Granada Theatre

Photo added of November 22, 1928 opening.

Re my earlier posting. Page 1 of the Long Island Advance (now Patchogue Advance) for July 1, 1965 shows the marquee being removed from the building under the headline “Old landmark gives way to progress”. I’ll see if I can copy and paste it.

When I was a child my parents happened to drive thru Patchogue. That was probably in the 1950s. I was a movie theatre nut even then. The Granada was already dark by that time, and before it was converted to retail. When I came upon CT a few years ago it was one of the first things I went to check out, just to reassure that my memory was correct.

I also remember the Old Town Theatre in Smithtown Branch, which I added to CT earlier this year.

I also thought there was a Moriches Theatre, not the Center Moriches or the Jerry Lewis which became the Center Cinema. That I haven’t been able to confirm.

That someone was me, fairly recently. I believe it’s also referenced in the other comments on this site which you have to access apart from the first hit. Lead says there are 24 comments.

When you look at the theatre situation there are a lot of sections of the island that are no longer serviced. When I lived further west there were still art house venues in Huntington and Malverne. The other art houses disappeared a long time ago. I rely on the Westhampton Performing Arts Center and the Hampton Arts theatres for my independent experience. They are a lot closer to me than Patchogue. Sag Harbor often has an odd ball but that’s a haul. They were going to try something like that in Riverhead but that never came off. The Suffolk Theatre still sits there, more than 75% of the storefronts are empty as are the apartments over them. But there are several art groups, one of which I do portrait modeling for, and the Blues Festival which is a big draw. Vail-Levitt is still plugging along but is not a real force in the community. The towns have changed so much over the years and so have people. There is no sense of committment. Witness the diminishing sizes and graying of church choirs and all the community chorales and orchestras that have disappeared due to lack of membership and community support. You’re going to have a haul. Since WHB is flourishing maybe you should network with them.

Possibilities- Hans and his wife confirmed that the only post theatre use of the space was as Two Guys (perhaps they were named Jack and Jerry). In Hans' books the Granada doesn’t get the attention of the Patchogue and the Rivoli. He does have clippings from the newspaper with additional details on it which I have quoted above. There is also a photo of the grand opening which I’ll have to scan and get somewhere where I can provide a link to CT.

Also in our last conversation he said his records show the marquee being removed in 1965 not 1967 as above. He also said the theatre closed in 1947 due to lack of business even though they tried to get a new audience by showing foreign films. His research is more general so there maybe more on that. I stop by the Patchogue Library one day and, hopefully, they have an index for data in the advance, rather than my going through the whole year 1947. When I was trying to get more info on the Center Cinema in Center Moriches I was fortunate that there was an index for the local paper. I would never have found the information otherwise since several years were involved. When I was trying to create the Rocky Point Cinema I had some first hand info pointing me to a time frame and then poured over microfiche just to get skeletal info. Without the pointer it would have been impossible.

Lost Memory just disapeared from CT never to be heard from again.

Possibilities – I checked my book it’s Hans Hemke. There are two copies of his two books in the Patchogue Library. One each in regular circulation and one each as reference in the LI Room. He has a listed phone number so you can also contact him directly.

Hi Lost Memory – I have been talking to rvb, Broadway and possibilities about the Granada. I remember an auto parts store which I believe was called Jack & Jerry’s at the time. It was on the south side of East Main St. – near Railroad Ave. It had a sloped floor and when I inquired as to why, I was told it used to be a movie theatre. My guess is the Granada. Bingo?!! Does “Jack & Jerry’s” (I think this was the name) ring a bell w. you?

I think his name is Hans Henke.

Lost Memory:

Where do you dig up this information? I love it! I think we need a little history of film in Patchogue. If you check out our website (www.plazamac.org)you will see a section where we are showing the historical evolution of Patchogue from a Mill town to a boat crafts town to a budding art community that has the Pathogue Theatre of Performing Arts, the new ArtSpace for Visual Arts on Terry Street where they are building 45 live in studio spaces 1-3 bedrooms for artists only, rent stabilized for 34 years. BTW fill out our on-line survey and help make the third leg of art in Pathogue a reality – the Media Arts Center of East Patchogue – right where the old Plaza Theatre is right now. Help bring back film to Patchogue.

From the archives of the Long Island Advance: In 1933 the Granada had a free admission policy if you presented a one dollar note where the sum of the components of the serial number totalled 52. 37 were received. The next freebie involved pennies from 1921, 1922 and 1923 together. Around the same time the Granada had a continuous performance schedule on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays during the winter. In the summer the schedule was twice daily.

They have recently expanded/renovated the court building, but the former site of the Granada is still part of the court’s lawn area.