Kenmore Theatre
2101 Church Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11226
2101 Church Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11226
11 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Cineplex Odeon, Keith-Albee, RKO, RKO Century
Architects: Eugene DeRosa
Functions: Retail
Styles: Adam
Previous Names: Keith-Albee Kenmore Theatre, B.F. Keith's Kenmore Theatre, RKO Kenmore Theatre
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Opened as the Keith-Albee Kenmore Theatre on 17th September 1928, this cavernous 3,025-seat movie house. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer 3 manual 17 ranks organ. The auditorium ceiling had a 60ft wide dome. Murals on the side-walls were by artist Willy Pogany, who also painted the murals in the Beacon Theatre, Manhattan. It played a mix of vaudeville & movies until 1932 when it went over to an all movies policy. It later became the RKO Kenmore Theatre and was chopped up into four screens in mid-1978. The Wurlitzer organ was removed to a private dwelling in Babylon, NY, and later to another private dwelling in Erie, PA. In 2011 it was purchased by the Paramount Theatre Cedar Rapids, Iowa to replace their Wurlitzer organ which has been damaged in 2008 floods.
The Kenmore Theatre was a popular place for films like “Superman”, “Star Wars”, and “Flash Gordon”, and was renovated in the late-1980’s/early-1990’s.
Despite the work, the theatre rapidly deteriorated and became the scene of a violent gang shooting in an argument over a seat.
The theatre was shuttered by the N.Y.P.D. in 1999 after a screening of “The Matrix” (or “Life”). It was put up for sale after a year of sitting dormant.
The interior is now completely gutted and the stores that bordered the theatre building have also been hollowed out. The theatre became Modell’s sports clothing store. By 2022 it was a Target store.
Contributed by
John Chappell, Jamal Savage
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Recent comments (view all 81 comments)
I just added a 1941 photo of the Kenmore to the gallery, it’s showing an earlier E. Flynn film, Dive Bomber. The picture is a NYC Tax Photo.
Hello-
is the comment “the theater rapidly deteriorated” after the late80s/early90s renovations referring to the physical condition of the theater or the to be frank the quality of the patrons?
The RKO Kenmore and Loew’s Kings were always considered the two leading cinemas in Flatbush, but the Kenmore is listed here as located in Prospect Park South. And why isn’t the Kings listed as a “nearby” theatre? It was certainly closer to the Kenmore than the Savoy.
Comfortably cool. As I remarked on another theater site, the Nearby feature of CT is far from reliable and there is no point in questioning it.
They just turned this into a Target but kept the outer marquee part a little. https://www.instagram.com/p/CgE6dlqOy84/
Please update, total capacity 2440 Theatre 1 and 2 662 seats with Dolby Stereo Theatre 3 and 4 558 seats (MONO) Source: NYC DOB When Cineplex Odeon renovated the theatre, they never upgraded the sound system in the balcony screens
Once operated by RKO Century.
Once operated by RKO Stanley-Warner.
The “Nearby Theatres” has the Casino Theatre listed which DOES NOT exist at all. Errors will occur. However the Flatbush Avenue SAVOY was right around the corner from the Kenmore though neither one operated at the same time period, making it closer than the Kings. As for the Kenmore, the whole marquee was removed except the lower steel support and redone by Target. I saw the old marquee taken down in three panels and the corner chaser bulbs going up and down at curb came down with the side panels, now that was sad remembering how they worked. When you enter Target today and go up the escalator at the right you can see most of the main lobby ceiling very much intact in the beauty aids department. By the elevators in the same area on the Church Avenue side of the building you see the outline of the balcony staircase wall going upward to the back of the house. The lobby ceiling was from the now second level looking down where the restrooms where nestled under the balcony. Sometimes saving just a little today is better than having nothing at all. Target also did a great job with the Walker Theatre on 18th Avenue and 64th Street where I graduated from Shallow JHS in 1970!
Hey Orlando, it’s good to see one of your knowledgeable, informative, and entertaining posts again. This website was happening for many years, but maybe there’s only a finite amount of things that can be said, and so traffic and postings seem to have slowed to a crawl.