Loew's Gates Theatre
1340 Broadway,
Brooklyn,
NY
11221
1340 Broadway,
Brooklyn,
NY
11221
10 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Loew's Inc.
Architects: Thomas White Lamb
Functions: Church
Styles: Adam
Nearby Theaters
With a small entrance fronting Broadway, around the corner on Gates Avenue is what looks like another entrance, but is in fact exits from the auditorium as there was no provision for exits on the right-hand side of the building due to abutting properties. Loew’s Gates Theatre was purpose built in 1921, as a movie/stage presentation theatre. The 3,600-seat Loew’s Gates Theatre was opened on November 21, 1921 with Bert Lytell in “Alias Lady Fingers” & Buster Keaton in “Hard Luck”. There was vaudeville on the stage and opening night was attended by a host of movie stars including Mae Murray, Will Rogers & Lew Cody. It was equipped with a Moller 3 manual 17 rank theatre organ. This large and still well-maintained Loew’s house was one of Broooklyn’s many Broadway theatres that are now either closed or gone. It closed on July 13, 1977 as a movie house.
On November 10, 1977 it was sold to the Triumphant Church of Jesus Christ Inc. for $10, with the condition they settle an unpaid NYC tax bill of $74,000. The church had previously been housed in the RKO Bushwick Theatre. Today the theatre is restored and well maintained by the Pilgrim Church who have occupied the building since at least 2007.
Contributed by
philipgoldberg
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Recent comments (view all 95 comments)
Photos at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pilgrim_Church,_formerly_Loew%27s_Gates_Theatre
I wonder how long the church will keep the building in light of the present development
Since this is a large and prosperous church – and they certainly need the space to serve their parish – I would not expect them to move anytime soon – unless, of course, they want to make a fast bundle.
This one opened on November 21, 1921. The feature film was “Alias Ladyfingers” with Bert Lytell.
While the photo currently at the top of the page does document the fact that the Gates did, at times, show XXX adult fare, I believe this was only done occasionally and that the Gates showed mostly regular fare until the 1977 blackout closed it down for good.
True, John. One full photo of the theater shows “The Pawnbroker” which was a big hit in the 1960s. What I also found interesting in this photo is that the entire theater is on Broadway. Generally, only the entrance would be on the main street and the auditorium in the back. Full Broadway frontage would cost a lot more taxwise than just a small entrance.
Actually, most of the theater other than the entrance is not located on Broadway. In fact, the Gates once featured a separate entrance situated around the corner – I believe on Gates Ave. A large portion of the old Bushwick RKO, on the other hand, did front on Broadway. This might have been a reason why it closed first, though property values on Broadway were plummeting during the 1960’s and 70’s.
The photo with “The Pawnbroker” on the marquee shows the Gates Avenue side of the building, not the main entrance on Broadway. The marquee and poster cases on Gates Avenue were “just for show,” with doors that were exits from the auditorium. Photo linked here
Just posted another out of the tax photos. Left side Broadway
I photographed the Loew’s Gates a few years back. Here’s some photos and a short write up at After the Final Curtain