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The latest movie theater news and updates
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June 14, 2016
Fayette, WV - Historic Fayette Theater begins renovation project
From the Fayette Tribune: The Historic Fayette Theater has served the community of Southern West Virginia for the past 23 years. However, the historic building in which it is located has had some limitations. The restrooms are currently located on the second floor, accessible only by a flight of steps. Creating handicap-accessible restrooms has long been a priority for the HFT’s Board of Directors and this summer the renovation work will finally commence.
The entire lobby will be renovated and will include two handicap-accessible bathrooms. This work will be funded in part by a generous fund dedicated to the memory of Alice Todaro.
Alice Todaro was long time supporter of the arts in general and the Historic Fayette Theater in particular. She served on the Board of Directors and regularly attended performances. She even appeared in several productions, telling people that the role she liked the best was when she shot the prop gun simulating the assassination of Teddy Roosevelt in Gene Worthington’s rendition of Bully.
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June 13, 2016
Streator, IL - Will the show ever go on at Majestic Theater?
From mywebtimes.com:
With its classic marquee and iconic balcony level, the Majestic Theatre was once considered a crown jewel in Streator.The movie house, built in 1907 in the 100 block of North Vermillion Street, was closed and boarded up in August 2014. It fell into foreclosure some months later.
Local residents and city officials are hoping for an investor to see the value of purchasing the 8,100 square-foot building for some business purpose or restoring it back to its former glory as one of the most attractive movie theaters in North Central Illinois.
The property features two separate auditoriums with seating accommodations for 450 people, a concession stand area and an unfinished apartment on the second level. Sales promotions admit the building is in need of some updates and repairs to restored the structure in its “original and nostalgia of yesterday.”
The property will be sold as is.
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June 9, 2016
Los Angeles, CA - H&M’s Upscale COS Brand Coming to Olympic Theatre in Downtown LA
From brighamyen.com: As the listing agent for the Olympic Theatre in Downtown LA owned by Titan Metropolis LLC, I am especially excited to report that we have signed a new retailer that will become another strong addition to Downtown LA’s growing shopping district. H&M is so bullish on downtown’s future — and why shouldn’t they be when their massive flagship store in DTLA has been doing extremely well — that they are now going to turn the dilapidated Olympic Theatre into their much more exclusive and fashion forward brand called COS (like “coss”), which stands for Collection of Style.
Built in 1927, the Olympic Theatre has a total square footage of 9,835 square feet spanning three levels (basement, ground floor, and mezzanine). Unfortunately, besides the vertical “Olympic” sign installed on the front along with the beautiful arched facade, most of the historic detailing inside has not survived the decades of decay and different ownership alterations. However, given the upscale nature of COS, the retailer plans to invest a substantial amount of money to rehab and upgrade the building, including relighting the original vertical Olympic signage. You may also recall, the historic Rialto Theatre on Broadway was converted to an Urban Outfitters store back in 2013.
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June 8, 2016
Berkeley, CA - Berkeley’s UC Theatre reborn as a music venue
From the Mercury News: It had been decades since I’d last visited Berkeley’s UC Theatre, the groovy repertoire cinema where I enjoyed an epic double feature of the rock documentaries “Stop Making Sense” and “The Last Waltz.”
Last week, I returned to the building — which closed in 2001 but recently reopened as a 1,400-capacity music venue. And after catching a set from The Rides — the blues-rock supergroup featuring Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and keyboard great Barry Goldberg — I’m happy to report that the officially dubbed UC Theatre Taube Family Music Hall is a pretty cool place to see live music.
The 99-year-old theater has undergone a thorough restoration and looks downright gorgeous. Plus, it boasts an impressive Meyer Sound system and good sightlines, thanks to a three-tiered floor layout.
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June 7, 2016
Quincy, MA - One last look inside Quincy’s historic Wollaston Theatre
From The Patriot Ledger: City natives have been dropping by the Wollaston Theatre this past week to get one last glimpse of a building that still evokes memories of dollar movie nights, first dates and simpler times.
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Peoria, IL - Madison Theater damaged in fire investigation as arson
From WQAD.com: An abandoned yet historic Peoria theater has been damaged after a fire broke out inside and investigator say they believe it was arson.
The Peoria Journal Star reports the fire ignited late Saturday inside the Madison Theater in downtown Peoria. Brad Pierson is a fire investigator with the Peoria Fire Department and told the Journal Star the fire appeared to have been started in several parts of the old building.
Streets and a nearby bar were closed as firefighters worked to put out flames.
Peoria fire officials gave a preliminary estimate of $100,000 in damage done to the theater.
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June 6, 2016
Gibson City, IL - Drive-in movies are alive and well in Gibson City
From the Daily Journal: There are generations of movie fans who don’t get the drive-in theater concept. They would ask: Why would you want to sit in your car and watch a movie through your windshield? Don’t you have your phone or iPad?
And there’s an older generation of people who don’t know that today’s drive-in theaters have kept up with technology. These throwback theaters use digital projection and a modern sound system. You hear the soundtrack through your car’s stereo system: Those low-fidelity speaker boxes, the kind you used to hang on your car window, are gone.
Movie lovers of all generations still can find common ground these days, on the parking lot of the Harvest Moon Twin Drive-In in Gibson City. This throwback from the “Happy Days” era is not only showing contemporary movies, it’s been named third among the nation’s Top 10 outdoor theaters by popular vote in a USA Today poll.
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Minneapolis, MN - Uptown Theatre Celebrates 100th Birthday
From the Star Tribune: One of Minnesota’s finest art museums provides an ever-changing global repertoire of avant-garde work and cherished classics. For generations, the Art Deco Uptown Theatre has been the hottest ticket and coolest movie marathon in town. To celebrate the beginning of its second century the Uptown throws its 100th anniversary party this week.
Since World War I, it has appealed to moving-picture fans even when the heating and cooling fans became museum pieces of their own. Before admissions were sold online, visitors stood outside the box office in the kinds of long queues that ticket scalpers hope for. Even with a 1939 conflagration that closed it for repair, and later grousing about parking shortages and worn seating, it drew devotees decade after decade.
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June 3, 2016
Anchorage, AK - City denies $38M tax break for proposed 4th Avenue Theatre redevelopment
From the Alaska Dispatch News: A tax break that was part of a proposal to redevelop the historical but unused 4th Avenue Theatre downtown has been denied by the city’s chief fiscal officer, according to documents submitted to the Anchorage Assembly this week.
The owner of the theater and adjacent properties, Peach Investments, had proposed a complex costing roughly $278 million that would include pedestrian shopping, a parking garage and tower. The Assembly declared the property “deteriorated” last May, and in September, Peach Investments applied for partial tax exemptions amounting to about $38 million over 10 years.
Without a tax break, the owners argued, the project most likely couldn’t happen. But in a memo to Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and the Assembly, Anchorage chief fiscal officer Robert Harris said the application didn’t demonstrate that the tax break was in fact necessary — or that the project even qualified for one under current city law.
In an interview Wednesday, Harris said the proposal detailed a project that was just in its early stages and lacked specifics. He said the owners didn’t pin down key details, like whether a hotel or a condominium would be built.
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Washington, DC - Miracle Theater Opens in historic Meader’s Theater Building
From Washington City Paper: In early May, single-screen art-house theater Suns Cinema opened in Mt. Pleasant—the latest addition to D.C.’s recent movie theater boom. But a couple weeks earlier, another small movie theater quietly opened, this one on Barracks Row: The Miracle Theatre.
The building that houses The Miracle Theatre, which had its soft opening on April 22, hosted movies and vaudeville shows in a previous life as Meader’s Theater, which opened in 1909. Miracle, which is owned by the National Community Church, is intent on celebrating that history. “We knew we wanted to revive that history for the community,” says Miracle Theatre manager Juliet Main. When the NCC purchased the building in 2011, she says they begin researching its history and decided to furnish and decorate it like a 1920s movie theater.
In addition to showing second runs of new movies, Main says the theater will also host special film series, repertory cinema, and will be used as a live performance venue. “Since we’re setup with a stage, we want to do special events,” she says.