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Rave Cinemas Pittsburgh West 12 closing as of April 15
posted by
CSWalczak
on
April 8, 2010 at 7:44 am
ROBINSON TWP., PA — Rave Motion Pictures will shutter the Pittsburgh West 12 on April 15. Opened in 1978 with five screens, it was acquired from National Amusements in December, 2009 and was previously known as the Showcase Cinemas West. National never followed through on plans to replace the theater with a much larger and up-to-date megaplex, and a newer Cinemark theater with stadium seating has opened nearby.
Part of the problem lies just a half mile down the road from the old Showcase Cinema where a brand new Cinemark theatre has opened its doors.
Folks who go to movies at the new facility love the stadium seating and the 12 screens, but many will miss the Showcase Cinema.
“I think it’ll be sad, because I used to come here when I was little and see movies all the time,” said Stephanie Carnahan, of Findley Township. “But I like the new movie theater.”
There is more at KDKA.com.
Comments (4)
Yet another Pittsburgh cinema closes.
Although I do not live in Pittsbugh or anywhere near Pennsylvania I wonder why the management simply does not switch down to being a “Last Chance” multiplex ? Last Chance Multiplexes are just as viable as a First Runners. And Last Chance Multiplexes can offer cheap tickets in advance day or night.
Unfortunately, dollar, discount cinemas and second run theaters are a dying breed, as they are being killed off by the the availability of DVDs and computer downloads. Now that the window between initial release of films and their availability on DVD is shrinking, bargain cinemas may soon be history.
Actually, in most markets, second-run or as a previous writer called them, Last Chance, began dying with the advent of the Mega-plexes. Here, they’d play a film , moving it to ever smaller rooms, until the film “played out.” Essentially, the first-runs were also second-runs, holding a film for the guaranteed 4 to 6 weeks. If one notices, they’ll note most films' attendance dwindles to nearly nothing after 3 or 4 weeks. The evolution of film exhibition in the last 25 years is not much different than from 50 or sixty years back. Not many entertainment industries have changed as dramatically as has film exhibition. It’s quite remarkable I’d say.