Park Theatre
62 River Street,
Richford,
VT
05476
62 River Street,
Richford,
VT
05476
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Article on Richford Theatres, February 22, 1951. https://richford.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=%22bijou%20theatre%22&i=f&d=01011879-12312014&m=between&ord=k1&fn=journal_gazette_usa_vermont_richford_19510222_english_6&df=1&dt=2
This web site has abstracts from early issues of the Richford Gazette. There is a gap between 1917 and 1925. The 1925 paper mentions theaters called the Park and the Colonial, but the 1917 paper mentions only the Colonial, so the Park must have opened sometime between 1918 and 1925.
The 1915 papers indicate that the Colonial was in the Town Hall, and showed its first movies in April that year. The August 14, 1915, issue of The Moving Picture World also mentioned a theater in Richford, but it was called the Lyric.
Also, I’ve found the exact location of the Park Theatre, thanks to the two buildings behind it in the vintage photo, both of which are still standing at the west end of Church Street at the L-shaped corner of Elm Avenue, though the view of them from River Street is now blocked by trees.
The Park was on what is now a parking lot on the north side of River Street about midway between Town Street and North Avenue. It is in between an old grey house to the west and a small frame building occupied by the Wash-N-Save laundromat to the east. The United Methodist Church up the block to the west is at 86 River Street, so I’d estimate the theater’s address as approximately 62 River Street.
Although the MGM Report gives the address as “Park St.”, and “Summer St.” in Cinematour, I could not get either street to come up in the Zip code locater.
There does not appear to be a Park Street in Richford. The Cinema Data Project says that the Park Theatre was on River Street.
This photo of the Park Theatre is undated, but the posters out front look like they might be for the 1921 film The Cheater Reformed.
The building was unusual for a theater, featuring a large gabled end facing the street, the peak of the gable dropping into a short hip. The theater entrance was in a flat-roofed addition on one side, with a fan light above the marquee that sheltered two pairs of double doors. The building was covered in narrow clapboards.
While it’s possible that the building has been remodeled into something unrecognizable, there is no building like it to be seen in Google street view today, so I suspect that the Park has most likely been demolished (perhaps burned, as it appears to have been a wood framed structure.)
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Park; it’s Card # 585. Address is Park Street. There is an exterior photo dated May 1941 Condition is Fair. The report says that the Park was over 10 years old (as of 1941), shows MGM movies, and had 436 seats. 1940 population was 1,800.