The Beacon Theatre was built in 1928 and was intended to be a vaudeville house. However, the Great Depression pushed the opening date back six years. The Beacon finally opened as a movie theater in 1934. It was built in the art deco style and was advertised as “the most beautiful theater from New York City to Albany,” and sat 1,100 people.
Art Deco style light fixtures on the wall of the theater
The lobby of the Beacon is currently undergoing renovations.
In the 1930’s the Wonder Bar, a live jazz bar, occupied the area above the lobby. The Beacon closed in 1968 and was used as a church until 1999. The church owners painted the walls purple and sealed off the small balcony area.
Ladies restroom with original signage
View from the stage of the Beacon Theatre
4th Wall Productions purchased the theater in October 2010, and plan on renovating it for use as a theater — as was originally intended — with a dance studio occupying the former Wonder Bar space. Unfortunately, those plans never came to pass and the Beacon was gutted in late 2016 and turned into an apartment building with a small movie theater.
View from backstage at the Beacon Theatre
After the Final Curtain 
Thanks for doing this! I love the site.
Just FYI, the theatre will no longer be restored. 4th Wall Productions had to sell the building and the new owners plans to turn the main stage into apartments, and the old Wonder Bar into a multi purpose performance space.
Yes, I heard about that but wasn’t sure if it had been finalized yet. I’ll update the post.