Riverhead Theatre

Extensive alterations were made to the Riverhead Theatre in 1931, the house reopening on February 5 as advertised in that day’s issue of The County Review (PDF here.) The architect for the remodeling was Calvin Kiessling, who had offices in New York City and in New Caanan, Connecticut.

Back in the mid 1990’s the late Brother Andrew Corsini who was editor for the Theatre Historical Society wrote to me asking if I had ever heard of a Capitol Theatre in Riverhead, NY. I then began researching it (not an easy task in those days before Google) and, with the help of Wally Broege of the Riverhead Historical Society, discovered quite a bit of interesting information related to the theatre. Articles in the Suffolk Life weekly newspaper chronicled the construction and opening of this lavish little theatre in vivid detail.
Apparently a severe winter delayed some of the construction and it was written that the entire house was built and furnished by local contractors for the exception of the marquee and the special seating located in the orchestra section down front. The pipe organ was a 2 manual 4 rank Robert Morton. The grand opening was delayed a day or so due to a popular fraternal organization having ceremonies scheduled for the original opening date. In the beginning the feature films were supposedly changed on a daily basis and organ concerts were held on Sundays and proved to be very popular. Around the advent of sound the house was sold to Prudential who, in turn, modernized the auditorium by removing the organ and orchestra pit, adding more seating and the necessary sound equipment.
The Robert Morton organ was sold to Lester Little. His mother built a large studio for him on Paradise Point where the organ was installed and eventually enlarged to include more ranks of pipes and 2 more manuals. However, the work was poorly done. The studio also had a recording booth and ample audience seating. He was a member of the Long Island Organ and Piano Society and his studio was frequently used for club get-togethers. As I have been told many well known organists of the day visited and played the organ. Lester enjoyed playing hymns while his lady friend Althea Seavers sang the verses. I confirmed this with Althea many years ago when she was living in upstate New York. When Lester passed away the organ was broken up for parts and the studio and adjoining property is now privately owned.
The theatre’s marquee was added onto more than once until it became a huge over sized monstrosity. It was eventually removed when it was in danger of coming down. The Capitol/Riverhead theatre was torn down in the early 1960’s and the lot where I believe it stood on E. Main Street is still vacant and is next to the Long Island Science Center. The street numbers in that section of E. Main St are very confusing and, in my opinion, make no sense.

Upload photo of vintage postcard when it was the Capitol. Mentioned as a link in one of the comments but these links are tenuous. You’ll note that the Capitol had a vertical but no signboard; as Riverhead, the reverse. They also added the Riverhead name to the façade.

Riley’s Capitol in Riverhead was sold in April, 1925. This was less than a year after they lost their Capitol in Babylon as a result of bankruptcy. The theatre was sold for a reported $100,000 but one of the Riley brothers purchased $20,000 stock in the new company which redecorated the premises and renamed it the Riverhead.

She wasn’t the only traffic director on LI. There was an elderly man in a baseball uniform on Rt 25A in Wading River.

Here’s a working link to the vintage Capitol Theater Postcard

But my point is that two sides of the street can’t be odd numbered. The Suffolk and Riverhead have odd number addresses on CT. If a more reasonable address could be established we might have a better chance at a better Google image. I thought the Riverhead was closer to Roanoke Avenue. Then the location would be the open space next to the bank.

This address is problematic. The Riverhead theatre was on the opposite side of Main Street and across an intersection. The Google image is in the direction of the Suffolk theatre and is the same one appearing on the Suffolk site.

It’s interesting that, as a kid I remembered the Riverhead exterior from my summers in the area. Now, as an adult I was trying to track it down. The library only had information on the Capitol, which it was previously, but no knowledge of it as the Riverhead. Even the little old lady at the desk drew a blank.

WOW … I grew up on Eastern Long Island, my parent’s still live in Riverhead. Never knew of this other theatre. Is the Suffolk theatre still pending restoration?