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Cinema closure brings sadness
posted by
Michael Zoldessy
on
February 24, 2009 at 9:48 am
HAMPTON, NH — Another local theater closes as Hampton residents lose the almost thirty year old Hampton Cinema Six.
Marian Lamie never thought she’d see the day come when the screens at Hampton Cinema Six went dark.
The 73-year-old lifelong Hampton woman has worked at the local theater for the last 17 years, but yesterday, the place where locals have come to catch their favorite flicks since 1980 closed its doors for good.
As she bagged popcorn, Lamie expressed sadness over the loss of the theater and the job she loved.
Read more at MSNBC.
Comments (9)
What cause the owners to close this traditional cinema? Were they having money issues?
It says in the full report on MSNBC’s site.
This is such a sad story. I’m at a loss for words here.
That MSNBC is so full of crap it’s not even funny. The reporter was spoon feed what to type. People are not staying home to watch TV. Just look at the first 7 weeks box office for 2009, up 22 percent over the same time period as last year. Digital projectors do not cost 400K per screen, and he is not being forced to convert. There will be thousands of screens running film in 10 years. The simple truth is a retail developer offered the owner a boat load of money and he took the money and ran.
Isn’t that the case most of the time pamajestic? And I totally agree with you about film. Its going to take a LONG time for them to totally get rid of it, if they ever do.
I agree with pamajestic and movie534. This sounds like a classic case of an owner being offered big bucks by CVS for prime real estate but wanting the public to believe he had no choice. The MSNBC writer either accepted at face value statistic’s provided by the owner regarding expenses ($400k per digital projector? Those must some projectors!/film will be history in 4 years? Nonsense!), or the writer did a REALLY poor job of research. Probably a little of both.
I think we have to follow the money on this one. I also think the owner is a whiner.
This story sounds similar to what happen here in Vicksburg,Ms with its local paper. When the feud broke out between now bankrupt Village Theatres and CBL Associates who owned the mall rental space and they charge high rent I might add. The local paper didn’t do the readers a courtesy of doing a story on why the cinema closed. I did most of my leg work on my own with the inciddent happen in Dec of ‘06. The Post didn’t do a follow up story nor did they ask CBL about thier rental issues or how much. Village didn’t care the rental property nor updated the projectors like new cinema startup has done.
Wilcox Theartes which now rents the space has brought in their own security force,upgraded the projectors and sound. When the new owner took cver he completely renovated all four screens. But the kids here would like to see a box cinema here from what one of my friends told me. Myself and others we’re wondering how long is Wilcox is going to stay in the old mall property.
Ceasar….if they are making money they will stay there till they don’t.