Arthur Chandler, 77; found 2d career in Quincy theater

ARTHUR CHANDLER

In a world of megaplexes, the Wollaston Theater in Quincy was something of a renaissance cinema, showing films on their second run, for prices reminiscent of another time.

Owner Arthur Chandler was something of a renaissance man to match: he tore the tickets, made the popcorn, policed the aisles for viewers who were kicking up their feet, and even changed the marquee out front.

"He loved the theater as if it were his child," said his wife, Yvonne (Mayfield). "He took care of it like it was a child."

Mr. Chandler, who had owned the quirky theater with his wife since 1979, died of cancer Wednesday at Quincy Medical Center. He was 77.

Born in Quincy, he was raised in Sagamore. After graduating from Bourne High School in 1948, he served in the US Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky, as part of the tank corps. After the service he attended college in Tennessee, where he met Yvonne. They were married there in 1953.

In 1959, they moved to Quincy. Mr. Chandler earned a degree in civil engineering from Northeastern University in the early 1960s and worked as a civil engineer for Fay, Spofford & Thorndike.

Mr. Chandler was about ready to retire in 1979 when he discovered that the Wollaston Theater was for sale. It was a vintage theater built in 1926, with a single screen, a crystal chandelier, 1,100 seats and a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.

Yvonne Chandler said the original owner built it for his wife, along with the old Strand Theater in Quincy.

"They're all closed now," she said.

The previous owners wanted to sell it to somebody who would continue to run it as a movie theater, and Mr. Chandler "just loved the idea," his wife said.

They bought the theater, and, with the exception of a couple of projectionists, they ran it by themselves.

"I sold the tickets at the little booth that's down front," Yvonne Chandler said. "He tore tickets and worked at the candy booth, and he would walk through the theater and make sure everybody was behaving."

Mr. Chandler took pride in how safe the theater was, safe enough that parents would drop off their children and let them watch a movie alone before picking them up when the show was over.

"We were very happy about that, because it made us feel like we were doing a good job," she said.

Because the movies were second-run, the ticket prices were low, even as prices at megaplexes rose. Concessions were cheap, too, and everybody in the neighborhood came down on dollar night, Mrs. Chandler said.

"We enjoyed it," she said. "We enjoyed the people. We enjoyed the customers. It was great."

Mr. Chandler was strict about keeping youngsters out of the R-rated films and always tried to keep the movies they showed at the theater light and fun.

"That's what the neighborhood liked, too," his wife said. "The restricted ones didn't draw a crowd anyway."

At the end of the night's show, the couple stayed in the theater to clean up together and close it for the night.

"He was kind of on the quiet side, but he really enjoyed the theater," Mrs. Chandler said. "He enjoyed the people. He was just a happy person."

When he was not running the theater, Mr. Chandler also enjoyed gardening and feeding birds, his wife said. He had served as president of the Quincy Citizen's Association in the past.

In 2003, the Chandlers closed the Wollaston Theater because they could not afford to run it anymore. They never sold the building.

"He wouldn't sell it for anything," Mrs. Chandler said. "He was hoping that some day he could [again] run his theater the same way."

In addition to his wife of 55 years, Mr. Chandler leaves a brother, Robert of Brecksville, Ohio, and his sister, Janet C. Hutchins of Leesburg, Fla.

A service will be held today at 10 a.m. at Quincy Community United Methodist Church in Wollaston.