There are already two art theatres within a short walk.
In addition there are too many stage theatres within the city, so there is potential to convert it back to a single large auditorium.
Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 07-15-2008, 02:53 PM:
A few years ago, I was able to join a group that toured the Grand (originally the Warner) here in Milwaukee:
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/1903/
It has been in operation since 1995, and downtown Milwaukee has been without a movie theater since.
Walking through the theater, it wasn't hard to imagine what it looked like when it was in top condition. A part of me wishes that someone with money that doesn't care about profitability could re-open places like that as living museums to a time long since gone, but the reality is that all we'll ever be able to hold onto are photos and memories.
I do have photos from the tour that I could put up somewhere if people are interested.
Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 07-15-2008, 07:57 PM:
Mark,
Although having been in the business for 15 years, I've only ever attended two cinemas as a customer during that time, and Odeon Clerk Street was one. I remember being totally impressed by the atmosphere, It's such a shame it is now closed. It made such an impression on me that I've never forgotten it, even though it was over ten years ago.
Posted by Andy Frodsham (Member # 4061) on 07-16-2008, 06:52 AM:
I think Andy just summed it up. Anyone whose only experience of going to the cinema has been attending a multiplex, has been truly robbed of what true movie theatres are all about!
Our, now demolished, ABC used selected filtered footlights to cycle through different colours on the curtains. And talking of curtains (or tabs), they had two sets of these (stage and screen) and both would be used to add to the showmanship. This all added-to the feeling that going to the cinema was 'an event' - regardless of how good the actual film was!
I think the modern multiplex has sacrificed some of this showmanship for efficiency i.e. the movie, as a commodity, being delivered clinically to the consumer!
I'd like to see more tabs installed back on screens, footlights and spotlights being used creatively and whatever happened to film producers putting play-ins and play-outs on the heads and tails of some major films!
Posted by Laurie Higgins (Member # 4843) on 07-16-2008, 04:24 PM:
Seeing those photos of the Bradford Odeon almost choked me up. It's a sad thing to see such a beautiful thing mangled and then left to rot.
Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 07-16-2008, 06:56 PM:
"Play ins" had to be removed from films such as the first Star Trek. The audience thought the projector was broken since there was no picture and half of the audience was complaining in the lobby by the time the actual picture started. Then they wanted the beginning shown again because they had missed it. Easier to accomodate stupidity by turning it into "just another picture." Louis
Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 07-16-2008, 07:09 PM:
I was able to get permission & keys to the CORONET theater here in San Franicsco shortly before it was torn down last year. It had been closed for about 2.5 years.
It was pretty much intact, but was a sorry sight!
Mold had grown on the screen and all the seats.
Pigeons and rodents had found their way into the building,
making a mess of everything. Mice had chewed out the speaker cones and made nests inside the enclosures.
Most the the equipment had been removed but there was still an assortment of projector pieces and spare parts up in the booth and a complete workin Christie AM-5 automation system that was in use when the place closed.
The good news, is that with the owners permission, I was able to go on a scavenger hunt and retrieve quite a bit of working equipment and stuff to "recycle" at other theaters.
These included:
>2 working ice cream freezers
>the aforementioned automation system
>large wall mirror from the ladies room
>curtain & masking motors
>2 Audio Racks (empty, but even empty racks aren't cheap)>
>Heater & blower assemblies from the popcorn warmers. I'd have prefered to take the whole warmers but they were pretty much built into the counter and could not be removed without destroying them.
>Several new, unused carbonation machines, still in boxes.
>Strings of Tivoli lights and several Tivoli transformers
>Large Indoor Trash Recepticles (These are over $300 new!)
While some of these items are still in storage, most have
been redistributed and have found new use at several several
other San Francisco theaters.
The popcorn warmer parts were used to repair a broken warmer at another theater.
A WORD OF ADVICE to anyone thinking of exploring closed theaters:
Go as though you were going to explore a cave.
Closed theaters usually have no electricity and are 'black holes' light-wise.
Plenty of LED flashlights, and preferably head-lamps are a MUST.
Gloves and a face-mask should also be worn.
In my case, a headlamp kept me from putting my eye out from a piece of metal sticking out of the wall that had been removed as part of the pre-demolition asbestos abatement.
While exploring old theaters can be fun, it can also be dangerous if you're not careful.
Posted by Wayne Keyser (Member # 2420) on 07-16-2008, 09:52 PM:
You will find a gold mine if you Google "abandoned theater" "abandoned theatre" "abandoned cinema" or the like.
Also, the best "urban exploration" sites can be revealing.
Posted by Scott Ling (Member # 4902) on 07-31-2008, 06:03 AM:
Hi All,
Found something close to my heart for my first post ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I worked part time at the Clerk Street Odeon from '89 until it closed in 2003. Wonderful building compared with most modern multi-boxes. It's still lying empty, and I believe it was a condition of its sale that it could not be re-opened as a cinema ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
I'm still working at the Lothian Road site, and now 3 weeks into my new job as 'Trainee Tech' ![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
Cheers
Scott
Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 07-31-2008, 10:59 AM:
Good luck with it Scott, say hi to 'Chippy' aka Adam for me.
A good few years ago I worked n the ABC cinema that once occupied your corner of Lothian Road, it and the Clerk Street Odeon were Edinburgh's grandest old ladies of their time.
Posted by Scott Ling (Member # 4902) on 07-31-2008, 11:26 AM:
Thanks Pete.
I'll say hi for you - he's training me ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Scott
Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 07-31-2008, 01:04 PM:
A few weeks ago I spent the weekend boating with friends on Lake Champlain, originating from a marina in Whitehall NY. Whitehall is famous as the birthplace of the U.S. Navy, although nobody can tell me why the navy was born nowhere near an ocean. In any event, on the way to breakfast one morning, I passed an old brick building that I was sure was a theatre at one time. Asking at the restaurant, I find out it was the Capitol Theatre that closed in early 1970's. Walking over after breakfast, I discover the emergency exit doors had been removed, and the interior had been gutted from the roof down to a dirt floor. All that was left was the steel beams that once up held the balcony. The building was being used to store boats and old cars. It was really kind of sad.
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-31-2008, 02:52 PM:
Some of the former movie theater buildings in my town have been converted for other kinds of business.
The old Showcase Twin building was gutted in 1995 and converted into a Blockbuster Video location. That's a slightly ironic twist. The Video Triple closed in the late 1990s and was converted into a hardware store.
The Cache 8 movie theater (formerly operated by United Artists, Hollywood Theaters and then Wallace) remains empty and with all windows and doors boarded shut. Not sure how one could arrange any sort of visit. I'm surprised the property has remained empty for so long. It's a big lot. Unfortunately, only East-bound traffic on Cache Road can enter the site because of the "Y" split between Cache Road and Quannah Parker Trailway.
This area of the country has a number of drive-in movie theater sites that closed long ago. Lawton has one "abandoned" drive-in site off 11th street on the south side of town near the airport and I-44. I have no idea who owns the property.
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 07-31-2008, 07:21 PM:
Honolulu still has it's share of buildings that were wonderful movie theatres. They include the Waikiki Twins which has been gutted and converted to retail stores. The Waikiki IMAX is now a venue for live circus type performances The Cinerama is now a auto parts store. The Kapiolani Theatre building has been converted to a Blockbuster store and a Papa John.s pizza outlet. The Queen Theatre is still intact and not in use for anything. Among the many wonderful large single screen neighborhood theatres Consolidated had operated, the Kewalo, Palama and my beloved Waipahu buildings still exists. The Waipahu is now a church and the building has been well maintained and one can tell it was once a very elegant theatre. The Palama with it unique Chinese design has always reminded me of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. If it was restored like they did with the old Hawaii Theatre building, it can be just as impressive as the house in Los Angeles or perhaps even better. During it's day of glory, the theatre had a sitting capacity of close to a thousand. Unfortunately, the Palama is located in a part of Honolulu that has a lot of low income homes and does not have a very attractive surrounding. The Kewalo was nothing special even when it was in operation and I have never seen a movie there.
-Claude
Posted by Warren Dewey (Member # 3609) on 07-31-2008, 10:54 PM:
About 5 years ago I was looking for an old theater to buy and did flashlight tours through about 2 dozen old single-screen auditoriums in CA. Some of the interesting ones:
An 800-seater in Hollywood that was completely carpeted with dead pigeons. Beautiful indirect-lighting art deco interior. Changeover booth still there. I believe it's now a night club.
A dual balcony 2000-seat baroque gem in downtown LA that I think is being restored now. The upper balcony can only be reached by outside stairs; the sign above the door reads "COLORED ENTRANCE." A gorgeous ballroom on the top floor with giant sloping windows, and 2 dual-roll (one optical sound and one for picture) Simplex "preview" projectors.
The Tower in LA, probably the most gorgeous smaller palace ever, S Charles Lee's first. A horseshoe balcony in a very narrow footprint. Just for movies-- no stage space. Huge paneled lounge in the basement that would make a gorgeous restaurant. Now rented out as a movie location. This one just changed owners; maybe something will be done to put it back in use.
A hidden small deco theater in downtown LA, probably from the thirties, turned porno. Old cast iron seat frames with the buckets removed, replaced with plywood! By the front door a big sign: "All drug use and sexual acts are prohibited."
Another completely hidden Egyptian-style 800 seater in Pasadena. Much decor intact, original asbestos advertising curtain still there, a real museum piece.
The Raymond, a gigantic palace in Pasadena, a sad case of willful neglect. I believe it is the sight of an office/condo development now. A beautiful working theater that was allowed to fall into ruin in just a few years. Ramps from lobby to mezzanine that spiraled around fountains, and a nice simplex XL in the lobby with a giant arc lamphouse, brand-new carbons still waiting in the bucket. When I saw it, the basement was flooded floor to ceiling and the wonderful asbestos fire curtain was in shreds.
Nice little deco neighborhood house, The Village in Coronado, maybe 400 seats. 2 nice deco wall paintings, beautiful neon vertical sign. I believe the town is trying to get this one back on its feet.
Quonset hut theater with deco facade in Arcada, with marquee letters still there. After we looked at it, a truck ran into the marquee. Still empty as far as I know.
Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 08-02-2008, 01:03 AM:
Hey claude, what about the Varsity theater? I believe this one is located near the U of H campus, and is empty, we passed by it one time and I noticed there was a projector prop out front of the property.
Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 2038) on 08-06-2008, 11:56 AM:
The Paramount Theatre on Broadway in Long Branch NJ, originally called The Broadway. Classic early 1920s atmospheric palace, delightfully gaudy and overdone! There are serious plans to restore it as a performing arts center, with movie capabilities. Most of the place is intact, booth is gutted, plenty there to work with. The stage area was a warehouse for the next-door paint business for many years, floor was leveled with concrete, but this can be brought back. Fundraising and endless meetings now going on, as expected.
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 08-06-2008, 01:14 PM:
The Varsity is no more, Mike
The theatre was demolished a few months after it had closed. You saw it probably when they were deciding what to do with the building. The original intent of the new owners of the property was to renovate the structure but in the end, the building was beyond saving.
-Claude
Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-06-2008, 03:29 PM:
I was lucky enough to be given a tour (not even that actually - the security company looking after the place just let us in to wander around) of the former Paramount cinema (an Odeon in its last days) in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, shortly after it closed down in, I think, late 2002. It was very much like the Bradford pics - anything relatively small, portable and high value had been removed, and everything else just abandoned in situ. I don't know if the building is still standing now.
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 08-06-2008, 07:13 PM:
Mike,
Here are some more information about the demolished Varsity Theatre in Honolulu. It was built in 1939 the year I was born. An identical twin theatre, the 'Hilo' was opened the following year in Hilo on the big island of Hawaii by Consolidated Amusement but it was very badly damaged on May 23, 1960 by a tsunami and demolished five years later. The Varsity was a very beautiful house and at the time it had opened, it was part of a string of houses Consolidated called 'neighborhood' theatres. The 'Waipahu' in my home town in leeward Oahu was also part of this chain. The Varsity remained a neighborhood theatre until it was refurbished with 70mm projection equipment and became a Road Show venue in Honolulu along with the Kuhio, Cinerama, Waikik Twins and the Kapahulu and it's opening attraction was "THE BIBLE" in 1966. It was followed by other 70mm special engagement films including STAR, DR DOOLITTLE and THE SAND PEBBLE. Beside first run 70mm road show engagements, the theatre also presented revival showings of 2001-A SPACE ODDYSSEY and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. It was twinned sometime in the late eighties and became an art house. The last films to play there was AWAY FROM HER and THE BLACK BOOK.
-Claude
Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 05-06-2010, 09:26 PM:
It has been 638 days since the last post.
Posted by Greg Anderson (Member # 235) on 05-06-2010, 09:26 PM:
I stopped by this place today. The "Cinedome 70" in Riverdale, near Ogden, Utah. The place closed a few years ago but the family which actually owned the building wouldn't let it be torn down. However, they've recently decided to let it go. So this building might not be around much longer.
I leaned up against a window and caught a picture of the lobby. Very sad shape.
Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-06-2010, 09:43 PM:
..and that was a pretty lobby when that place was in it's heydays. Crystal Chandeliers, waterfalls and a lobby theatre organ that a member of management would play during intermissions.
Houses were huge for the large 70mm presentations.
Booth was also huge-machinery faced opposite directions with the 35/70mm units going full-bore.
-Monte
Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 05-06-2010, 09:47 PM:
Here's a shot I took in 2002 (closed then too, I think), when the "CINEDOME 70" lettering was still up.
Never saw a movie there. Always referred to the place as 'Cineboobs'.
Posted by Greg Anderson (Member # 235) on 05-06-2010, 10:02 PM:
The vegetation makes it look like something out of "Life After People" now.
Posted by Richard P. May (Member # 3598) on 05-10-2010, 10:10 AM:
A couple of months ago the Los Angeles Historical Film Society gave a tour of the long-closed Fox Theater - Inglewood, CA.
This was a major theater in the Fox West Coast chain, with about 1100 seats. It has been shuttered for around 30 years, as changing economics in the Inglewood area (near L.A. Int'l Airport) no longer support a facility of this sort.
As Jim Cassedy mentioned about the Coronet - San Francisco, it is the victim of water damage, mold, etc. The power is still on, and we were allowed to carefully go thru the main auditorium, but not backstage or any potentially dangerous areas. We were also told to keep the visit short, in order to not breathe mold, and preferably keep our hands off anything.
I got special permission to go up to the projection booth. No lights there, and pitch dark. I had a little LED light on my keychain, which was the sole source of light. There are two Simplex E7s in place, with Peerless Magnarc lamp on one of them. I was told the other lamphouse is somewhere downstairs in storage.
A video of this can be found on You Tube under Insiders Peek #1-Fox, Inglewood.
DM
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 05-10-2010, 04:28 PM:
The Waipahu Theatre in my hometown was a wonderful movie theatre. Not only was it wonderFul but it was a beautiful house and the building stIll exist and today is THe City of Refuge Church- a house of worship for black people. For twenty eight years, my photography studio was only about a hundred yards away and I used to go here a lot when my friend, the late Yugo Okubo leased the theatre from Consolidated Amusement Company and ran it as a 2nd run house. That was the time I had met fellow Film Tech member, Very Dias who was working for Yogo as a projectionist at the theatre. I remember the night when Vern was very excited when he got a four track mag print of TORA! TORA! TORA! to run. It sounded great in that old theatre.
Other old theatre building that still exists in Honolulu beside the Waipahu is The Cinerama, Waikiki Twins, Hawaii IMAX, Kapiolani (Toho), Queen, Kokusai, Palama and the Kewalo, The only old theatre from the glory days of movies that still exist as a theatre is the Hawaii. It exists today as a performing arts centre and thanks to the wonderful restoration work that was performed on the building, it looks just as gorgeous as it did when it first opened on September 6, 1922. . Beside live shows, the theatre is also still capable of showing movies and has the latest in projection and digital soud equipment. PRINCESS KAIULANI was world premiered there late last year.
-Claude