Boulevard Theatre

82-22 Northern Boulevard
Jackson Heights (Queens), N.Y. 11372



The 1839-seat Boulevard Theatre opened in November 1926, and was one of three theatres built in NW Queens by the Grob & Knobel circuit with Herbert J. Krapp as architect. The Boulevard was the only one of the three with stage facilities large enough to handle a live play or musical, and was designed to be a playhouse, with bookings of shows that had recently closed on Broadway or were "trying out" enroute. The attractions ran from Monday through Saturday, with Sunday used for vaudeville and a feature movie. In 1928, when William Fox acquired the Grob & Knobel theatres, he kept the Boulevard legit by sub-leasing it to Louis Werba, who also operated playhouses in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Upper Manhattan. The onset of the Depression sent both Fox and Werba into bankruptcy, so the Boulevard became a double-feature movie house under Fox's successor, Skouras Theatres, which also took over the Jackson and Sunnyside (later sold to Century Theatres). Due to its location in a residential area on Northern Boulevard that was a long walk from the 82nd Street shopping district around Roosevelt Avenue, the Boulevard never did as well as the Jackson, but it survived a triplexing in the early 1970s before a decline in the neighborhood caused its closure. It sat vacant for at least a decade while a battle raged over the owner's plan for demolition, which was opposed by the community.
           
Wurlitzer Organ Company
North Tonawanda, N.Y. – Opus 1300 (1926)
Electro-pneumatic action
Style E
2 manuals, 7 ranks
           
Pedal – 32 notes
16
  Diaphone
  Pedal 2nd Touch
16
  Bourdon
  Bass Drum
8
  Trumpet
  Kettle Drum
8
  Diaphonic Diapason
  Crash Cymbal
8
   Tibia Clausa     Cymbal
8
   Flute      
8
   Cello      

   

   
Accompaniment (Manual I) –- 61 notes
16
  Contra Viole [TC]     Harp Chrysoglott
16
  Vox Humana [TC]     Snare Drum
8
  Trumpet     Tambourine
8
  Diaphonic Diapason     Castanets
8
  Tibia Clausa     Chinese Block
8
   Violin     Tom-Tom
8
   Violin Celeste [TC]
  Sleigh Bells
8
   Concert Flute      
8
   Vox Humana     Accompaniment 2nd Touch
4
   Octave     Trumpet
4
   Piccolo     Tibia Clausa
4
   Viole     Cathedral Chimes
4
   Octave Celeste     Triangle
4
   Flute      
4
   Vox Humana      
2
   Piccolo     Five Adjustable Combination Pistons

   

   
Solo (Manual II) – 61 notes
16
  Diaphone
4
  Flute
16
  Tibia Clausa [TC]
2 2/3
   Twelfth
16
  Bourdon
2
   Piccolo
16
  Vox Humana [TC]
1 3/5
  Tierce
8
  Trumpet
  Cathedral Chimes
8
   Diaphonic Diapason
  Xylophone
8
   Tibia Clausa
  Glockenspiel
8
   Violin
  Harp Chrysoglott
8
   Violin Celeste [TC]
   
8
   Concert Flute
  Solo 2nd Touch
8
   Vox Humana
16
   Trumpet [TC]
4
   Octave
8
   Tibia Clausa
4
   Piccolo
   
4
   Viole
   
4
   Viole Celeste
  Five Adjustable Combination Pistons

   

   
General
One Balanced Expression Pedal      
One General Tremulant      
One Vox Humana Tremulant      
           
Effects (operated by pistons)
Horse Hoofs Train Fire Gong (reiterating)
Surf Effect Auto Horn Steamboat Whistle
Bird Fire Gong Siren
     
Door Bell (push button)  
           
Sources:
     Cinema Treasures web site: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6262
     Junchen, David L., comp. and ed. by Jeff Weiler. The WurliTzer Pipe Organ – An Illustrated History. Chicago: The American Theatre Organ Society, 2005.
     Kaufmann, Preston J. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 3. Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1995.