Royal Theater
614 Bloomfield Avenue,
Bloomfield,
NJ
07003
614 Bloomfield Avenue,
Bloomfield,
NJ
07003
5 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Cineplex Odeon, RKO Century, Stern Circuit, Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Styles: Italian Renaissance
Nearby Theaters
Built in the early-1920’s as Stern’s Royal Theater, this was one of the most popular theaters along the “Bloomfield Avenue Route” out of Newark. One of the most elaborate ceilings in the Rococco style, the building also boasted a block-long lobby with a white granite floor, to boot. 1,700 seats on one floor (no balcony) and one of the largest screens in the area coupled by precision point projection made for a great movie going experience.
Sadly, the great size of the building made heating and air conditioning prohibitively expensive, and on March 31, 1978 the building was twinned (boxed in) and the effect was neither pleasant nor profitable. The Royal Theater was last operated by Cineplex Odeon it closed on June 25, 1998 with “Deep Impact” & “Dirty Work”.
It was torn down in the late-1990’s. A sad end to a once proud building!
Contributed by
jim thatcher
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Old postcard:
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Fisrt movie theatre I ever went to; I must have been about four years old. The movie was something or the other about Santa Claus vs. Satan(!). Sad to see the old place is now a parking lot; I still pass through town occasionally and subconsciously look for the marquee of a theatre that’s been gone for five years now. One of the few subdivided theatres I’ve seen that still offered decent-sized auditoriums and screens after twinning, even though you were always aware that the place had been divided. One look up at the ceiling and you saw HALF of the elaborate designs—clumsily divided with a plasterboard wall down the middle of the original auditorium.
I stopped by the theater during demolition. The drop ceiling had fallen and the original proscenium and organ chambers were once again visible. They were in pretty good condition and quite ornate. It’s a shame the town let this one go.
The above article from 2000 has an ironic quote from a city council member. He claimed that demolishing the theater would help to “re-invent” downtown Bloomfield. You know what’s there now? An empty parking lot.
So much for progress.
Its funny, but in the late 90’s, when cineplex odeon was getting rid of some small non profitable theatres, they sold the Cranford, Union, and Millburn twins. All three of these theatre had problems ranging from leaky roofs to you name it. But the Royal was in almost mint condition. So what happens? The Cranford became a 5 screener, the Millburn was quaded by Jimmy Dolan and his band of pencil pushers, and the Union became a 7-plex. The Royal, the best of the bunch (and nicest) was left to rot, and as stated above become an ashpalt field, otherwise known as a parking lot.
I remember seeing The Godfather, Gone With The Wind & Saturday Night Fever for the first time at the movie theatre. I also remember going to see a Judd Nelson movie back in the mid to late 1980’s and sitting in the movie theatre by myself. The theatre was already sub-divided at this point. It saddens me to think that the theatre was eventually demolished. I wish the powers that be at the time had the forsight to appreciate the theatre and restore it to it’s former glory.
The usher in the newspaper article was correct. You need to hold onto unique features if you want to attract people. Some chain drugstore will not attract anyone. And you can locate a drugstore in many other places. There was nothing unique to the site that says “drugstore.”
This became a twin on March 31st, 1978. Ad in the photo section.
Was that judd nelson movie The Breakfast Club?
It closed under RKO Century Warner, please update
Last operated by Cineplex Odeon. It was closed on June 25, 1998 with “Deep Impact” in Screen 1 and “Dirty Work” in Screen 2.