Cinema Additions: August 2023

 Additions to my cinema collection: 

Midway Drive-In Theatre (Minetto, New York)

Opened on 18 July 1948, with the feature It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947). The screen was destroyed in 2014 by a storm, rebuilt and once again showing films.

Address: 2475 State Route 48, Minetto, NY 13115

 

An old Love Bug sits in the field beside the viewing area

Smith Opera House (Geneva, New York)

Built in 1894 as an opera house and vaudeville theater. Became a full-fledged movie house on 17 March 1931, when renamed the Geneva Theater with Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (193x) with Buster Keaton.  Part of the Schine Circuit of the cinemas. Listed as the Geneva Theatre in 1955 CD.

Address: 82 Seneca Street, Geneva, NY 14456

Smith Opera House (August 2023)

 

Regent Theatre (Geneva, NY)

Opened 25 October 1915, the Regent Theatre is now a tasting room for the Twisted Rail Brewing Company. Toward the end of its run as a cinema, it was briefly known as the Jones Theater. Architect: Leon Lempert, Jr.

Also listed in the 1955 city directory was the Temple Theatre, which was located at 415 Exchange Street in Geneva. It has been demolished and, in 2023, was a parking lot.

Address: 499 Exchange Street (Geneva, NY)

Regent Theatre, in 2023 as the Twisted Rail Brewing Company

 

Avon Theatre (Canastota, New York)

Opened as the Sherwood Theater circa 1914. In 1931 Ralph Balducci took over ownership. By 1941 the theater changed its name to the Avon. It closed in 1981.

Feature at the Canastota Erie Canal Museum. Was the site for the world premier of Chad Hanna (1940), starring Henry Ford and Dorothy Lamour, on Christmas Day. It was based novel by Walter D. Edmonds about a boy from Canastota who runs away to join the circus.

The Avon Theater was on the same site as the Bruce Opera House, which was destroyed in a fire in 1911.

Address: 121 South Peterboro Street, Canastota, NY

 

Sampson Theatre (Penn Yan, NY)

Opened on 12 October 1910. Closed circa 1929. Currently undergoing renovations for a reopening for local theater productions.

Address: 130 East Elm Street, Penn Yan, NY

 

Sampson Theatre in 2023

Historical marker