Previously operated by: E. Loew's Theaters Inc. Originally opened in , the Strand Theatre was operated by E. This theatre has been shuttered since , but seems intact from the outside. In September , work began on a renovation project to convert the building into a community center.
This theatre was previously known as the Strand before it opened as E. The facade of the building had some fancy detail which is missing in the color photo posted above. From the s? Vaudeville, silent movies, Hollywood blockbusters, foreign films, strip shows, and finally X-rated movies.
Cordelia Vien built the theater just north of Coggeshall Street in , and named it after herself β The Vien Theater. The Viens sold the theater to the Marcus Loew chain in Loew renamed it the Strand, and for three decades or so the cinematic great ones lit up the screen: Bogart and Bacall, Tracy and Gable β you get the picture. In the theater was treated to a major renovation and given a new name, the Center. In the s the Center tried a different format for a while, foreign films, kicking off the new approach with Gina Lollobrigida in Bread, Love and Dreams in During that period, class and culture were all the rage, with the New Bedford Art Group diusplaying paintings and sculpture in the lobby.
By the mid s, the Center took a different turn. One fellow reports he once visited the Center to see a well-endowed lady take a bubble bath in the middle of the stage. He says he stood in line to get her autograph. By the s, the Center was strictly X-rated. In , the theater was the victim of a major fire and has remained boarded up since then, a sad symbol of the decay that has blighted this stretch of the Avenue in recent years. The roof failed years ago and the current owners have done nothing to contain the damage.
We could see sunlight, streaming in through the rotted rafters. The repeated rainfall has caused all the plaster to peel away from the walls.
