AMC 309 Cinema 9

Due to the expansion of the 9-screener 309 Cinema, the 309 Drive-In which became a twin in 1981 closed its gates during the same year in 1986 not just because of the Cinema 9, but a plan of a strip mall being added.

The 309 Cinema closed 5/23/2017 to begin its renovations/rebuilding

https://twitter.com/KeithASiegel/status/846352912561426432 Based on this twitter thread the AMC 309 cinema is set to be upgraded. Either to AMC classic or Amazing.

The Budco 309 Cinema was a Twin by the start of 1976. This location became a 3-plex in early to mid 1980.

A CLARIFICATION:

Opened in 1968, the 309 Cinema, a single-screen, first run theatre was built adjacent to and on the same site as the 309 Twin Drive-In (now demolished) by Budco Theatres Inc. The theatre was twinned in the mid 1970’s and several additions and renovations to the original building, and poor planning, during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s has resulted in the hodgepodge that exists today. The cinema was rebranded the AMC 309 Cinema 9 when the Budco Theatres chain was acquired by AMC Cinemas (now AMC Theatres) at the end of 1986. Renovations to the lobby were made in the early 1990’s. And since it is a cinema, a marquee would be nice!

Maintenance always has been an issue because of the various additions. The lobby was redone in 1992-1993 to move the concession stand back and to allow for more registers. Previously, the entire place was a mess on opening nights and big releases because people were spiraled around a small stand — intended for drive-in audiences — and there was no easy way to situate the lines for those entering the theater. Further, resupply and preparation was behind a door that later became the arcade area. This is to the immediate left when one enters the building through the front doors. We used to have a popper going upstairs to handle any surges. Before the refurbishment, the equipment was getting to beaten up that if you touched popcorn scoops to the back of the warmers you would get an electric shock if your scoop didn’t have a rubber handle. Sometime in the ‘00s, they eliminated the generators that once sat behind the building. These were guarded by a low wall, and we would find people toking up and getting intimate in the weeds there. Location is what keeps this place open. Time has passed it by, but for awhile the $3 twilight shows (4 p.m.-6 p.m.) and cheaper prices than the former Eric up the street helped to drive traffic here.

It’s also unique that the 309 cinema still has the “Cinema” in cursive, just like it’s former sister theatres Plymouth Cinema and Ellisburg Circle Cinema.

I think you are right. I had my dates mixed up.

The 309 Cinema 9, along with the long gone Orleans 8, Andorra 8, Barn 5, Springfield Twin, , City Line Twin, and Millside 4, as well as Midtown Twin (Prince Music Theatre), Olde City Twin (Ritz East Twin) and Anthony Wayne Twin (Clearview’s Anthony Wayne 5) became AMC Theatres when AMC bought Budco Theatres in 1988.

Haven’t been there since “The Rock” in 1996 when the first twenty minutes of the feature was projected two-perforations out-of-frame, and, presumably, I was the only sighted person in the auditorium as nobody made the slightest fuss. Finally, I got up and informed an usher of the problem. He looked at me as if I had just landed from another planet, mumbled something unintelligble and walked away. About ten minutes later, the problem was corrected.

http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=C54A0A7A528AA139!101
Correct one

Best Fossil
If a youngster ever asks what it was like to go to the movies in the ‘80s, pack them into the car and trot out to AMC’s Rt. 309 Cinema 9. Built atop a folded drive-in sometime in the '60s, the 309 is a boxy multiplexâ€"without stadium seatingâ€"whose decor looks to have been untouched since The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear flickered.

from Philadelphia Weekly:

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