Crossbay Theater gone...

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Crossbay Theater gone...

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Curtains for theater
By WARREN WOODBERRY JR.
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, August 14th, 2005

Will it be a church, a discount store, or will it sit vacant for years to come?
The recently closed Cross Bay Movie Theatre in Ozone Park is up for lease, and will soon join some of the 75 other one-time Queens movie palaces that have been shuttered, gutted and transformed in the past 13 years.

"We are looking to lease it as retail," Jerry Welkis, owner of Welco Realty, said of the property.

Welkis said a client he represents bought the theater after United Artists, its former owner, decided to relocate to a nearby multiplex cinema.

"They had decided it would be too close to operate this unit" so near the new unit, Welkis said.

Much of the theater's architectural majesty remains today, including such classical touches as rooftop stone urns and fluted Ionic pilasters below the cornices and dentils.

To step into the 20,000-square-foot, 2,000-seat hall at 94-11 Rockaway Blvd. is to be transported into a bygone era. The theater began its life as a vaudeville movie house in 1925, when times were good - until the stock market crash of 1929.

Joseph Gutleber, 81, of South Ozone Park, remembers the old theater's heyday; his father was one of its owners.

"They went bankrupt, and he lost his investment," said Gutleber. "My father luckily only had $500 worth of stock in it. Some people had all their money in the Cross Bay Theatre, and they lost it all."

During the Depression, the theater was a haven for those who needed their spirits lifted with a "picture show." Like the nation, the theater pulled out of financial hardship and adjusted with the advancements in the film and theater industries.

The building cost $500,000 to build, and was designed by famous theater architect John Eberson. Eberson is known for the design of other theaters, such as the Mayfair, the Rego Park, the Jamaica Valencia and the Lefferts, to name a few.

The Cross Bay theater was originally owned by the Woodrock Amusement Corp. and then by the Fox Theatre chain in 1928.

The Prudential Circuit was a later owner, which had as its parent group RKO and 20th Century Fox. United Artists was the final owner.

Queens' grand theater palaces have all but vanished. The Jamaica Valencia is a church, the RKO Keith's in Flushing was abandoned and is now awaiting development, and the Astoria Triboro has been converted into a collection of stores.

The oldest Queens movie house still showing films is the Jackson in Jackson Heights. It began screening movies in 1924.

Since 1992, the Central Queens Historical Association has logged the status of the 75 movie houses in Queens. Of the lot, just three are actual movie theaters.

Jeff Gottlieb, president of the association, believes a Queens film theater preservation society is needed to save the landmarks.

"It's a sad fact of the times that you have some of these gorgeous-looking theaters and they're not returning the profits like they should," Gottlieb said. "People would rather stay home and watch their Blockbuster DVDs."

Lucille Fostel, president of the Ozone Park Residents Block Association, said locals wished that the structure could have remained a theater.

"We don't know what else could be going there," said Fostel. "It would be a bad place to park if they're considering a shopping store or anything like that."

Posted 8/25/05 8:38 PM