The Curious Building at 1421 Fifth Avenue

Designed by Hoppen & Koen and constructed around the turn of the 20th century, the intriguing building at 1421 Fifth Avenue, at the southeast corner of 116th Street, began as a vaudeville venue, the Mount Morris Theatre in 1911 (it is said that a young Milton Berle appeared on the stage). 

During its early years, the theater was often used on the weekends by a synagogue founded in 1917 by a young Orthodox rabbi, Herbert S. Goldstein, known as a maverick in his community. Goldstein wanted to start a new kind of synagogue, different from the formality of European services. He called it the Institutional Synagogue and in addition to services, it hosted political lectures on international topics like “The Mexican Situation” with a member of Mexico’s Cabinet. The synagogue eventually moved to a remodeled typewriter factory on 116th street in the 1920s before settling on the Upper West Side.

Soon after the synagogue left, the theater became a destination for Harlem’s Spanish-speaking community, featuring Spanish-language films, among them:  "El Baul Macabro," (The Macabre Trunk) and "La Gran Cruz" (The Large Cross) in 1937. As a venue for Spanish language films, the theater seems to have had several different names: Cervantes, Teatro Hispano, Teatro Santurce and Campoamor into the 1960s, according to the blog, Cinema Treasures and some of the commenters.

It was acquired in the late to mid-20th century by The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of The Apostolic Faith. The time is unclear but it seems to have been sometime during the 1970s. While the interior has changed, the facade remains largely unchanged.

ER/KD