Galli-Curci Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Galli-Curci Theatre is located on Main Street (state highway
NY 30
) in Margaretville
, New York, United States. It is a brick building erected in the 1920s, now primarily used as a store, although some of the original theater remains. It was named after opera singer Amelita Galli-Curci
, who lived near Margaretville and sang at its opening night.
It was built by local entrepreneur Clarke Sanford to house two pioneering businesses in the region, a car dealership and silent movie theater and offices of the Catskill Mountain News. Under later owners, it continued to show movies until 1985. It was modified afterwards for reuse as an antique store, but has remained mostly intact from its period of cinematic use. In 2006 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
of the Delaware River
from the end of its overlap
with NY 28
a short distance away. The neighborhood is heavily developed, with the intersection, the village's center, flanked by many three-story mixed-use buildings of a late-19th/early-20th century vintage. To the north the neighborhood becomes residential.
The building is in two sections, 50 feet (15.2 m) wide by 142 feet (43.3 m) deep. The shorter front section, with the retail space and theater entrance, is a two-story brick structure on a poured concrete
foundation
. Three of its four bays
are taken up by a storefront with glass windows in the center and a double-doored entrance with half-moon glass panels at the south end; the northernmost is the theater entrance, sheltered by a trapezoidal tin-sheathed wooden marquee
with the letters "Galli-Curci" on the front. On the second story are paired windows framed by brick lintels and bluestone
sills topped by a rectangular decorative
panel of brick and terra cotta
. The center parapet
on the flat roof has a large wooden "GALLI-CURCI THEATRE" sign.
The auditorium section at the rear is built of concrete block faced in stucco
. Its roof slopes gently from front to back at the same grade as the floor inside. A brick chimney rises from the south section of the EPDM rubber
roof. The tops of two wooden truss
es, added later to shore up the building, are visible as well.
Inside the front block, the store space has its original flooring and pressed-metal ceiling. The upstairs apartment, once office space, has its own original flooring and moldings
. Two double doors with half-moon glass panels, similar to those leading into the store, lead into the theater at the end of the recessed entryway under the marquee.
A narrow carpeted entryway slopes up to the auditorium. There, a wooden level floor, built for retail purposes after the theater was shut down, remains. Two of the original wooden standee
walls set off the lobby in the rear, and show a color scheme dating from the 1940s. The ceiling is of plain plaster, with fluorescent fixtures replacing the original lighting.
. It struggled to adapt, but stayed in business as a movie theater under different owners until the mid-1980s. After a period of reuse
as an antique store, it may be restored to its original use.
Star before returning to the area in 1904 to buy the local paper, recently renamed the Catskill Mountain News. In 1907, he was the first person in Margaretville to buy an automobile. Local lore has it that after having the Pope-Toledo
shipped to Kingston
and driving it overland to the village, he crashed it into one of the outbuildings on his family farm in nearby Dunraven. Seven years later, in 1914, he and a partner opened the first dealership in town, selling Buick
s, Fords
and Packard
s from the new building on Bridge Street Sanford had previously had built for the newspaper operations.
On the upper floor Sanford brought another 20th-century invention, the movies, to Margaretville. He began charging admission to silent film
s that year. His wife made the popcorn
. It was successful enough, due to a boom in the local economy and a strong business in summertime from resort visitors, that it needed more space.
In 1922 he had the theater built, complete with a player piano
. He put the dealership on the ground floor, the newspaper's editorial offices upstairs and its printing press downstairs. The remaining office space was rented to the Delaware and Eastern Railroad. He offered to name the theater after Amelita Galli-Curci
, whose Sul Monte estate was in nearby Highmount, if she sang at opening night in 1922, which she did, closing with "Home! Sweet Home!
".
Sanford served in a number of local political offices, and was later named one of New York's first Commissioners of Motor Vehicles
. In 1930 he added sound
capability to the theatre, which continued to do enough business to sustain the car dealership through the Depression
. The offerings included live entertainment as well, from touring companies doing condensed versions of Broadway plays, local theater groups, minstrel show
s and school and community functions. His son joined him in the business, and by the end of the decade the family was operating another theater, the Maxbilt in nearby Fleischmanns
.
to add more seats. The wood trusses that break the roof plane were added at this time.
The theater was unable to benefit in the long run, because with the end of World War II
New York City
had resumed plans to expand its water supply system and complete Pepacton Reservoir
to the south. In the short run the large construction workforce buoyed the local economy, but when the reservoir was finished the effects of losing five nearby towns, including the Sanford farmstead in Dunraven, made itself felt. Television also began to cut into film revenues; in 1955 Kallet had the theater modified again to support the widescreen
productions studios were turning to compete with the small screen.
Three years later, in 1958, the Sanfords cancelled the lease and resumed direct control of the theater. The decline in revenue continued, and in 1963 Clarke Sanford made a successful claim of lost business to the temporary commission set up to compensate those displaced or otherwise affected by the reservoir's construction. He died the following year.
magnified the effect television had had on the theater's business three decades before.
The auditorium was again adapted for live music performances, and another new owner, the Goths, changed directions entirely when they bought the building in 1987. They put in the wooden floor and began selling antiques, taking out the projection and sound equipment in the process. Later it became vacant again. In 2005 it was acquired by two new owners.
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
NY 30
New York State Route 30
New York State Route 30 is a state highway in the central part of New York in the United States. It extends for from an interchange with NY 17 in the Southern Tier to the Canadian border in the state's North Country, where it continues into Quebec as Route 138. On a regional level,...
) in Margaretville
Margaretville, New York
Margaretville is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 643 at the 2000 census.The Village of Margaretville is in the Town of Middletown. The village is on the border of the Catskill Park...
, New York, United States. It is a brick building erected in the 1920s, now primarily used as a store, although some of the original theater remains. It was named after opera singer Amelita Galli-Curci
Amelita Galli-Curci
Amelita Galli-Curci was an Italian operatic soprano. She was one of the best-known coloratura singers of the early 20th century with her gramophone records selling in large numbers.-Early life:...
, who lived near Margaretville and sang at its opening night.
It was built by local entrepreneur Clarke Sanford to house two pioneering businesses in the region, a car dealership and silent movie theater and offices of the Catskill Mountain News. Under later owners, it continued to show movies until 1985. It was modified afterwards for reuse as an antique store, but has remained mostly intact from its period of cinematic use. In 2006 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Building
The Galli-Curci Theatre sits on the west side of Main Street just north of its intersection with Bridge Street, which carries Route 30 into Margaretville across the East BranchEast Branch Delaware River
The East Branch Delaware River, approximately 75 miles long in the U.S. state of New York, is one of two branches, along with the West Branch, that join to form the Delaware River. It flows through a mountainous area on the southwestern edge of the Catskill Park. For a long stretch it serves...
of the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
from the end of its overlap
Concurrency (road)
A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...
with NY 28
New York State Route 28
New York State Route 28 is a state highway extending for in the shape of a "C" between the Hudson Valley city of Kingston and southern Warren County in the U.S. state of New York. Along the way, it intersects several major routes, including Interstate 88 , U.S. Route 20 , and the...
a short distance away. The neighborhood is heavily developed, with the intersection, the village's center, flanked by many three-story mixed-use buildings of a late-19th/early-20th century vintage. To the north the neighborhood becomes residential.
The building is in two sections, 50 feet (15.2 m) wide by 142 feet (43.3 m) deep. The shorter front section, with the retail space and theater entrance, is a two-story brick structure on a poured concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
. Three of its four bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
are taken up by a storefront with glass windows in the center and a double-doored entrance with half-moon glass panels at the south end; the northernmost is the theater entrance, sheltered by a trapezoidal tin-sheathed wooden marquee
Marquee (sign)
A marquee is most commonly a structure placed over the entrance to a hotel or theatre. It has signage stating either the name of the establishment or, in the case of theatres, the play or movie and the artist appearing at that venue...
with the letters "Galli-Curci" on the front. On the second story are paired windows framed by brick lintels and bluestone
Bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:*a feldspathic sandstone in the U.S. and Canada;*limestone in the Shenandoah Valley in the U.S...
sills topped by a rectangular decorative
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
panel of brick and terra cotta
Architectural terracotta
Terracotta, in its unglazed form, became fashionable as an architectural ceramic construction material in England in the 1860s, and in the United States in the 1870s. It was generally used to supplement brick and tiles of similar colour in late Victorian buildings.It had been used before this in...
. The center parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
on the flat roof has a large wooden "GALLI-CURCI THEATRE" sign.
The auditorium section at the rear is built of concrete block faced in stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
. Its roof slopes gently from front to back at the same grade as the floor inside. A brick chimney rises from the south section of the EPDM rubber
EPDM rubber
EPDM rubber , a type of synthetic rubber, is an elastomer which is characterized by a wide range of applications. The E refers to ethylene, P to propylene, D to diene and M refers to its classification in ASTM standard D-1418. The M class includes rubbers having a saturated chain of the...
roof. The tops of two wooden truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
es, added later to shore up the building, are visible as well.
Inside the front block, the store space has its original flooring and pressed-metal ceiling. The upstairs apartment, once office space, has its own original flooring and moldings
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
. Two double doors with half-moon glass panels, similar to those leading into the store, lead into the theater at the end of the recessed entryway under the marquee.
A narrow carpeted entryway slopes up to the auditorium. There, a wooden level floor, built for retail purposes after the theater was shut down, remains. Two of the original wooden standee
Standee
A theatrical standee is a large self-standing display promoting a movie, product or event. They are typically made of cardboard, and may range from large self-standing posters to three-dimensional devices with moving parts and lights....
walls set off the lobby in the rear, and show a color scheme dating from the 1940s. The ceiling is of plain plaster, with fluorescent fixtures replacing the original lighting.
History
Successful upon its inception, the theatre suffered from changes in the national and local economies after World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It struggled to adapt, but stayed in business as a movie theater under different owners until the mid-1980s. After a period of reuse
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
as an antique store, it may be restored to its original use.
1922–1942: Early success
Clarke A. Sanford, scion of the family that owned the local bank, had taught school and worked as a reporter for the OneontaOneonta, New York
Oneonta is a city in southern Otsego County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, had a population of 13,901. Its nickname is "City of the Hills." While the word "oneonta" is of undetermined origin, it is popularly believed to mean "place of open rocks" in the Iroquois language...
Star before returning to the area in 1904 to buy the local paper, recently renamed the Catskill Mountain News. In 1907, he was the first person in Margaretville to buy an automobile. Local lore has it that after having the Pope-Toledo
Pope-Toledo
The Pope-Toledo was one of the makes of the Pope Motor Car Company founded by Colonel AA Pope, and was a manufacturer of Brass Era automobiles in Toledo, Ohio between 1903 and 1909. The Pope-Toledo was the most expensive of the Pope range and was the successor to the Toledo of the International...
shipped to Kingston
Kingston, New York
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, USA. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. It became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British Oct. 16, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga...
and driving it overland to the village, he crashed it into one of the outbuildings on his family farm in nearby Dunraven. Seven years later, in 1914, he and a partner opened the first dealership in town, selling Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
s, Fords
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
and Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
s from the new building on Bridge Street Sanford had previously had built for the newspaper operations.
On the upper floor Sanford brought another 20th-century invention, the movies, to Margaretville. He began charging admission to silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s that year. His wife made the popcorn
Popcorn
Popcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...
. It was successful enough, due to a boom in the local economy and a strong business in summertime from resort visitors, that it needed more space.
In 1922 he had the theater built, complete with a player piano
Player piano
A player piano is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in...
. He put the dealership on the ground floor, the newspaper's editorial offices upstairs and its printing press downstairs. The remaining office space was rented to the Delaware and Eastern Railroad. He offered to name the theater after Amelita Galli-Curci
Amelita Galli-Curci
Amelita Galli-Curci was an Italian operatic soprano. She was one of the best-known coloratura singers of the early 20th century with her gramophone records selling in large numbers.-Early life:...
, whose Sul Monte estate was in nearby Highmount, if she sang at opening night in 1922, which she did, closing with "Home! Sweet Home!
Home! Sweet Home!
"Home! Sweet Home!" is a song that has remained well-known for over 150 years. Adapted from American actor and dramatist John Howard Payne's 1823 opera Clari, Maid of Milan, the song's melody was composed by Englishman Sir Henry Bishop with lyrics by Payne...
".
Sanford served in a number of local political offices, and was later named one of New York's first Commissioners of Motor Vehicles
New York State Department of Motor Vehicles
The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles is the governmental agency responsible for registering and inspecting automobiles and other motor vehicles as well as NYS Enhanced Driver License/Driver License and Enhanced Non-Driver Photo ID Card/Non-Driver Photo ID Card in the U.S...
. In 1930 he added sound
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
capability to the theatre, which continued to do enough business to sustain the car dealership through the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The offerings included live entertainment as well, from touring companies doing condensed versions of Broadway plays, local theater groups, minstrel show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
s and school and community functions. His son joined him in the business, and by the end of the decade the family was operating another theater, the Maxbilt in nearby Fleischmanns
Fleischmanns, New York
Fleischmanns is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 351 at the 2000 census. Fleischmanns is in the town of Middletown.- History :Early settlers of this area came from Germany, England, Holland and Ireland...
.
1942–1964: Setbacks
In 1942, the railroad went out of business and the newspaper took over its offices. Four years later, in 1946, the Sanfords leased the theater to the Kallet chain on the condition that they keep the revenue from the concession stand, and Kallet invest in improvements. Two years later, the chain began a substantial remodeling of the interior, filling in the orchestra pitOrchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music or in cases when incidental music is required...
to add more seats. The wood trusses that break the roof plane were added at this time.
The theater was unable to benefit in the long run, because with the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
had resumed plans to expand its water supply system and complete Pepacton Reservoir
Pepacton Reservoir
The Pepacton Reservoir, also known as the Downsville Reservoir or the Downsville Dam, is a reservoir in Delaware County, New York that was formed by impounding over ¼ of the East Branch of the Delaware River...
to the south. In the short run the large construction workforce buoyed the local economy, but when the reservoir was finished the effects of losing five nearby towns, including the Sanford farmstead in Dunraven, made itself felt. Television also began to cut into film revenues; in 1955 Kallet had the theater modified again to support the widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
productions studios were turning to compete with the small screen.
Three years later, in 1958, the Sanfords cancelled the lease and resumed direct control of the theater. The decline in revenue continued, and in 1963 Clarke Sanford made a successful claim of lost business to the temporary commission set up to compensate those displaced or otherwise affected by the reservoir's construction. He died the following year.
1964–present: End of theatrical use
His son Roswell had taken over the newspaper and theater. He soon moved the former to another nearby office (later to Arkville, the next town east along Route 28), converted the second floor into an apartment and sold the theater to a Donald Conine, who in turn sold it in 1975 to Ben Resnick. He continued exhibiting films until 1985, when the advent of home videoHome video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
magnified the effect television had had on the theater's business three decades before.
The auditorium was again adapted for live music performances, and another new owner, the Goths, changed directions entirely when they bought the building in 1987. They put in the wooden floor and began selling antiques, taking out the projection and sound equipment in the process. Later it became vacant again. In 2005 it was acquired by two new owners.