Valencia Theatre

The Valencia Theatre is a historic former movie palace at 165-11 Jamaica Avenue in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York City. It opened in January 1929 under the Loew's name as the first completed member of the Loew's Wonder Theatres, a group of five large neighborhood cinemas built in the New York metropolitan area during the late 1920s. Although it is commonly remembered as the Loew's Valencia Theatre, the building is now known simply as the Valencia Theatre and no longer operates as a cinema. Since 1977, it has been occupied by the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People and functions as a church. The theater was designed by John Eberson, with assistance from his son Drew Eberson, in an atmospheric movie-palace style. Its exterior combines yellow brick, ornate terracotta, metalwork, finials, and Spanish and Mexican Baroque motifs. The building occupies an L-shaped site, with a relatively narrow lobby block facing Jamaica Avenue and a much larger auditorium and stage house extending toward 89th Avenue. Its Merrick Boulevard elevations include service areas, emergency exits, brick ornament, and a visible water tower. The elaborate facade was intended to make a neighborhood cinema feel like an exotic destination rather than a utilitarian screening room. Inside, the Valencia was decorated in Spanish Colonial and pre-Columbian-inspired styles. The lobby and foyer included multicolored tile, Spanish-style arches and columns, a fountain, a goldfish pond, pottery displays, and a tall ceiling. The auditorium seated approximately 3,500 people on orchestra and balcony levels and was designed to resemble an open-air Spanish garden. Its walls incorporated towers, parapets, balconies, railings, statues, and Churrigueresque ornament, while the blue ceiling represented the sky and included painted stars. A cloud machine once produced drifting mist effects. Like the other Wonder Theatres, the venue also had a Wonder Morton pipe organ manufactured by the Robert Morton Organ Company; the organ was later removed and relocated to San Diego's Balboa Theatre. The Valencia originally presented both motion pictures and live entertainment, including vaudeville. It enjoyed a regional first-run monopoly for some films and drew audiences from Jamaica, other parts of Queens, and Long Island. Loew's also used coordinated stage-show and orchestra programming across its metropolitan theater network. The building adopted new presentation technology, including a Trans-tone widescreen system in 1930, and local management used promotional measures such as bus routes to attract patrons from surrounding neighborhoods. After World War II, changing entertainment habits, rising operating expenses, and declining attendance gradually weakened the theater's commercial position. It closed as a cinema in June 1977. The Tabernacle of Prayer for All People acquired the building for a nominal fee, invested approximately $250,000 in renovations according to the cited reference material, and moved into the former theater in October of that year. The Valencia therefore survives as an unusually intact example of a 1920s atmospheric movie palace, but its present identity is religious and architectural rather than theatrical. It is a designated New York City landmark and remains notable for its scale, unusual Spanish-inspired decoration, and association with the Wonder Theatre program.

The Valencia Theatre emerged from the rapid expansion of movie palaces into New York City's outer neighborhoods during the 1920s. In December 1926, builder Ralph Riccardo acquired a large parcel at Jamaica Avenue and Merrick Road, now Merrick Boulevard. Paramount-Publix became involved in the property and announced plans for a substantial neighborhood theater. The site was subsequently incorporated into a development arrangement involving Allied Owners Inc., an entity associated with several large New York-area theaters. In November 1927, Paramount-Publix reassigned leases for the Valencia and related projects to Loew's, and Loew's assumed control of the site in February 1928 after the plans had been approved. The project was developed as part of Loew's Wonder Theatre program, created while Loew's competed with Paramount-Publix for audiences and strategically important locations. The five theaters were the Valencia in Queens, the Kings in Brooklyn, the Paradise in the Bronx, the 175th Street Theatre in Manhattan, and the Jersey Theatre in Jersey City. John Eberson designed the Valencia as an atmospheric palace, using Spanish and Mexican Baroque references on the exterior and Spanish Colonial and pre-Columbian themes inside. The Thompson-Starrett Company began construction in June 1928. Drew Eberson assisted with the work and reportedly laid out the auditorium's star pattern using a National Geographic image as a reference. The building opened in January 1929, with reference material placing the opening on January 11 or January 12. It was the first of the five Wonder Theatres to be completed. The opening program combined the talking picture White Shadows in the South Seas with vaudeville. Loew's promoted the venue broadly, inviting civic officials and newspaper representatives from across Long Island. Attendance was substantial: the theater reportedly accommodated 17,000 patrons on its opening day and 33,000 during its first week. During its early years, the Valencia functioned as both a cinema and a live-performance venue. It screened first-run films that had previously appeared at Manhattan's Capitol Theatre and participated in Loew's practice of circulating stage productions among its major houses. For a period, a first-run showing at the Valencia carried a regional exclusivity arrangement that prevented the same film from appearing in other Loew's theaters as far east as Bay Shore, Long Island. The theater also hosted orchestral programs and, in the early 1930s, continued to be one of the Loew's New York venues that combined films with vaudeville. A Trans-tone widescreen system was installed in 1930, and management used transportation and scheduling strategies to broaden its audience. Live stage programming was discontinued within roughly five years of the opening, reflecting the broader transformation of cinema exhibition and the declining economics of vaudeville. The Valencia nevertheless remained an important neighborhood cinema for decades. Its auditorium, with about 3,500 seats, was designed as an immersive environment rather than a plain screening hall. Painted sky and stars, artificial clouds, theatrical lighting, a large proscenium, decorative architectural scenery, and a Wonder Morton organ reinforced the illusion of an outdoor Spanish setting. The organ had four manuals and 23 ranks of pipes before being dismantled in the 1960s and moved to the Balboa Theatre in San Diego, where it was later restored. Following World War II, the theater gradually declined as attendance weakened and the cost of maintaining a very large, highly ornamented building increased. It closed in June 1977. The Tabernacle of Prayer for All People then took over the property for a nominal fee, spent about $250,000 on renovations according to the cited account, and began using the building for worship in October 1977. The conversion ended its commercial theater career but preserved the structure and much of its interior. The former Loew's Valencia remains architecturally significant because its Spanish-inspired facade, atmospheric auditorium, and surviving spatial organization illustrate the ambition of late-1920s movie-palace design. It is one of the few atmospheric theaters in New York City designed by John Eberson and is a New York City designated landmark. Its current use as a church means that the building is active, but its cinema brand is historical rather than commercial.

• 1977

  Cinema operation ends and church use begins

  [1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The theater closed in June and was occupied by the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People from October.

• 1960

  Wonder Morton organ removed

  [1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The theater's pipe organ was dismantled and relocated to the Balboa Theatre in San Diego.

• 1930

  Trans-tone widescreen system installed

  [1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Loew's introduced a widescreen presentation system at the theater as exhibition technology evolved.

• 1929

  The Valencia Theatre opens

  [1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The first completed Loew's Wonder Theatre opened with White Shadows in the South Seas and live vaudeville.

• 1928

  Construction begins

  [1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Loew's assumed control of the project and Thompson-Starrett began erecting the theater under John Eberson's design.

• 1927

  The project enters the Wonder Theatre development program

  [1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Paramount-Publix announced plans for the Jamaica theater, and Allied Owners became involved in developing the property.

• 1926

  Ralph Riccardo acquires the Jamaica site

  [1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Builder Ralph Riccardo acquired the parcel at Jamaica Avenue and Merrick Road that would become the Valencia Theatre site.

A large neighborhood movie palace positioned as an exotic, immersive entertainment destination and regional first-run venue during the late 1920s and 1930s.

• Cinema · 1929

  Motion-picture exhibition

  The Valencia's principal commercial offering was large-scale exhibition of first-run films. During its early period, it screened pictures associated with Loew's metropolitan circuit and at times held regional exclusivity for new releases. The auditorium's large capacity and immersive atmospheric decoration differentiated the experience from smaller neighborhood cinemas.

• Live entertainment · 1929

  Vaudeville and live stage shows

  The theater opened with live vaudeville alongside a feature film and initially presented stage entertainment transferred through Loew's network. Its live-show activity included multi-act programs and orchestral participation, but stage programming was discontinued within approximately five years of opening.

• Religious venue · 1977

  Church services and religious events

  Since 1977, the former cinema has been used by the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People. In this role, the building's auditorium and supporting spaces serve worship and related religious activities rather than film exhibition.

• 1977

  Conversion from cinema to churchStrategy

  Background

  High operating costs and low attendance made continued movie-theater operation impractical.

  Action taken

  The cinema closed and the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People took over the building, renovating it for religious use.

  Aftermath

  The building remained active and was preserved, but its commercial theater identity ended.

  Renovation expenditure. approximately $250,000 (1977)

  Source

• 1930

  Introduction of widescreen presentationProduct launch

  Background

  Exhibitors were adopting new screen and presentation technologies to maintain the appeal of theatrical filmgoing.

  Action taken

  Loew's installed a Trans-tone widescreen system at the Valencia.

  Aftermath

  The theater continued to update its presentation format while operating as a major neighborhood cinema.

  Source

• 1927

  Loew's joins the Wonder Theatre expansionStrategy

  Background

  Loew's was competing with Paramount-Publix for large, strategically located movie palaces in the New York metropolitan area.

  Action taken

  Loew's took over the Valencia lease and incorporated the Jamaica project into its five-theater Wonder Theatre program.

  Aftermath

  The project became the first completed Wonder Theatre and established the Valencia as a major outer-borough cinema.

  Source

• 1977

  Valencia Theatre closes as a movie theater[1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The cinema closed in June after years of declining attendance and increasing operating costs.

• 1977

  Tabernacle of Prayer takes over the former theater[1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The Tabernacle of Prayer for All People assumed occupancy, renovated the building, and began using it as a church later that year.

• 1929

  Valencia Theatre opens as a Loew's Wonder Theatre[1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  The Jamaica movie palace opened with a feature film and live vaudeville performances, becoming the first completed Loew's Wonder Theatre.

• Valencia Theatre receives landmark recognition[1]Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The building is recognized as a New York City designated landmark for its architectural and historical importance.

1. 1Valencia Theatreen.wikipedia.org