WGPA

Bedford Avenue Theatre
109 South 6th Street
Architect: W. F. Gaylor
Date: 1891 Photo: WPA

For just over a year now (while we've been quiet) Brownstoner has been posting little daily snippets on Brooklyn's historical buildings. Written by contributor "Montrose Morris", the Building of the Day series is a quick look at buildings that the author finds interesting. Some are more interesting than others, but they are all interesting.

This week, Montrose posted two north Brooklyn buildings, and we thought we'd repost them here. The first one might be familiar, as we have posted on it before - it is the former Bedford Avenue Theatre on South 6th between Bedford and Berry, designed by architect W. F. Gaylor and constructed in 1891.

The building had a short life as a theatre, as its back end was cut off in the early 1900s by the construction of the Williamsburg Bridge. In later years, the building operated as a factory and a warehouse, and today it houses a health club (it was the health club that did the wonderful restoration on the building starting in 2007).

Montrose has added some color to the history, tracking down some information on the early theatre history (including some not kind reviews of the opening play).

We had originally written that the builder of the theatre was W. W. Cole and the architect was not known - errors that we picked up from the AIA Guide and that Montrose passed on in her article. In fact, Cole was the owner and the architect was W. F. Gaylor - the same person who was responsible for the two Smith Gray buildings around the corner on the Broadway.

Check out Montrose's write up for more on the building's history, including its Juicy Juice legacy. And check out Building of the Day every day.