New Feature! This Old Porn House - Chapter 1 - The Capri Art Theater in Buffalo, NY

Doc here with a brand new feature here at The Journal of Adult Theaters: This Old Porn House.

In this new series, I will be profiling the before, during, and after of some legendary adult theaters.  Some of these profiles have a sad ending, some may be stuck in time, while some endings just might surprise you.

To start this series, we might as well begin with my start in this thing of ours. 

The year is 1981, and on a rainy Fall night, I decide it's time to take the plunge into this thing of ours. I was a senior in college, and after my Monday night class I would venture down to the Capri Art. As I drove down Bailey Avenue in Buffalo, I could see in the distance the lighted marquee of the Capri Art. 

The two movies on tap that night were a John Holmes classic "Prisoner of Paradise", and second feature that had cowboys and squaws doing The Apache.

This was a classic neighborhood theater, with little to no parking off street. By comparison, it was similar in size and layout to The Oregon Theater in Portland.  No balcony, but a large auditorium seating 792 people (according to Cinematreasures.org) .

In it pre-porn days, it was The Varsity Theater, and like many theaters of it's vintage, it either closed or was converted to either adult fare or grindhouse movies.  The Varsity eventually became The Capri Art (and then later The Palace before it closed it's run as an adult theater).

This was The Capri Art Theater one year after I first set foot in the place in 1982:

Circa 1982

This is the same theater, lastly named The Uptown Theater, which was last a community theater before it closed.  I took this image 4 days ago when I was back in my old stomping grounds, 31 years after the above image was taken:

7/19/2013






7/19/2013







The interior, as it stands today...

The seats look familiar.

So kids, this story has an open ended conclusion.  A new owner wants to once again transform This Old Porn House to a community theater for live events. Previous owners have tried, but it didn't work out in the long run. 

This is one theater that won't die quietly.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of This Old Porn House.


Thanks,
Doc