Loew's Valencia Theatre

In 1926–27, builder Ralph Riccardo acquired the site at Jamaica Ave and Merrick Road, selling half of the site to the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation (Paramount) who then sold the property to Loew’s.[2] Construction started in June 1928 by the Thompson-Starrett Company and was completed in December of that year.[3] It was designed by John Eberson, known for his atmospheric theaters.[4] The interior is adorned in Spanish Colonial and pre-Columbian styles.[5] While the facade is made of brick and terra cotta in the Spanish and Mexican style of the Baroque period.[3] The auditorium walls are adorned with statues, parapets and towers, asymmetrically arranged while the ceiling remains unadorned, like a sky above.[4]

The theatre seats 3,500 people and was the first of the five Loew’s Wonder Theatres, opening on January 12, 1929, with Monte Blue and Raquel Torres in “White Shadows in the South Seas” plus vaudeville on stage.[6][7] Along with the other Wonder Theatres, it was equipped with a Robert Morton ‘Wonder’ organ of 4 manuals and 23 ranks.[5] It quickly became an attraction for people in not only Jamaica, but Queens and the greater Long Island area to watch the movies. In 1977, the building was donated to the Tabernacle of Prayer who restored the theatre.[1] The organ moved to the Balboa Theatre in San Diego, California where it was restored and debuted in 2009.[5][8]