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Fulton Cinema moves to 8-screen building
posted by
genius00345
on
January 23, 2006 at 5:48 am
FULTON, MO — B&B Theatres is shutting its doors on the historic downtown building and moving to a new 8-screen cinema on the south end of town in May, 2006.
The old building is currently only 2 screens. The main auditorium is located downstairs, and a steep set of stairs leads to the smaller upstairs auditorium, a renovated balcony.
“Having only two auditoriums limits the movies we can show,” says current Fulton Cinema employee Alex Dzurick. “We always have to keep a family-friendly show in, and we don’t always get the newest releases.”
The B&B Theatres chain has owned the building since 1980, and it is currently the only theatre in the city.
“I grew up in the old place,” says Dzurick. “My mom worked there before I did, and I spent my toddler years under the counter reading while she ran the box office. It’s going to be hard to leave, but it will sure be nice to have more screens.”
The new building will be an 8-screen complex, all on the same level. Some current employees are helping to build the new building, but not Dzurick.
“I’m not old enough to work in construction,” he says. At 16, Dzurick is the youngest employee at the Fulton Cinema. “It’s hard being the new kid, but a lot of them knew me before I got the job. I even work with some of my teachers and siblings of classmates.”
The project is slated for completion in May, and the theatre hopes to open for business mid-month. The old building is being turned over to the Fulton Fine Arts Council, and it will be renovated into a live stage for community productions. The upper floor and screen will be removed and the upstairs will become a balcony again. The marquee will be removed and projectors taken out.
But there will always be the faint, lingering smell of hot buttered popcorn.
Comments (2)
Alex has just learned a fantastic history lesson first hand. He has seen the contionued end of an era that seem to flurish on the pages of this web-site. The closing of the old to be replaced by the new. Hopefully the good people of Fulton Missourt will find a creative use for the old theatre, which can be a real asset to their community if they so choose to make it one. However, Fulton like so many other communities will now join the ranks of the computer generated archeticture of the current cinemas, complete with its lack of creativity and showmanship, no wonder people are staying home from the movies. As the founder of the Loews chain once said, people dont go the see the movies, they come to see the theatres. Yes the new 8-plex will generate memories from the day it opens, and maybe, just maybe the lesson that Alex comes away with from seeing the old closed to be replaced by the newer version will motivate him to utilitze his expertice he has acquired from working in this industry to lend a hand to those whom wish to save their older movies palaces and assist them in keeping the lingering smell of hot “real” buttered popcorn from smelling moldy.
Like the article says we will be renovating the existing cinema building into a live theatre/stage.
It will be used for community productions and concerts, and such.