St. John's Cinema

JAlex on February 28, 2016 at 4:52 pm

“…stagehands began picketing the theatre as there was no work for them.” Description has it a bit warped. Stagehands began picketing the theatre as the owner refused to submit to union demands to hire them as there was no work for them. Certainly casts a different light on the situation.

jdharris76 on September 7, 2013 at 1:57 am

I can’t believe I actually found a pic of this old place. My family actually lived in an apartment above the theatre when I was born (1976). Now 37 years old, I live less than a block from the original location!

kencmcintyre on December 30, 2006 at 12:54 am

Here is some more information about the fire:

Defendant City of St. John appeals from a judgment for plaintiff St. John Bank & Trust Co. in an action for damage to property caused by a fire. The fire was intentionally set by a member of the St. John Police Department. The fire giving rise to this suit occurred during the early morning hours of April 30, 1979. It is undisputed that the fire was set by Sgt. Dunn, a member of the St. John Police Department, while he was on duty. Plaintiff contends that the fire was the last of a series of events which constituted harassment of the theater operators.

From the evidence presented the jury reasonably could have found that the operator of the theater had been subjected to a pattern of harassment by members of St. John Police Department prior to April 30, 1979. The police made a practice of interfering with the theater’s customers, refusing to allow them to wait outside the theater before entering, and taking down license plate numbers of customers' cars. There were two instances where the police stopped movies in the middle of shows to conduct searches of the theater; once allegedly to look for minors consuming alcoholic beverages, the other to look for unaccompanied minors watching an “R-rated” movie. There was also an incident involving a 16-year old girl employed by the theater who was told by one officer to “open her blouse or he would blow her head off.” There was also evidence showing that those acts which were arguably proper police work were completely groundless and unwarranted.

On Sunday, April 29, the night before the fire, there was no incident at the theater. The evidence did reveal, however, a serious breach of proper police conduct by a number of officers. That night, as the shifts were changing, Sgt. Dunn arrived for work with a quantity of beer. He and three other officers stayed in the station for a time drinking beer. While there, Sgt. Dunn took out a gun and began firing shots into the wall of the police station. Then the four went to an unmarked police car and began driving around the city. During this drive Officer Dunn fired shots at a black man who was walking down a street, and also shot at a cat, a car, and the door to the movie theater. The four then returned to the police station. Later the next morning, Dunn set fire to the theater.