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Closings
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March 9, 2010
Cincinnatti Mall cinema closes
CINCINNATI, OH — After being taken over by Rave Cinemas recently, the Showcase Cinemas in the Mills mall has closed.
In the year since new owners bought the 1.6 million-square-foot Cincinnati Mills, renamed it Cincinnati Mall and announced plans to redevelop it, the center has lost a dozen tenants and fallen delinquent on its property taxes.
The theater on the mall’s second level showed its last films Sunday. Guess Factory Outlet, Lane Bryant Outlet and Treehouse Kids also closed their stores in recent months.
Read more at Cincinnati.com.
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February 18, 2010
Wapa Theater closing; may become live performance venue
WAPAKONETA, OH — For over a century, the Wapa Theatre has been providing entertainment to this northwest Ohio community, first as a vaudeville house and then as a cinema. Now a non-profit group wants to turn the Wapa, born as the Brown Theater, into a place for live and digital performances after its scheduled closing in March.
According to an agenda for the group’s first meeting, they want to
“introduce a plan that will enrich our whole community by revitalizing the Brown Theater to its original purpose — the performing arts.”Frey, who serves as production manager, said it may take the support of the local community to accomplish this, but right now its the only option to keep the building open. There have been no other reported offers once the movie theater closes next month.
Initial plans for the non-profit include reopening the building as a live performance theater, which seats 620 people, by the end of March. The group would lease the space from theater owner and local attorney Robert Wiesenmayer.
The full story is in the Wapakoneta Daily News.
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February 4, 2010
Castle Theatre to close for first time
NEW CASTLE, IN — The Castle Theatre closed Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010, as Kerasotes did not renew its lease, a condition it has not been subjected to since its opening in 1935. Some of its original Vitrolite facade remains and much of its interior is original. For those of us who did not grow up with a Paradise or Uptown in our neighborhoods, the Castle was just fine. Here’s hoping that it will not be closed long and that we can tour it in June during the 2010 Hoosier Heartland Conclave with THSA.
favorite movies at the Castle.
Amy Glaser, State Farm Insurance agent, and lifelong resident of New Castle, said she went to the theater as a child, and now her own teenage daughter goes to the movies there.
“The Castle closing is very sad,” Glaser said. “It’s been a part of New Castle for a long time. My parents went to the Castle Theater. My kids go there, I’ve grown up there. It will be very missed in town.”
Note the link to the video news clip as well.
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January 12, 2010
Regal closing multiplex near Myrtle Beach, SC
MURRELLS INLET, SC — Regal Entertainment announced the closing of its twelve-screen theater in the Inlet Square Mall, south of Myrtle Beach. The theater chain claims that announced improvements to the mall were not made; the mall’s previous owner claims that Regal owes back rent.
The final day of operation for Regal Inlet Square 12 will be this Sunday, said Russ Nunley, vice president of marketing & communications for Regal Entertainment Group.
“We regret that our landlord’s announced improvements to the mall have not come to fruition,” he said. “Regal has terminated the lease due to the negative impact on our business from the stalled renovation project for the mall.”
Inlet Square has been in mid construction since late 2007, when a $4.5 million renovation stopped abruptly.
There’s more in the Sun News.
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January 8, 2010
Senate Theatre closes
DETROIT, MI — The Senate Theatre is now closed. The Detroit Theatre Organ Society could no longer afford to operate the theatre and has ended organ concerts at the Senate. The building is now for sale. The DTOS is looking for a new home for the Mighty Wurlitzer that was moved to the Senate from the Fisher Theatre 45 years ago. A sad story indeed.
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December 9, 2009
Dallas Theatre closes
DALLASTOWN, PA — The current owners gave it a go, but low attendance and other factors have forced the Dallas Theater to close. The theater opened in 1927.
Dallastown didn’t know it was without a movie theater once again.
On Tuesday afternoon, film titles still lined the Dallas Theatre’s Main Street marquee. Last weekend’s showtimes hung out front. The only hint of a goodbye was a handwritten thank-you sign in the lobby beyond the locked doors.
Some residents knew things weren’t going well.
Read the whole story in the York Daily Record.
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November 20, 2009
Toronto’s Carlton Cinemas set to close on December 6
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA — The Carlton Cinemas is set to close on December 6 due to decline in business. Opened back in 1981 as part of Garth Drabinsky and Nat Taylor’s original Cineplex chain. In recent years, the cinema have been declining in business due to the public’s movie going habits.
More details in the Globe and Mail.
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November 6, 2009
Pittsburgh’s Cheswick Theater closing
PITTSBURGH, PA — The number of screens it has had over the years expanded and contracted, but for over six decades, the Cheswick Theatre has been entertaining patrons in the Alle-Kiski Valley area. The owner is reluctant to close it, but economic realities have left him no choice.
“I didn’t want to close it, but there is such a thing that when it starts costing you money, you have no other alternative.”
The closing of the four-screen Cheswick Theatre along the north side of Pittsburgh Street comes two years after its sister building, which had two screens, closed.
It’s another step toward the end of an era in the Alle-Kiski Valley in which movie lovers flocked to downtown neighborhood theaters in New Kensington, Vandergrift, Cheswick and Tarentum.
Read more at Pittsburgh Live.
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October 30, 2009
Bargain cinema in Sumter closes
SUMTER, SC — The three screens of the Sumter Value Cinema have gone dark. The theater, once known as the Movies 3, served this community located about forty miles east of Columbia.
“It’s good to have a place to go that doesn’t cost too much,” he said. “Especially in this economy.”
Leasure said he could bring five people and get drinks and popcorn for everyone for about $40.
“I’d spend $40 at the other place just to get in the door,” he said. “I don’t know what we’ll do now.”
Read more in The Item.com.
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October 28, 2009
Cinemark closes Greentree 10
CLARKSVILLE, IN — The 10-screen GreenTree Mall bargain cinema operated by Cinemark was shuttered as of October 18. Cinemark had closed the nearby Greentree 4 some years previously.
While the theater has lost customers to newer Great Escape theaters in the area, it still had a following with families and students looking to see movies at discounted prices a few months after their initial release.
Ticket prices range from $1 to $2, depending on matinees and weekend show times. On Tuesdays, moviegoers in a group of three or more paid 50 cents each.
More details in the Courier-Journal.