Andrews Theater
Main Street,
Salamanca,
NY
14779
Main Street,
Salamanca,
NY
14779
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Schine Circuit Inc.
Architects: Victor A. Rigaumont
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The Andrews Theater was opened January 22, 1912 and was destroyed by a fire in July 1923. It was rebuilt to the plans of architect Victor A. Rigaumont in 1930. It reopened as a Schine theater in December 1932.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
On March 15, 1930, architect Victor A. Rigaumont received a copyright for drawings and seven sheets of blueprints for a theater to be built on Main Street in Salamanca, New York, for the Schine enterprises. I wonder if this could have been the Andrews Theatre? The deepening of the economic depression could have accounted for the delay in construction.
The Andrews Theatre is listed in the 1914/15 American Motion Picture Directory, so the 1932 date above is either a renovation of an old theatre or a replacement of it with the same name.
The Andrews Theatre opened in early 1912, as noted in this item from the July 31 issue of The New York Dramatic Mirror:
The 1913-1914 Cahn guide listed the Andrews Theatre as a ground floor house with 911 seats. The 1909-1910 guide lists only a 550-seat Teck Theatre at Salamanca, operated by Max Andrews. The Teck opened in December, 1908, according to an item in the December 25 issue of The Billboard. It appears to have been destroyed by a fire in January, 1910. Perhaps the Andrews Theatre was its replacement.The Andrews Theatre sat on the southeast bank of the Allegheny River. A photo postcard with the Andrews Theatre in the lower right corner has been uploaded. I believe the Andrews closed in the mid 1950’s after the Schine’s opened the more modern Eberson designed Seneca Theatre a couple of blocks up the street. The Seneca was on the same side of the street.
The Andrews Theatre continued to sit vacant until it was demolished in the mid 1960’s as part of the widening of the Allegheny River basin in conjunction with the construction of the Kinzua Dam in Warren County Pennsylvania.
The Kinzua Dam project was supposed to alleviate the repeated flooding of the Allegheny River in Salamanca and other river communities. However just a few years later on June 25 1972 flooding from the Alleghney River caused by Hurricane Agnes took out the Seneca Theatre up the street.
According to published reports it appears that the 1911 incarnation of the Andrews Theatre was destroyed in the July 1923 fire which swept through much of downtown Salamanca:
http://www.gendisasters.com/new-york/13758/salamanca-ny-business-district-fire-july-1923
It would thus appear that the 1930 Rigamount design was a replacement for the Andrews Theatre that was destroyed in 1923.