Shore Theater, Coney Island

Charles Denson's photographs of the Shore Theater:
http://www.coneyislandhistory.org/new...

"The Shore Theater represents not just Coney's golden past, but also its bright future. The seven-story, neo-Renaissance style theater and vaudeville house and adjacent 14-story office building at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues opened in 1925 and operated for half a century. Both structures have been closed and sealed up for decades. The theater's facade was granted landmark status in 2010, but the interior is not protected and vulnerable to demolition. The images in this exhibition provide a rare glimpse of a Coney Island treasure.

Denson is one of the few people who has seen the inside the Shore Theater in recent years. "The interior of the Shore (formerly the Loew's Coney Island) is a visual delight, a treasure trove of complex architectural details that ranks it among the finest of New York's surviving movie palaces," he said. "Below the theater's massive 150-foot dome are frescoed walls and vaulted ceilings covered with decorative nautical-themed plasterwork motifs featuring scallop shells, crabs, and squid medallions as well as wind-blown sailing ships with full sails and fluttering flags, breezing across a border of crashing waves. The mezzanine's colorful half dome ceiling is supported by a curving row of Ionic columns crowned with rows of beautiful dancing mermaids set into decorative diamonds."

"Local elected officials and the City's EDC have expressed an interest in buying and restoring the theater, but as time passes the fate of the structure's unique interior, which is not landmarked, becomes more uncertain every day. This architectural treasure must be preserved."

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