The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 50

24 F- BROOKLYN EAGLE, FRIDAY, MAY 31, 1940 R-K-O Theaters Back Removal of Fulton 'L' Chain First Became Popular in Heyday Of Elevated Line Anxious to Aid Progress Editor's Note The following article was prepared especially for the Fulton St. Progress Section by the R-K-O Theater Corporation, of which, John J. O'Connor is vice president and general manager. The Fulton St. Elevated Line was still in its heyday 23 years ago, when R-K-O theaters first drew crowds in Brooklyn.

Anxious to keep apace of the times, the R-K-O organization earnestly indorses the worthwhile removal of the antiquated r. 4, 2 elevated structure In the hope that as? WJP i4hv jai FULTON ST. IN 1746 is the subject of this old etching, from a vantage point just above what was to become Fulton Ferry. The Dutch architecture of early Bruekelen, as it was Called, is apparent in the roof of the tall house in the right foreground. Loew's Metropolitan Hails Removal of fLf Simon, Manager of Downtown Theater, Sees Demolition Great Boon to Boro Editor's Note The following statement was written especially for the Fulton St.

Progress Section by Ben Simon, manager of Loew't Metropolitan Theater. Demolition of the noisy Fulton St. elevated will give our theater a new prominence which has been impossible as long as this eyesore has stood. Loew's Metropolitan Theater was the first de luxe cinema John J. O'Connor -st Century Circuit Theaters Behind Demolition of 1' Editors Note The following statement was prepared especially for the Fulton St.

Progress Section by the Century Circuit Theaters, of which Albert A TfnnJJ fe ti rt- dent and general manager. The Century Circuit Thea ters are thorouehlv in accord with the prompt demolition of hte ancient Fulton St. Ele-jvated Line as a project vital to Brooklyn. Founded by the late A. H.

Schwartz, the circuit operates 17 theaters in the borough. Throughout the years Mr. Schwartz and his successors have stood for progress, and have made every effort to assist in civic betterment. Believing that Brooklyn commercial enterprises should employ local residents, the Century Circuit has endeavored to recruit its employes from the borough. Because of the organization's policy of promoting from the ranks, its executives of the future will come from among the young men of the service staffs.

9 it will be of great benefit to Brooklyn. It was on Jan. 19, 1925, that R-K-O Theaters made their biggest contribution to the development of fast-growing Brooklyn. Memorial to Officers That was when they formally opened the Albee Theater, the brightest link in the Keith-Albee circuit of theaters, which was at the time the most beautiful and costly in the whole Faipire State. It was built as a perpetual memorial to the late B.

F. Keith, as well as a monument to E. F. Albee, who was recognized as the builder of the world's finest theaters. The choice of Brooklyn as the place for the completion of the "perfect theater" was the result of no hasty decision.

The late Mr. Albee, the souvenir program which marked the opening, wrote in part: "There are many reasons, sentimental as well as practical, why I picked out Brooklyn in which to build one of the finest theaters in the world. It is over a decade since the late B. F. Keith, my lifelong friend and associate taking over the Percy Williams Circuit, made his first appearance in Brooklyn, with an idea of adding that even then flourishing city to the circuit.

Impressed by Borough Spirit "The intense energy, the evident progressiveness and the friendly attitude of the businessmen and public of Brooklyn immediately impressed us both. I want the people of Brooklyn to look upon the new Albee Theater as a civic institution, a forum for the advancement of all worthy community ambitions in education, the arts and patriotism, an enduring ornament to the city and a worthy addition to its long and brilliant list of great modern enterprises." Going back to the advent of R-K-O Theaters in Brooklyn, it was on June 17, 1912, that B. F. Keith New York Theaters Company took over some of the theaters of the Percy Williams Circuit. These included the Orpheum, Fulton St.

and Rockwell Place; the Bushwick, 1396 Broadway, and the OC0C 9SZ USNWKK MOSMCT ufMrtxn DYKEft TILVOU ORPNEUM MM 1 HOUDAV 7 Greenpoint, 825 Manhattan Ave, which formed tt 2 nucleus of what was later to be part of the R-K-O chain of theaters. In 1915, three years later, the Prospect, 9th St. and 5th was added to this group, having been built in 1913. Ten years later the Albee Theater had its gala opening. At the same time the Tilyou, W.

17th St. and Surf was acquired. Under the present management. R-K-O plans to continue to merit the high esteem earned during tho past 28 years of catering to the borough's amusement seekers. We Soluta a Greater Brooklyn and Greater Entertainment Season for Century Circuit Theatens RIM NlttNWAT th T.

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I I RKO' Theatres Salute BrooklYn's March of Progress and are Proud to Provide Entertainment for the Fastest Growing Coram unity in the U. S. house built in downtown Brooklyn, real movie palace which cost over $1,000,000, occupying a full city block. And as far as comfort Is concerned Loew's has spared no expense. We anticipated the tearing down of the by spending $30,000 a year and a half ago, in the installation of a new "Breuckelen" Lounge (that's the old Dutch spelling of Brooklyn) and a new Promenade Mezzanine on the loges and balcony level.

I believe demolition of the will give the borough what it has always needed "Fifth Avenue" of its own, with a good deal of Broadway thrown in. We will do our share to make Fulton St. Brooklyn's "Great White Way." ir FLUSHING KENMOftt MADISON MUM Ml KIITM BING 1 mm tehw 1 ram CROSBY IF I HAD AY WAY ORNAMENTAL POLE sketched here is one of three types under consideration by the Downtown Brooklyn Association for erection on Fulton St. to carry trolley and power wires, street signs and traffic lights. RlrtltLIC.