several pages later, so here’s a direct link to it. The architect for the conversion of the skating rink into a theater was Roger G. Rand.
Thanks to whoever “unlocked” the Streetview photo above and moved it down to the correct location. The Adams entrance was either the area occupied by the East Coast Martial Arts, or the adjacent Low Overhead Discount store. Not sure exactly.
The New Adams Theatre opened at the site of the old Quincy Arena. That Arena had opened with wrestling on April 25, 1932 and closed with wrestling on June 24, 1941. A salvage sale began the next day - if not during that last match. Based on the small number of items in the salvage sale and the wording of the ad, the frame and other elements of the Arena were incorporated into the quickly retrofitted space for the cinema.
The Adams Theatre opened on September 25, 1941 with Alice Faye in “That Night in Rio” supported by “The Saint in Palm Springs.” Vaughn and Ruth Yerxa operated the venue in its leaner, television era days. The Adams closed on June 1, 1957 with “Cinderella” and “Nightfall.” The building was offered for sale or lease thereafter. It has survived as a retail and leased space above facility.