Monroe Theatre
Millpond Parkway,
Monroe,
NY
10950
Millpond Parkway,
Monroe,
NY
10950
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Liggett-Florin Booking Service
Styles: Colonial Revival
Nearby Theaters
When the Monroe Theatre was opened by Liggett-Florin Booking Service in the late-1940’s, its Colonial American style facade became a familiar sight to those trapped in traffic jams on Route 17, which was then the main route to the Catskill Mountains. The Monroe Theatre was twice as large as the town’s long established Colonial Theatre, and eventually forced its closing.
The Monroe Theatre was demolished in 2003 and a new theatre was built on the site.
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Looking through Google Maps, I followed the entire course of Millpond Parkway (it’s fairly short, running parallel to the main street). I did not see any building which resembled a older cinema, however at the corner of Millpond and Smith Field Court (Just south of the Free Library) is a building labeled Monroe Cinema. No street view available here but from the air it appears to be a modern building, quite new. Perhaps they demolished the old theater and put up a new multiplex recently.
The March 12, 1949, issue of Boxoffice said that the Monroe Theatre was opening that month. The house was originally owned and operated by Walter and Carlisle Neithold, who also operated a theater at Goshen, New York.
The Monroe Theatre was torn down in the summer of 2003 to make way for a new theater building. The exact address was/is 34 Millpond Parkway. Searching “Monroe Theater” on the Times Herald-Record(www.recordonline.com) will bring up many articles about the long saga related to this theater site. After the Monroe Theatre was demolished construction on the new building struggled on for years. The new theater eventually opened but is now in danger of closure due to owner Norman Adie facing federal fraud charges.
I visited the Monroe Theatre several times. In the picture above, the red doors were the exit doors next to the screen. The screen was at the street end of the theatre. The entrance was on the right. The ticket counter and concession stands were on the right of the long entrance way, which went all the way to the back of the building and was parallel to the auditorium. You would make two left turns there and you would be at the back of the auditorium. The auditorium had green stage curtains flooded in green light. Flat and scope pictures were common width, with masking at the bottom which would be raised for scope pictures. Flat pictures were almost in the scope ratio, which made for too much cropping of the picture. When I used to go there in the middle 60s, they didn’t have tickets. When you paid, they kept track of admissions with tally marks on a sheet of paper. I don’t know what they did if they had to give refunds, since there were no ticket stubs. The theatre was the first theatre I ever attended that had push-back seats.
It was a great theater to go to. The people running it were an older couple. The popcorn was always stale. But the presentation was very good 800 seats nice size screen good sound.