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Closings
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June 9, 2010
Regal opens Tikahtnu Stadium 16 in Anchorage; closes Fireweed Cinemas
ANCHORAGE, AK — On June 6, Regal Theaters closed the Fireweed Cinemas, which opened in the 1960s as a single screen cinema. The next day the company opened its new Anchorage megaplex, the Tikahtnu Stadium 16, which also includes a digital IMAX screen.
The new Tikahtnu Stadium 16 features plush upgrades to the current Anchorage movie experience. The stadium seating is arranged on a step incline with 16-inch risers ensuring an unobstructed view of the screen. Cushy chairs are arranged with enough leg room to stretch out and have no worries that the chair, or your head, will be kicked by the person behind. The row space even offers enough room to pass by fellow movie-goers without stepping on toes, bumping into knees or the need for the already seated person to stand to make room. The chairs also feature moveable armrests with cup holders, rocking capabilities and tall backrests.
There is more here.
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June 2, 2010
Century Center closes
CARRBORO, NC — The Carrboro Century Center Cinema, located in Downtown Carrboro, with its monthly cinema series sponsored by the Town of Carrboro, is closing its doors after three years of film showings. The Carrboro Cinema included independent films from a variety of different cultures and genres including showings of classic films as well.
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May 18, 2010
Carmike 6 closes in Mt. Lebanon
MT. LEBANON, PA — The Carmike Galleria 6 will be closed as of June 17. The impending closure will be the latest in a series of Pittsburgh area closings. The cinema opened twenty-one years ago.
The theater, which welcomed its first paying customers on June 16, 1989, will go dark June 17. No word yet on what will occupy its sprawling space on the upper level.
Dale Hurst, director of marketing for Carmike, today cited dwindling business and said the other Pittsburgh locations would not be affected. “We try everything we can to maintain a top-notch operation,” he said by phone from Georgia, calling this and other closures “always the last, last, last resort.”
Here’s the full story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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May 17, 2010
Cedar Grove movie theater closes after 12 years
CEDAR GROVE, NJ — Not being able to make it through the summer, Cinema 23 abruptly closed its doors last week.
A recorded message left on the theater’s phone system on Wednesday thanked patrons for their business over the past 12 years.
A spokeswoman for the Clearview Cinemas chain in Florham Park, which owns the local theater, confirmed Wednesday that the chain had closed but did not provide further details about the facility or others the chain owns in other parts of Essex County, including Montclair and Millburn.
Read the full story in the Verona-Cedar Grove Times.
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May 13, 2010
Rheem Theatre closes
MORAGA, CA — The Rheem Theatre closed approx. 4 weeks ago. The owner of the property is looking for someone to continue the operation as a theatre.
The theatre was bult as a single screen in 1957 by Donald Rheem. It was closed for a while in the early to mid 70’s and reopened as a concert venue circa 1980. It became a single screen theatre again in the 90’s and more recently was four-plexed.
Mike
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April 8, 2010
Rave Cinemas Pittsburgh West 12 closing as of April 15
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.
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April 6, 2010
Chicago’s Lakeshore Theater closes on April 10
CHICAGO, IL — The Lakeshore Theater, which most recently has served as a live performance venue for comedy and other acts, will close on April 10. Originally opened in 1914, it became a part of the Balaban & Katz chain. It was later operated by Cineplex Odeon as the Broadway Cinema before closing in 2002, as one of the last ( if not the last) of Chicago’s neighborhood single-screen theaters to close. Its future is at best uncertain, as substantial upgrades are needed to its physical plant.
What I had initially hoped was an April Fool’s Day joke was in fact a sad truth, The Lakeshore Theater announced last night via twitter, Facebook and a heartfelt email that it will close permanently on April 10.
According to owner Chris Ritter, “Although revenues have been growing year after year, and the Lakeshore brand of great comedy, music and good times has been successfully established, our revenues are simply insufficient to fund ongoing operations and the plant improvements that would be required to continue and take the business to the next level of success.”
There is a story here in Time Out.
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March 30, 2010
North Carolina’s Bright Leaf Drive-in closes
MOUNT AIRY, NC — After fifty-five years, the Bright Leaf Drive-in has closed. According the theater’s website, all of the equipment is for sale.
The drive-in theater on North Andy Griffith Parkway was closed last weekend. The owner of the land where the drive-in is located decided not to renew the lease with the current theater owners.
“It is our understanding that the land is going to be sold and there they will no more drive-in,” the Web site says.
Read more in the Winston-Salem Journal.
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March 10, 2010
After seventy-four years, Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill theater closes
PITTSBURGH, PA — It has been a fixture on Forward Avenue for over seven decades, but the Squirrel Hill Theater is now closed. Unable to compete with newer theaters, the owner is reluctantly compelled to shut it down.
Mr. Stern added that the Manor remains profitable and is not in jeopardy of going dark. “It remains the premier specialized film venue in Pittsburgh. We will explore other alternatives and opportunities to fill the void in the market caused by closing the six screens at the Squirrel Hill Theater.”
The Squirrel Hill Theater’s future had been further jeopardized by a proposed real estate deal and the closing of Poli’s around the corner also reduced foot traffic.
Here’s the story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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March 9, 2010
Parkway Cinemas to close in May
BLOOMINGTON, IL — The eight-screen Carmike Parkway Cinemas has been open for only twenty years, but according to this article, the theater is “at the end of useful life” and that the opening of newer megaplexes in the area have resulted in more screens than the marketing area can support.
Despite Hollywood’s record 10 billion ticket sales in 2009, a market the size of Bloomington-Normal can’t support the number of existing screens, Champion said.
The current total, 55, is the most for any downstate Illinois market. With the Parkway’s closure, the count will still remain high, at 47.
Read more in the Pantagraph.
[ed. note- Has the public’s desire for amenities made 20 years the standard lifetime of a theater these days? Or were the theaters of that era unremarkable? Was stadium seating the ultimate game changer?]