Plaza Theater

103-14 Roosevelt Avenue
R. Thomas Short
1927

One of two historic theater buildings remaining in the neighborhood (the other being the Corona Theater at 37-80 Junction Boulevard), the Plaza originally opened in 1927 as the Loew’s Plaza Theater and was prominently located on Corona Plaza (now renovated as a pedestrian mall), then the terminus of the Flushing IRT Line. With 2,151 seats, it was indisputably a movie palace. Under the strict Hollywood Studio System, however, it was relegated to third-run status following the opening of the Valencia in Jamaica (1928-29) and the Triboro in Astoria (1931). After a federal antitrust case broke up the system, Loew’s sold the theater in 1952 to Century Theaters. It was later divided into two theaters and operated as the independent Teatro Plaza until 2005. Just south of the theater is Linden Park, also known as Park of the Americas, which once contained Linden Lake, a glacial kettle pond. Before it was drained in 1947, residents enjoyed swimming and lake side concerts in the summer and ice-skating in the winter.

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