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43 Comments
- inactive, on 07/02/2008, -1/+34There is such a complete lack of respect for architecture in this country
- coheedcollapse, on 07/02/2008, -1/+14I'm surprised they didn't mention the Palace Theater of Gary Indiana. Although it's pretty broken down now, it used to be insanely grand. The Jackson Five actually played there.
Crappy photo I took due to lack of tripod and light:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityeyes/2391651908/ - robk30, on 07/02/2008, -1/+11so much time and effort was put into building these theaters....sad.
- rjc5056, on 07/03/2008, -0/+9Dugg for title alliteration...
- RMDTech, on 07/02/2008, -0/+7They really need to put the Uptown Theater in Chicago in there. It's one of the largest theaters and very grand but currently abandoned. Unfortunately due to one of the previous owners too it's had a lot of damage done to it because of a water main break.
- coheedcollapse, on 07/02/2008, -0/+5Oh man I would kill to get in there. That place is insanely beautiful on the inside. My friend lives a few blocks away from it and it's always been one of those places that you know you want to get inside and photograph.
Sucks that they don't even allow people other than the owners into it anymore. There's almost literally no chance of me getting in at this point. - chunkydunker, on 07/03/2008, -0/+3How about the Michigan Theater in Detroit...
http://www.detroityes.com/downtown/38michtheat_pan ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Theater_(Det ... - greendigit, on 07/02/2008, -0/+2RMD.. YES! I live three blocks from there and it just seems to decay by the day.. =( Hopefully the mortgage holders will stop fighting and fix the place up...
- ObamaWins08, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2My wife and I visit the Tibbs drive-in in Indianapolis a couple of times a month. It's a ton of fun, and at 9 bucks for watching up to three first run movies, you can't beat it.
We just pull out the camping chairs and get ready for a night under the stars. - Moetownslick, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2there are additional theatres that need saving / restoration in san francisco: the royal, alhambra, coronet, alexandria, and regency (both of them) to name a few.
- quail20, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2Abandoned theatres are bad, but one of the saddest crimes is all of the 'remodeling' that took place in the one screen theatres. White paint sprayed thickly over multi-colored reliefs and paintings. Wood paneling nailed over everything in the lobby. Ornate ticket booths removed from the outside of the cinema. Theatres chopped into two or more seating areas to accommodate the showing of other pictures. Sculpture pulled down because it looked outdated. Etc. Such a shame.
- RoccoMcTaco, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1!
I'm a neighborhood away...might just see what it takes to get in there to take some pics... - Betogonza, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1Yea we have one in our town that keeps changing owners and just keeps shutting down.
- inactive, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1I meant from the general public
- elizabethb221, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1I work in an old one screen theater that is now offices for my public library. It's pretty amazing. The head offices are upstairs in the projection room, and everyone else is below (the seating has been removed). Also, the screen is still up and we constantly joke about how they should screen movies during parties/breaks.
- antdude, on 07/03/2008, -1/+2http://digg.com/movies/Cool_Stuff_The_Coolest_Movi ... shares http://www.mekong.net/random/theatres.htm (http://www.mekong.net/random/photoi1.htm without descriptions).
- Smuikas, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1There's an old palace-style theater in Jersey City, (who guessed it) NJ - the Landmark Loews. It's . A non-profit saved it from being demolished, and are in the process of restoring it. Unfortunately, restoring it will cost millions of dollars. The theater seats something like 3,500 on the floor and two balconies. The original theater organ is fully restored and is on an elevator platform. NYC googlers got a chance to go see a double feature of Blade Runner and Brazil there a few months ago.
There are tons of photos and videos on their site - http://loewsjersey.org. They are staffed entirely by volunteers, and all proceeds from ticket sales go to restoration. They use original carbon-plasma projectors, so they don't need to splice historic footage together, and do several showings a month. Doesn't look like they have anything schedule this month, yet. If you're in the area, keep a look out for showtimes - it's pretty spectacular. - kevro, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1Drive-ins are great. There's still a few around my part of Ontario.
- acidbathfan, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1The State Palace Theatre in New Orleans would be a good addition to that list; it's even for sale right now and used to be home to alot of great rock concerts, hips hop shows, and raves.
- Gregero, on 07/02/2008, -1/+2Salt Lake City Utah has a sweet old theater that now is an oriental rug store called the Villa. I saw the original Star Wars there when I was a kid.
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/509/ - pentalive, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1Please tell McDonalds that I will NEVER buy their "Sweet tea" because of the noisy banner add.
- yacks, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1where is this Chiacgo, Illinois? sounds like a nice place to visit.
- t3hmyth, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1It's a sad reflection on how people see certain art forms in those areas...
- RMDTech, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1That is one awesome set of photos. Thanks for finding that link. Will make sure my friends see it because we are really hoping that it will look like that again someday soon.
- centran, on 07/03/2008, -1/+2I was expecting to see the Uptown Theater on there. A smart investor should buy it. Uptown is changing back into what it used to be in the good old days. It might take 10-20 years but it will get there.
Here are some pictures of the theater.
http://www.undercity.org/photos/Chicago_Uptown/ind ... - marinLETOILE, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1A HUGE tree blocking the Vogue Theater's marquee might have been a better design.
- inactive, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1um..that second one is just a giant fake facade on a crappy building the same as its neighbors?
- jepizacar, on 08/02/2008, -0/+1nice resource....
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http://jeniya.info - poet, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1"The Majestic Theater was apparently one of the sets used in a new Steven Seagal movie called ‘The Marker’ set to release in late 2008."
Who the hell cares about Steven Seagal? - djm19, on 07/03/2008, -1/+1Downtown Los Angeles has 12 grand movie palaces / vaudeville theaters on it's Broadway, in various states of use. Its the most of this sort of theater in the nation still standing in a single area.
million dollar theater: (under renovation)
http://www.nextnature.net/powershow2008/images/mil ...
los angeles theater:(renovated)
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Los_Ang ...
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Los_Ang ...
orpheum theater: (renovated)
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Orpheum ...
palace theater: (under renovation)
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Palace_ ...
state theater: (no renovation, used for filming)
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/State_T ...
tower theater: also only used for filming
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Tower_T ...
roxy theater: just retail
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Roxie_T ...
united artist: church
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Broadwa ...
mayan theater: concerts
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Mayan_a ...
belasco: being restored
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Belasco ...
warner brothers: retail (though seats and drapery intact)
http://www.inetours.com/Los_Angeles/Images/Downtow ...
Theres also the broadway theater, lincoln theater and cameo theater still existing.
THEATERS TORN DOWN:
Metropolitan/Paramount: replaced by parking lot
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Paramou ...
RKO theater: parking lot
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/RKO_Hil ...
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/RKO_Hil ...
California theater: parking lot
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/Califor ... - openbah, on 07/03/2008, -1/+1Boston had the Paramount theater which sat empty for around 25 years before Millennium Partners cleaned up the exterior in 2002. Emerson College then decided to renovate the entire building and spent 77-million turning it into a performing arts facility/theater.
Before:
http://flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/98456393/
After:
http://flickr.com/photos/sushiesque/70138766/ - joshpass, on 09/14/2009, -0/+0that "abandoned" drive in is not abandoned. that's right near where I live. It's valley drive-in and it is usually packed full of people during the summer.
- PhilThePhenom, on 07/03/2008, -1/+1The Vogue Theater was in operation as recently as 8 years ago.. Why these theaters aren't restored is a crime. Thankfully there are conservation efforts like the LA Conservancy that are restoring many of these old theaters, such as The Orpheum and the LA Theater.
- Mardala, on 07/03/2008, -1/+1Hmmm ... there are like a dozen really amazing old theaters in downtown Los Angeles and they pick the Vogue? Also I don't think the Vogue is abandonded.
- xister, on 07/03/2008, -1/+1There's a great one in Oakland CA thats rotting away also. It's called the Fox theater and it's as good an example of Art Deco as the Paramount Theater that's just a few blocks away. The Paramount it touted as the best example of Art Deco on the west coast, second only to places like Radio City Music Hall. Hopefully they'll be able to restore it.
http://www.oaklandfox.com/photos.html
They just saved one in Alameda CA also:
http://www.ci.alameda.ca.us/theater/gallery.html - mach1rcode, on 07/03/2008, -0/+0Good point loonsailor it is about economics. These old theaters are beautiful but they can't accomadate the crowds necessary to allow these theaters to make money. That's why in detroit we have loads of old theaters that are all being used for different things. Most of them are used for concerts which makes for an amazing venue. Most of the others show small indie films. wikipedia has an entry just on detroit's theater district. Now if only we could fix the rest of the problems the city has.
- loonsailor, on 07/03/2008, -0/+0It's about economics. In these days of multiplexes, cable, video-on-demand, home theaters, netflix, etc. it's nearly impossible to make a neighborhood theater pay for itself. Here in Berkeley, when the beautiful old Elmwood theater burned and the owner decided not to reopen, the neighborhood merchants started a campaign to get it repaired and operating again, not because they thought the theater would necessarily make money, but because they needed it to attract foot traffic for local stores and restaurants. They succeeded, and it's now a great old theater showing excellent indy and second-run movies. That's what it takes to get these gems back into operation - not just an interested owner, but an organized neighborhood effort. It's worth it, but not easy.
- abbasatpsu, on 07/03/2008, -1/+1I could have sworn this article was from boingboing, a compendium of the most useless information, before I saw the source as a different website.
- 8bit_Hero, on 07/03/2008, -2/+2The Fox Fullerton Theater (Fullerton, CA)
http://www.foxfullerton.org/ - fejai, on 07/03/2008, -0/+0I thought for sure I was going to see the United Artist building in Detroit. I was disappointed.
http://taitk.com/other/DSC_0e00823.jpg - BigJigger, on 07/03/2008, -0/+0State Theater in Marysville CA. Built in 1926
http://www.flickr.com/photos/khooby/418459496/size ...
In better times:
http://ulibimage.ucdavis.edu/speccoll/east01/full/ ... - BossKey, on 07/03/2008, -1/+1It wouldn't exactly be accurate to say "complete lack of respect" since, as the article says, several of the listed theaters are currently being restored to their former glory.
- PizzaCat, on 07/03/2008, -1/+0why is that website so narrow!, its like reading a book on a bus ticket
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