Building of the Day: 720 Washington Avenue

1980s tax photo: Municipal Archives

by
4

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former National Theatre, now supermarket
Address: 720 Washington Avenue
Cross Streets: Prospect and Park Places
Neighborhood: Prospect Heights
Year Built: 1921
Architectural Style: Unable to determine
Architect: Charles Sandblom
Other Buildings by Architect: Over 42 theaters mostly in Brooklyn, but also in Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan
Landmarked: No

The story:
Brooklyn is littered with former theaters. Any neighborhood worth its salt had at least three of four theaters in its history, and larger neighborhoods had many more. Everyone went to the local theater; there was something affordable to almost everyone, and something for almost everyone’s taste. When movies replaced live theater and vaudeville, many of the smaller theaters closed and were converted to other use, but there was still at least one decent sized movie theater around. Where else could parents safely get rid of their kids for a couple of hours?

When neighborhoods could no longer support a movie theater, for whatever reason, it seems that they generally become one of two sorts of places – a church or a supermarket. Many of the former theaters I feature here are generally churches, but here’s one that became a supermarket. Most people using it, or walking by have no idea what the building’s original use was.

This was the National Theatre, a 1,262 seat theater, built in 1921. When it was built, it was equipped with fine Wurlitzer organ. The architect was Charles Sandblom, a prolific theater architect working primarily in the 1920s through the 1940s. He was responsible for at least 42 theaters in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan. Some of his buildings are rather plain, while others are in a modest and modernist Art Deco style.

He started his career working for Thomas Lamb, perhaps the greatest of New York’s theater architects, and left to start his own firm in 1921. This theater was listed under Lamb, since it was conceived in his offices, just before Sandblom left, but it was Sandblom’s work. He was soon quite busy designing movie houses on his own, most of them in Brooklyn. Sandblom lived in and worked out of Manhattan.

Unfortunately, we have no idea what it originally looked like; there are no photographs of the old theater. The only original detail left is the bricked-in arch above the entrance, and the peaked roofline. There is also a second floor, which was probably the balcony of the theater. It was probably not very fancy, but showed popular films to the residents of Prospect Heights until 1957.

In 1959, the first floor was gutted to turn the building into a supermarket, which it has been ever since. Subsequent owners have covered, changed and obliterated the façade over the last 50 plus years. At that time, the second floor was taken up by a bowling alley and offices. Today, the second floor is home to a day care center.

(Photo:Ken Roe for Cinema Treasures)

GMAP

1980s tax photo: Municipal Archives

1980s tax photo: Municipal Archives

Photo: Google Maps

Photo: Google Maps

What's Happening