Galli-Curci Theatre

Galli-Curci Theatre is a historic former movie theater on Main Street in Margaretville, New York. The building was erected in 1922 by local entrepreneur Clarke A. Sanford, whose business interests combined automobile retail, newspaper publishing, and early motion-picture exhibition. Sanford created the venue to provide a larger home for a silent-film operation that had begun in the upper floor of his automobile and newspaper building. The theatre also housed related commercial and civic uses, including the editorial offices of the Catskill Mountain News, an automobile dealership, a printing operation, and office space rented to the Delaware and Northern Railroad. The venue takes its name from the Italian-American opera singer Amelita Galli-Curci. She maintained the Sul Monte country estate near Highmount and spent part of the period from 1922 to 1937 in the Margaretville area. Sanford reportedly offered to name the theatre for her if she appeared at its opening, and she sang at the 1922 inauguration, ending with “Home! Sweet Home!”. Her association gave the local cinema a distinctive cultural identity that linked a small Catskills community to a nationally recognized classical singer. The theatre initially benefited from a strong local economy, automobile ownership, regional resort traffic, and the novelty of motion pictures. In addition to silent films, it presented touring theatrical companies, community and school events, local theatre groups, minstrel shows, and other live entertainment. Sound equipment was installed in 1930, allowing the venue to continue operating as the film industry transitioned from silent pictures to talking pictures. The theatre’s business also helped support Sanford’s automobile activities during the Depression, and the Sanford family later operated another nearby cinema, the Maxbilt in Fleischmanns. After the Second World War, the theatre faced several structural challenges. The closure of the Delaware and Northern Railroad in 1942 changed the building’s office usage. In 1946 the Sanfords leased the theatre to the Kallet chain, which undertook improvements while the Sanfords retained concession income. A substantial remodeling in 1948 filled in the orchestra pit to create additional seating and added structural roof supports. The completion of the Pepacton Reservoir and the displacement or loss of nearby communities weakened the local economic base after an initial construction boom. Television further reduced cinema attendance, prompting another alteration in 1955 to accommodate widescreen films. The Sanford family resumed direct control in 1958, but declining film revenues continued. Clarke Sanford successfully pursued compensation in 1963 for business losses associated with the reservoir project and died the following year. His son Roswell subsequently separated the newspaper operation from the building, converted the former office level into an apartment, and sold the theatre. Several owners maintained film exhibition until 1985, when television and the expanding home-video market made continued operation increasingly difficult. After theatrical use ended, the auditorium was briefly adapted for live music and then converted into an antique-dealers’ center in 1987. The conversion added a wooden retail floor and removed projection and sound equipment, but much of the historic theatre fabric survived, including the marquee, entrance, lobby partitions, flooring in the front block, pressed-metal ceiling, and portions of the auditorium. A proposed 2005 conversion into a multiscreen cinema did not proceed. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. Since 2019, it has operated primarily as Kria Jewelry, with office space also occupying the former theatre complex. The property therefore survives as a mixed-use commercial building and historic reminder of small-town cinema, rather than as an operating theatre.

Clarke A. Sanford established the commercial and cultural foundation for the Galli-Curci Theatre through a combination of newspaper publishing, automobile retail, and motion-picture exhibition. After returning to the Margaretville area in the early twentieth century, Sanford acquired the Catskill Mountain News and became an early automobile owner and dealer. In 1914 he and a partner opened a dealership selling Buick, Ford, and Packard vehicles. Sanford also began charging admission for silent films in the upper floor of an earlier building, with his wife preparing popcorn for patrons. The business benefited from regional prosperity and summer visitors, but the original premises soon proved too small. In 1922 Sanford commissioned the present theatre building. It was designed as a multipurpose commercial property: the front portion provided space for the automobile business and newspaper offices, while the rear contained the auditorium. The Delaware and Northern Railroad rented additional office space. Sanford secured the theatre’s name through its association with Amelita Galli-Curci, the prominent opera singer who maintained the nearby Sul Monte estate. She appeared at the opening-night program and sang “Home! Sweet Home!”. The theatre became an important local entertainment venue. It showed silent films and later hosted live performances, touring theatrical companies, local productions, school programs, community events, and other public gatherings. Sound equipment was added in 1930. The cinema remained sufficiently successful to help sustain the connected automobile business during the Depression, and the Sanford family expanded its local entertainment interests by operating another theatre in Fleischmanns. The building’s fortunes changed after the Second World War. The Delaware and Northern Railroad closed in 1942, after which the newspaper used the vacated offices. In 1946 the Sanfords leased the theatre to the Kallet chain under an arrangement that required investment in improvements while preserving Sanford control over concession revenue. Kallet remodeled the interior in 1948, filling in the orchestra pit to increase seating and adding structural roof trusses. In 1955, the theatre was modified again for widescreen films as exhibitors responded to the competitive pressure of television. The theatre’s local market was also affected by the Pepacton Reservoir project. Construction temporarily increased economic activity, but the completed reservoir resulted in the loss or displacement of nearby communities, including the Sanford family’s farmstead in Dunraven. The reduced population base, combined with television’s effect on cinema attendance, weakened the theatre’s long-term prospects. The Sanford family ended the Kallet lease in 1958 and resumed direct management. Clarke Sanford later obtained compensation for business losses connected to the reservoir project and died in 1964. Roswell Sanford inherited control of the newspaper and theatre interests. He moved the newspaper to other premises, converted the former second-floor offices into an apartment, and sold the theatre to Donald Conine. Ben Resnick acquired it from Conine in 1975. Film exhibition continued under successive ownership until 1985, when home video intensified the decline already caused by television. The auditorium was subsequently used for live music and then converted in 1987 into a multi-dealer antiques center. That conversion removed projection and sound equipment and introduced a wooden retail floor, but significant elements of the former cinema remained. A later ownership group explored returning the property to theatrical use. In 2005, plans were proposed to create several movie screens, but the project did not advance. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. In 2018 it was purchased by Icelandic designer Jóhanna Methúsalemsdóttir, and from 2019 she and her partner Paul Weil operated Kria Jewelry in the former theatre. The building currently functions as mixed-use retail and office space, retaining visible architectural and interior evidence of its cinema era.

• 2019

  Kria Jewelry begins operating in the building

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The former theatre entered its current mixed-use phase as a jewelry store and office property.

• 2018

  Property acquired by Jóhanna Methúsalemsdóttir

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Icelandic designer Jóhanna Methúsalemsdóttir purchased the former theatre building.

• 2006

  National Register designation

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• 1987

  Building becomes an antiques center

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The Goth family converted the former theatre into a multi-dealer antiques operation and removed its projection and sound equipment.

• 1985

  Regular film exhibition ends

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The theatre stopped showing films as television and home video undermined the economics of the local cinema.

• 1958

  Sanford family resumes direct control

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The Sanfords cancelled the Kallet lease and returned to operating the theatre themselves.

• 1955

  The theatre is adapted for widescreen films

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The venue was modified to show widescreen productions as cinemas responded to television competition.

• 1948

  Interior remodeling adds seating

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Kallet filled in the orchestra pit to increase seating and added structural supports to the building.

• 1946

  Theatre is leased to the Kallet chain

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The Sanfords leased the cinema to Kallet under terms requiring improvements while preserving Sanford concession revenue.

• 1942

  Delaware and Northern Railroad closes

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The railroad’s closure changed the building’s office arrangements, with the newspaper taking over the vacated space.

• 1930

  Sound capability is installed

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The theatre was equipped for talking pictures as sound cinema replaced silent-film exhibition.

• 1922

  The Galli-Curci Theatre opens

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Sanford completed the theatre as a combined cinema, dealership, newspaper, and office building. Amelita Galli-Curci sang at the opening-night event.

• 1914

  Sanford opens an automobile dealership

  [1]Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Clarke A. Sanford and a partner opened an early Margaretville automobile dealership, creating the commercial enterprise that would later be integrated into the theatre building.

A locally significant historic entertainment venue whose identity has evolved from early cinema and community performance space into a preserved mixed-use commercial property.

• Cinema · 1922

  Silent-film exhibition

  The theatre was built to provide Margaretville with a larger dedicated venue for silent motion pictures. Its early programming formed part of a broader entertainment and commercial operation that also included live performances and community events.

• Cinema · 1930

  Sound-film exhibition

  After sound equipment was installed in 1930, the venue screened talking pictures and continued as a local cinema through changing exhibition formats, including widescreen productions introduced during the 1950s.

• Performing arts venue · 1922

  Live entertainment and community events

  Alongside films, the building hosted touring theatrical companies, local theatre groups, musical and other live entertainment, school functions, and community programs. Later, after cinema operations ended, the auditorium was also adapted for live music.

• Jewelry retail · 2019

  Kria Jewelry

  Kria Jewelry occupies the former theatre in the building’s current commercial phase. The retail operation uses a property that retains the historic marquee, entrance, front-block finishes, lobby elements, and portions of the former auditorium.

• 2005

  Proposed multiscreen cinema conversionStrategy

  Background

  New owners explored a return to theatrical exhibition after the building had been adapted for retail.

  Action taken

  Plans were developed to convert the property into several movie screens.

  Aftermath

  The proposed conversion was not completed, and the building ultimately continued toward its present retail and office use.

  Source

• 1987

  Conversion into an antiques centerStrategy

  Background

  Regular film exhibition had ended in 1985 after long-term pressure from television and the growing home-video market.

  Action taken

  The new owners converted the auditorium into a multi-dealer antiques center, installing a wooden retail floor and removing projection and sound equipment.

  Aftermath

  The building remained substantially intact despite the change of use and later became a mixed-use retail and office property.

  Source

• 1946

  Lease to the Kallet theatre chainStrategy

  Background

  The Sanford family sought professional operating support as the postwar entertainment market and the building’s maintenance needs evolved.

  Action taken

  The theatre was leased to Kallet, with an arrangement under which Kallet invested in improvements while the Sanfords retained concession revenue.

  Aftermath

  Kallet remodeled the venue in 1948 and later adapted it for widescreen films, but the theatre continued to face population loss, television competition, and declining revenue.

  Source

1. 1Galli-Curci Theatreen.wikipedia.org