Teele Square Theatre

1156 Broadway,
Somerville, MA 02144

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Teele Square Theatre

The Teele Square Theatre was a neighborhood house in Somerville, built in the 20’s. It was the first theater built by the Viano family, who also built the Broadway Theatre in East Somerville and later owned the Somerville Theatre, the Arlington Capitol and the Arlington Regent.

It closed in the 1970’s and was used for many years as a backdrop studio. The auditorium was demolished in the early 1990’s for a parking lot. The lobby, which was merely a storefront with a marquee, it became a carpet store. The building was badly damaged by a fire, and was demolished in November 2011.

Contributed by Ian M. Judge

Recent comments (view all 16 comments)

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on November 29, 2006 at 4:53 pm

Clarendon Avenue and Broadway. The building stood for many years after it closed as a theatre. The site is now a parking lot.

Mike0519
Mike0519 on November 29, 2006 at 6:16 pm

You’re right. It is Broadway…Are you from Somerville?

Mike

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on August 17, 2007 at 8:19 pm

David Guss has recently added many pictures and posters of the Teele Square Theatre to his “Lost Theatres of Somerville” website. A few of the photos show the theatre’s demolition in progress. Go to http://www.losttheatres.org/theaters.htm and click on “Teele Square”.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on May 11, 2010 at 9:18 am

According to Guss’s website, the Teele Square opened on Monday, January 16, 1922, closed in 1967, and was demolished some time in the mid-1990s.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on June 1, 2010 at 9:40 am

David Guss’s article “Lost Theatres of Somerville”, from the First Quarter 2006 issue of Marquee, the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America, is now online at View link .

Besides an extensive history, the article also contains many old photos of and advertisements for the various theatres in Somerville, including the Teele Square.

(This is a 17-page scanned-image PDF, so unfortunately you cannot search or copy the text.)

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on November 9, 2010 at 2:53 pm

As the “Toole Square”, this theater is listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook with 1000 seats, open 6 days/week.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on November 9, 2010 at 2:59 pm

Toole Square? That’s quite funny, as it was never called this.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on November 10, 2010 at 2:30 pm

But that’s typical of the spelling errors and other inaccuracies which are found in these old industry sources.

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on October 30, 2011 at 5:35 am

A multiple-alarm fire several hours ago seriously damaged the carpet store and several other businesses in this block. Some of the building may need to be demolished.

from Somerville.Patch.com: Major Fire Strikes Teele Square Saturday Night

Ron Newman
Ron Newman on December 2, 2011 at 11:31 pm

Sadly, the building turned out to be a total loss and was demolished last week. Nothing now remains of the former Teele Square Theatre.

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