Topics

1. CM says:

   October 11, 2012 at 8:37 am

   Just another example of public architecture that uplifed and enobled the soul of the “common man” in stark contrast with today’s non-architecture that crushes the soul and reminds us that we are more ordinary than we care to admit.

2. yugo42 says:

   October 11, 2012 at 12:26 pm

   There are some good aerial shots of the place on the city’s Midtown historical photo collection. Here it is front and center!

   http://cityofrochester.smugmug.com/Projects/Midtown/Midtown-Historical-Photos/13711818_hD4fF2#!i=1002296897&k=pZ7jGtr

3. RochesterSubway.com says:

   October 11, 2012 at 12:44 pm

   @yugo42, that is a really great aerial shot. You can see how the lobby was situated in relation to the auditorium and it looks like storefronts wrapped all the way around the Clinton & Court St sides. Such a great use of urban space!

   And then note all the parking lots closing in on it from all sides. In the background you can even see the land that was cleared for the construction of the Inner Loop. It was all downhill from that point on. Thanks for sharing!

4. yugo42 says:

   October 12, 2012 at 12:16 pm

   Oh yeah, I hadn’t noticed the Inner Loop wasteland back there! The other interesting thing you can see (relating to one of your earlier posts) on the left side is the Seneca Hotel and it’s tall tower addition mixed among the buildings that were incorporated into Midtown.

5. RochesterSubway.com says:

   October 12, 2012 at 2:54 pm

   Yes! That’s the one. And there’s the big old (demolished) YMCA building in the upper right corner.

6. joe says:

   October 13, 2012 at 8:27 pm

   Wow what a shame. Cities in Germany survived carpet bombing better than Rochester went through urban renewal. Scary to think what could have happened had other plans been put in place. And people wonder why there is a very vocal group when buildings are put in the sights on the wrecking ball, we can’t afford to lose anymore. We’ve already destroyed so much

7. RochesterSubway.com says:

   October 13, 2012 at 8:31 pm

   @Joe, I couldn’t have said that better myself. Amen.

8. sally says:

   October 17, 2012 at 8:21 pm

   Mike – great pics! I think the gods may have heard you because we do still have at least one stunning old movie house – Eastman Theatre. It was originally built as a movie palace. The renovation done a couple years ago really shows off the gorgeous detail that went into that place. I always sit in the balcony so i can stare at that crazy beautiful chandelier!

9. RochesterSubway.com says:

   October 17, 2012 at 8:39 pm

   BUT I WANT THESE ONES TOO! WAAAAH!

   Seriously though, you’re right Sally. Eastman Theater is a gem. And while we’re counting our blessings, Dryden Theater is probably my favorite place to take in a movie – anywhere. If you haven’t been I’d recommend checking out “Silent Tuesdays” this fall.

10. Dayna says:

    October 20, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    As a 20-something in Rochester, I still love hearing my grandmas stories about “going to the show” and appreciate sites like this that keep the history alive. Wish we still had theatres like this today! Does anyone know anything about the free gifts/collectible a that were given to movie-goers at that time? I have a collection of dishes from my grandma that she and her mother collected from each visit to a theatre in Rochester (not sure which one).. I’m trying to find out more about them. Any info is appreciated!

11. Bob Williams says:

    October 20, 2012 at 4:18 pm

    Monsieur Subway,

    To the left of that YMCA about a block is a small steeple (now Halo lofts). Directly behind that was ol’ Mrs. Begy’s prohibition saloon as it appears the Chestnut extension hadn’t annihilated Stillson Street yet.

12. Russ Shaner says:

    October 20, 2012 at 9:05 pm

    To answer “Dayna”, ‘back in the day’ it was common for the theaters to have a ‘dish night’ at least once a week where dishes and other things would be given away during the ‘show’. Her dishes could have come from any one of the major theaters. The Palace, Loew’s, etc were more than a place to view a movie. Talent shows were held at the Palace and were broadcast on local radio. For several years, Tom Grierson, the house organist at the Palace played the mighty Wurlitzer live on the radio every week. Stage acts were part of the theater-going experience from 1928 when the RKO Palace opened, pretty much up until WW2 began.
    Incidentally, contrary to what many believe, the organ at the RKO was never used to accompany silent films. The Palace opened with talking movies and never showed silent features. The organ was used to accompany stage acts, to ‘play’ audiences in and out, play during intermissions and for ‘spotlight solos’. The movie palaces were the major entertainment venues for the general public before TV upset the applecart.

13. Brian Kelly says:

    November 3, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    For a time, my father, a very young announcer at WHAM, did the voiceovers for the *silent* newsreels at Loew’s.

    I have read elsewhere that Loew’s Rochester was not considered one of the architectural *gems* of the Loew’s theatrical empire. My recollection is that Loew’s had a rather *cold* feel to it, unlike the warmth of the Palace (which,I believe,
    had a lot more gingerbread).

    Anybody remember the Paramount or Regent? And let’s not forget those two dungeons, the RKO Temple and the Strand.

14. Russ Shaner says:

    November 3, 2012 at 2:47 pm

    Brian,
    I lived here in late 60 thru the Spring of 61 as an RIT student. I attended only one movie at Loew’s (Liz Taylor in ‘Butterfield 8’) and recall my impression that while large, it was not as ‘inviting’ at the Palace. Others I have talked to seem to share that feeling. When I returned to Rochester in 1964 Xerox Square was under construction on the site. Having visited many Loew’s houses over the years I can attest that the Rochester was definitely not in the ‘deluxe’ category. It was built by the Lafayette Theatre Corp of Buffalo and A.A. Fenevessey and opened as the “Rochester” pn Nov. 5th, 1927. It became part of the “Loew’s” chain in 1934.
    I visited the Paramount only a couple of times and recall that it was strangely laid out. When enteringthrough the main Clinton Ave lobby one entered at the side of the auditorium with the seats facing to the left. It opened in 1915 as the Picadilly and had 2,250 seats. Around 1934 it was renamed the Century and became the Paramount on March 4, 1948.
    I led a crew that removed the Wurlitzer organ from the Regent Theater in 1973. That was an earlier house of 1800 seats, opening on Nov. 10th,1914. The interior was finished in rich Mahogany with side walls, proscenium , boxes and ceiling in old rose, old ivory and gold. At the end, I believe it had the interior painted in a very drab monotone with all of the original decorative detail being covered, although there was an interesting mural in the ceiling proscenium above the stage. A couple of interesting facts – it originally was wired for DC electricity. The original DC motors for the two organ blowers were still there when the building came down. It was originally coal heated. It had the filthiest organ chambers I have ever seen.

15. RochesterSubway.com says:

    November 3, 2012 at 4:17 pm

    @Russ, thanks for all the great information about these theaters. I can’t wait to hear that RKO Wurlitzer organ played on November 18 at the Auditorium!

    You mentioned a couple theaters in your comment above, so for those of us who weren’t fortunate enough to see them in the flesh, here is the Regent Theater (now a parking lot at East & Chestnut)…
    

    And the Picadilly/Century/Paramount (where Mortimer St. Parking Garage is today)…
    

    Now check this out, I also found this photo of Loews Star Theater (73 N. Clinton) which I believe would have been on very same site as the RKO Palace!
    
    You can see the painted billboard on the side of the Michaels Stern building in the background. This theater was occupied by Gordon’s Photo Play House until 1920. It housed Loew’s Star Theatre from 1920-1926, and was vacant by 1927-28.

16. ds felice says:

    November 9, 2012 at 9:02 pm

    It would be interesting to see an area street map of downtown Rochester with all the locations of the theaters depicted, and perhaps train stations as well.

17. Russ Shaner says:

    November 19, 2012 at 5:29 pm

    I am familiar with the above photo of the Loew’s Star. According to my sources, it opened in 1909 as “Gordon’s Photoplay House”, was renamed “Gordon’s Theatre” in 1917 and became “Loew’s Star” in 1920. I don’t know what the seating capacity was. The Albert Stone photo was taken in 1922. The building was razed in 1926. It housed a four-manual Moller organ (Opus 1493, ca. 1910) which was moved to the Monroe Avenue Methodist Church and was destroyed when the church burned down in the 1960s. As you can tell by the picture, it abutted the Michaels Stern building, ran along Clinton where the present 7 story building is today and the south end (where the angled entrance was) was approximately where the Clinton Avenue entrance lobby of the RKO Palace was located. If you drive by the site today you will see the excavated basement of yet another building that ran south along clinton to the corner of Mortimer. Does anyone know what building that was and when it existed??

18. RochesterSubway.com says:

    November 19, 2012 at 10:04 pm

    Russ,
    First, my family and I had a fantastic time at the R.T.O.S concert yesterday. That old RKO Palace Wurlitzer Organ has one hell of a set of pipes! What a great privilege it was to be able to share that experience with my kids. Thank you!

    Now, here’s a look at the evolution of the corner of Clinton and Mortimer. You were right… it was a Masonic Temple!

    
    1888 – Empty

    
    1900 – Empty

    
    1910 – F.&A.M. Auditorium and Temple

    
    1918 – Masonic Temple

    

    The temple was built in 1901-1902. In the photo above you can see the RKO Palace entrance sneaking into the right edge of the shot.

    In 1932 the building was razed for a parking lot…

    
    1935 – Parking Lot

19. Rich Rolwing says:

    February 15, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    Love those aerial photos of the Midtown area. No.
    1 still shows Monroe Avenue running all the way to Washington Square Park at the lower right. Apropos of this once existent reality of the cityscape I wonder what people thought when they were watching such vast swaths of familiar urban streetscapes extinguished and changed forever.

20. Ruth Nederlk says:

    November 19, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    Another beautiful Theater we all enjoyed in our day. Outstanding like the Palace Theater. We didn’t have television back in those days so we didn’t miss that. But we had the joy of going downtown for a outing and seeing a great movie and after that went to one of our great restaurant to eat.

21. Susan Schukart says:

    March 15, 2015 at 7:48 pm

    My mother has the old loews theatre chairs. they were called the ugliest chairs but I thought they were beautiful. There is one showing in the picture in the main lobby. They are quite big. But fit in there home in Pittsford. We have the newspaper on these chairs. Very interesting especially for history.

22. Gilberto Hottinger   says:

    May 6, 2017 at 1:48 am

    thanks a lot

23. Richard F Rolwing says:

    June 16, 2017 at 12:25 am

    In the second photo from the top of the Loew’s palace (with the ESSO sign prominently visible in the center of the shot) at the very edge of the right side of the photo you can see the kinda funnel-shaped roof of Claude Bragdon’s First Universalist Church…why point that out? Because I can!

24. Jamie H says:

    December 11, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    My dad worked at the parking lot next to the theater in the ’40s when my parents were first married. The theater manager would give my dad passes to the theater so he could take my mom.That was a special treat for them and my mom always had fond memories of those times.

25. Bart Breakstone says:

    January 24, 2023 at 8:36 pm

    My Grandfather, Lester Pollock, managed the Loews theater in Rochester for most of his life. His daughter, my mother, is still alive and she remembers Frank Sinatra playing there and coming to her house in Rochester for dinner.

26. RochesterSubway.com says:

    January 25, 2023 at 8:41 am

    Wow, Bart, that is incredible. Frank “ole blue eyes” Sinatra had dinner at your grandma’s house?! That’s a story all by itself. That house could be a stop on a Rochester landmarks tour… is it still standing? Are there any photos from that night? What was served for dinner? And what was the conversation like? So many questions 🙂

    I’m glad you found this article!

27. Karen Dau says:

    April 14, 2024 at 9:05 pm

    Such a fabulous article this is, plus the wonderful comments! This is “how history comes alive”! I have to look at this again tomorrow when my vision isn’t so blurry…

Post a Comment...