Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former Normandy Theater, now Pleasant Grove Baptist Church
Address: 1927 Fulton Street, corner Howard Avenue
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Year Built: 1919
Architectural Style: Early 20th century commercial
Architect: Montrose Morris Sons
Landmarked: No

The story: This building may not be great architecture, but it comes with a great story, illustrating the many changes Brooklyn has been through over the last century. It also shows that perhaps great architects do not always pass their creative genes on to the next generation.

Montrose Morris, the great turn of the 20th century architect had two sons, Leroy and Raymond, who followed him into the architecture business. They set up an office at 533 Nostrand, as Montrose Morris Sons, and after Dad’s death in 1916, and began to get business. They made a living, but never reached the heights their father reached. Perhaps they just never got the opportunities, perhaps the best of Brooklyn had already been built, and perhaps they just weren’t all that good. Most of their work documented in the Builder’s Guide consists of garages and carriage houses, alterations to existing buildings, and a couple of other independent commercial projects. This theater is one of them.

It was built for Herman Weingarten for $125,000. The two story building has a mezzanine, and originally seated 2,100 people. It was originally known as the Normandy Theater, and remained as such until 1933, when it was re-named the Howard Theater. It was listed in local directories as catering to “Negro audiences”. One can conclude that as early as the 1930’s, this part of Bedford Stuyvesant had a significant enough black population to support a dedicated movie theater. One could also be cynical enough to also infer that other local theaters, and there were quite a few in the area, were not as welcoming of African-American patrons.

Anyway, in 1949, the theater was sold to the Melrah Holding Corporation for cash. Oddly enough, “Melrah” spells “Harlem” backwards, and the new owner of record, Harry Brock, has the same name as a crooked character in the Broadway play, “Born Yesterday”, which premiered that same year. Hmmmm. The theater re-opened in 1951 as the Carver Theater. It ran three movies from its one screen, showing Westerns and other popular movies. However, by 1958, the building was an evangelical church, the Mount Hope United Church of America, Inc. The Pleasant Grove Baptist Church bought the building in 1970, and is still there.

The front façade has long been painted white, but the building is was originally natural brick with terra-cotta trim. The aerial photo below shows the size of the theater, where the height of the mezzanine can be seen, which is not really visible from the front. The period photo from 1942 also shows the building when the decorative patterned brick, as well as the terra-cotta trim can be better seen. The marquee really helped to balance the building.

Photo: NY Public Library 1942
Photo: Bing Maps

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