Tag Archives: building in ruins

Buildings/Edificios-Monuments/Monumentos, Then & Now Pictures

Cine Leonor

Cine Leonor

The once splendid Cinema Leonor, subsequently called Multicine Colonial, was one of the many theaters in the Colonial Zone area. This theatre, at one time showing all the popular films of the time, later turned into a parking garage and now lies abandoned.

The old Cine Leonor on Calle Arzobispo Nouel at 19 de Marzo, Ciudad Colonial, Santo Domingo.
The old Cine Leonor on Calle Arzobispo Nouel at 19 de Marzo, Ciudad Colonial, Santo Domingo.

Cine Leonor

The front entrance to Cine Leonor 1970
The front entrance to Cine Leonor 1970

The Cine Leonor, with its classic Baroque-style facade, inaugurated on August 16, 1956. This first-class cinema had a grand second-floor arcade, large balcony and private seating stalls with retractable seats plus a special area for smokers. The theater was air-conditioned and had a large entrance hall and ticket office.

A view of the second floor arcade of the Multicine Colonial. You can still see some of the name.
A view of the second floor arcade of the Multicine Colonial. You can still see some of the name.

Leonor was a large cinema for its time and held sizable crowds that wanted to come, escape ordinary life, to enjoy a popular movie. During the theater’s heyday there was a Sunday matinee plus their usual schedule showing 2 movies every evening.

A view of the second floor arcade of the Cine Leonor, later La Colonial
A view of the second floor arcade of the Cine Leonor, later La Colonial

Mulitcine Colonial

Multicine Colonial Leonor Teatro El Resplandor (The Shining) on marquis 1980
Multicine Colonial Leonor Teatro El Resplandor (The Shining) on marquis 1980

The new Colonial Cinema was inaugurated on December 25, 1980. Along with the name change, the theater was split into 4 smaller rooms, 2 on the ground floor and 2 on the second floor.

The entrance floor tiles are still visible, Leonor
The entrance floor tiles are still visible, Leonor

The cinema closed in the early 1990s. Now the building is in ruins. They have abandoned the once splendid movie theater turned parking garage. You can still see the name Leonor on the floor tiles at the entrance of the building. Looking inside, it is dark and dismal. I can’t imagine that this derelict building was previously a high-class theater.

The interior of Cine Leone around 1965
The interior of Cine Leone around 1965

Location

– Calle Arzobispo Noel at 19 de Marzo, Ciudad Colonial, Santo Domingo.

reference: https://historiadominicanaengraficas.blogspot.com/