Ritz Theatre
Queen Street,
New Bern,
NC
28560
Queen Street,
New Bern,
NC
28560
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This was one of two movie theatres within Craven County that catered to African-Americans. The seating capacity is 400.
The Ritz Theatre was operating from at least 1949 until 1955, and beyond.
Contributed by
raysson
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Anyone know the address, have more info or photos?
There are two buildings in New Bern’s Five Points neighborhood (the area surrounding the intersection of Broad, Queen and Roundtree Streets) that look like former African-American movie theaters. One is the Arabian Temple on the 1000 block of Queen Street; the other is located approximately 1028-1030 Broad Street. The Broad Street building has what looks like the outline of a box office in front of the present doors, while the Arabian Temple looks more like a post-World War II movie theater. Both look like former theaters but I don’t know which was the Ritz or the name of the other theater.
The Broad Street theater has been listed on CT by Lost Memory as the Palace Theatre; the Ritz Theatre was most likely located in the building on Queen Street now housing the Arabian Temple.
If the Ritz was located at 1027 Broad Street it would have been directly across the street from the Palace Theatre and behind the Queen Street theater; any building at 1027 Broad Street would have been demolished by the late 1960s to make way for a large self-service gas station (which has itself been demolished).
The theater that was last an Arabian Temple, was opened as the “New Ritz” when the original Ritz theater was demolished for the expansion of Broad street from a tree lined two lane to a four lane roadway.
The “Name Changes” April 20, 1948, issue of The Film Daily said that the Bern Theatre in New Bern had been renamed the Ritz. I’ve been unable to discover how long the Bern Theatre had been in operation at that time.
The Ritz Theatre was most likely demolished (and the New Ritz most likely built) in 1950. The four-laning of Broad Street was part of the re-alignment of US 17 and replacement of the old drawbridge that carried US 17 from Bridgeton to New Bern. The new drawbridge opened in 1951 at the foot of Broad Street; widening of Broad Street would have been done in conjunction with the bridge construction so that Broad Street would be ready for the increased traffic.