Comments from jlmcea

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jlmcea
jlmcea commented about Europa Theater on Feb 2, 2007 at 11:29 pm

I was at Rutgers from ‘55 to '59, we would walk down Somerset St. to donate blood at the hospital, and there was a Hungarian restaurant down there we would go to on weekends occasionally. I don’t remember seeing an 'art’ theater or seeing one mentioned in the local newspaper.

jlmcea
jlmcea commented about Strand Theatre on Feb 2, 2007 at 11:18 pm

In my Rutgers days late 50’s, the Strand was usually called “The Fleabox” but it showed second run pictures cheap usually double features, and (some) students would go there if the picture was good. The seats were old, not-too-sturdy wooden backed. It was not for Douglass students then.

jlmcea
jlmcea commented about Center Drive-In on Feb 2, 2007 at 10:23 pm

The Center Drive-in theatre was south of Division St. behind McDonald’s, where BJ’s Wholesale Warehouse is today. When I started coming to Ansonia in 1974 it was closed, but the “humps,” projection booth/snack bar, and speaker stands were visible for years. I don’t remember the screen. In 1955 these two rivers flooded and there was at least 10' of raging water over this property. It stood in the “center” of the V where the Naugutuck and Housatonic Rivers meet. Over the years, evidence of the drive-in crumbled, and BJ’s bought the land and built about 1999 (a guess.)

jlmcea
jlmcea commented about Park Lane Theatre on Feb 2, 2007 at 10:16 pm

In 1952 the Park Lane closed for renovations. A new air conditioning plant was installed, and the large louvres in the right and left box areas were left with unfinished plaster borders. The seats, we thought 1,500, were replaced with about 1,200 wider, padded seats offset row by row for better visibility. But more importantly, a new, brighter, wide screen was installed for the coming Cinemascope process, and its proportions fit the proscenium arch perfectly (it was made up of vertical ‘strips’ and could ‘fly’ so the stage was useable, for instance, by Leonia High School graduations.) This was when the “Adams” sign appeared outside over the marquee. First run films were Su-Tu and Wed-Sat, with a weekly kiddy matinee every Saturday. The screen was reportedly the largest in Bergen county, and the 1953 opening of “The Robe” in Cinemascope was a spectacular event.