Somerville Theatre

Jim,
Thanks for your comments. That could have been me up in the window at the other end of the rope waiting for the “CANS” to arrive. That was where the projection booth was located. Yes, those were fun days and good times are back with all the updates going on at the theatre. I can’t wait to see pictures of the completed project. Remember the one-hour of cartoons at the Sat. Matinee? That’s the only time the kids were quiet. They sang very good during the “follow the bouncing ball” cartoon. ha ha
Are you, by any chance, related to the Callahan Family that lived on Paulina St?

Ken,
Thanks for the history on the third floor. That’s pretty cool to know how it was used previous to being converted to apts. The area you describe was the exact footprint of our apt – the arched window and then the next 3 windows to the left. Good idea about getting the film cans up to the 3rd floor. We would have liked that idea when we used to schlep groceries up to the 3rd floor after walking back from Porter Sq. Star Market in the snow! A friend of mine, Bob, was one of the projectionists at the time – he later worked at the Capitol in the mid-80s. At the time I lived there, the guy who occupied the apt next to ours, would keep an eye on our cars parked on Dover Street. I believe he had former janitor’s apt you described, and since he had the apt on the corner of Dover street and at least one of his windows looked in that direction, he could sort of keep an eye out for anything amiss.
Thanks again for all the info!

Sound like a great line up.

Was it candlepin or tenpin? In either case, with only three lanes, it probably had trouble competing with the much larger Sacco’s Bowl-Haven once that opened in 1939.

(Is there another urban neighborhood in the USA where both a 90+ year old movie theatre and a 65+ year old bowling alley are still open and thriving? If so, I’d love to hear about it.)

Say, about that basement space reverting to the theatre … any chance of turning that into a tiny video-only Theatre 6, like the two at the Coolidge?

Thanks Ian! I definitely will. I’d love to see the old place.

Ron:

The jeweller was where the original Someday was. It became the Yarn Shop, then the hair place, then a little realtor’s office, then the Someday, and finally was absorbed into the lobby.` The gun club was in the upper stories, I’m not sure where.

I can’t remember what was on the corner in the early 80’s, but the Discount Pharmacy went in around 1985.

The greek club used the former Crystal Ballroom that was on the second floor (where theaters 4 and 5 are today). There was also a dentists office and a small dance studio there.

The basement was leased to the MBTA for the duration of the T project. They used it to store supplies.

The third floor was built as office space and with a giant ‘council chamber’, a room with only ceiling lights and no side windows that was used for a masonic/K of C kind of organization. This was all turned into office space in the late 1920’s and then into 10 studio apartments in the 60’s.

Ron – I’ll gladly chat about the private club sometime.
David – if you ever want to see your old place, stop in the theater and ask for me. If I am there, I’ll show you around.

-Ian

Thanks for the info on what now occupies my old bedroom. It would be really cool to see it again sometime! I also remember a very busy social club on the 2nd floor back then. Greek, I believe it was. On our way up to our 3rd floor apt., when you got to the 2nd floor, the door to the Greek club was usually open and there was always so much smoke in the room you could cut it with a knife! My how times have changed.

Thanks again! Thant’s fantastic! I’ll definitely be there. It was at Off the Wall where I originally saw such cinematic wonders as Plan 9 from Outer Space, Robot Monster, Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble.

Meanwhile, the Somerville Theatre will show a Chuck Norris Film Festival on Friday and Saturday, September 15-16.

Thanks Ron! So that would explain why the apartments back in the 70s/early 80s had a sort of “office” feel. You could definitely tell they were not originally built as apartments. The partitions within the space were simple frames of 2"x4" lumber with sheet paneling nailed over them, old linoleum flooring, and not nearly enough electrical outlets! What a fun place is was though for two “kids” (we were 19 and 21 at the time) to live. At that time, our monthly rent was $125.00 per month!!! Try finding anything like that in Somerville today. Back then, we also used to spend much time at the Orson Welles Theater and Off the Wall cinema in Cambridge. The Orson Welles used to have a great annual Fright Night Festival where you could come and spend the entire night in the theater watching horror flicks and the Off the Wall showed just that – really great off-the-wall stuff.

Oh, what great memories I have of this building and the surrounding area. Years ago, the 3rd floor of the building was all apartments and back in 1981/82, my roommate and I had a great apartment overlooking the square. At that time, we were able to look straight down into the construction of the Davis Sq. T station. I had a great triangular-shaped bedroom at the end of the building and the huge arched window over the inscription in the building was my bedroom. At night, through the back wall of my bedroom, I was able to hear the muffled sounds of the movie projector and the guy who ran it, having a good time with friends. It was such a great time. It’s good to see the building being put to such good use. Much has changed in the building and surrounding square since we lived there, much of it for the better. David Sq. has since become a “hip” place – something it wasn’t back then. Still, we loved living there even then. Can’t wait to attend the Science Fiction Festival in February!
All the best, David.

That is all great news, Ian! I’m looking forward to seeing the result next fall.

Jim, thanks for the kind words! I really appreciate your patronage. We have
tried so hard to improve our presentation & cleanliness, though sometimes our
prints arrived already scratched due to the second-run status we hold (if they
are really damaged, we do order new prints, but this can take a few days,
especially over a weekend.)

Ron,

Yes, the main hall will be closed for apx. 8 weeks. We will be repainting the
entire room, something not done since 1932. We are following paint and color
guidelines from a 1989 historical analysis of the building that thankfully
lists the proper colors to be used.

The stagehouse will be renovated, including new fire suppresion systems, new
rigging, new drapes and a new screen. Upgrades to the sound system for movies
are also planned.

The theater that emerges in the fall will look better than it has in decades,
and will be better suited to host live shows. We anticipate more dance shows
and perhaps more legitimate theater, as the new stage will be deeper and wider.

This is a huge commitment on the part of the theater owners, and one more step
towards my goal of having the theater completely overhauled by the 100th
anniversary in 2014.

Also, on a side note, Warner Brothers has agreed to let us play “The Lake House"
on June 16th, a rare first-run presentation day-and-date with the Harvard Square
Theatre (except our admission price will remain its usual $6.50, far less than
the Harvard Square). Hopefully, this will be something Warner’s let’s us do in
the future.