Town Cinema 6 was originally a Stewart & Everett Theatre. S&E built several theaters based on its design: (Carmike)Cinema 4 in Aberdeen, Havelock Cinema 4/6 (Carmike Cinema 6) in Havelock, Cinema 6 in Wilmington and Cinema 6 in Jacksonville, and possibly others. Only the Havelock Cinema remains in operation; Carmike abandoned Aberdeen (and Charlotte!) and replaced the Wilmington and Jacksonville Cinemas 6 with megaplexes.
The Turnage Theater was owned by Stewart & Everett Theatres during the 1970s. S&E built the Washington Square Mall Cinema 1 & 2 (later Cinema Triple, now Cinema 7) as the replacement for the Turnage Theater in 1976. The Turnage may have stayed open until a third screen was added to the Washington Square Mall Cinema.
Berkeley Cinema added a third screen in 1978 (Berkeley Cinema 1-2-3) and a fourth screen about 1981 (after the Plitt Quad opened in Greenville but before the Litchfield 4 opened a few blocks away).
As far as I can remember the Parkhill Cinema was always an independent – I don’t know of any S&E theater having a video store in its lobby. I remember this theater being announced in the final ads for the Colonial Theater downtown, leading me to believe the Colonial’s then-owners were the Parkhill’s owners. Also, S&E had just pulled out of Williamston the previous year – why build a new three-screen in a similarly-sized town? The Parkhill Cinema was probably the last cinema in Eastern NC built with fewer than four screens (the only later theaters with less than four screens I can think of are the Cameo in Fayetteville, the Marbles IMAX Theater and possibly the Studio I & II – both in Raleigh, and the Chelsea in Chapel Hill. All of these are west of I-95).
“Batteries Not Included” from what I heard was a real turkey; one showing at Greenville’s Plitt Quad (later Carolina East 4 and co-owned with this theater) had free admission! Did Golden East 4 also do the free showing of “Batteries Not Included”? The reviews I read were so bad I passed on the free show!
The Google street view picture has been updated and the name of the music venue (South 13 Saloon and Roadhouse) is visible on the roadside marquee. At one time the South 13 Saloon hosted drag queen shows (which turned off its core customer base); those ended after a few months. I do not know if this nightclub is still in business.
The Parkwood Cinema was opened as a single-screen theater by Stewart & Everett Theatres in 1967, a second screen added on about 1975 (Parkwood Cinema 1 & 2), and a third screen added (by dividing the original auditorium in half) by 1978 (Parkwood Cinema 1-2-3).
Stewart & Everett opened the Plaza Cinema in August 1968 with “The Odd Couple”, a movie that had been released in 1967. The Plaza Cinema was a clone of the Parkwood Cinema in Wilson, which S&E opened in 1967. The Plaza Cinema added on a second screen in 1975 (becoming Plaza Cinema 1 & 2), then carved the original auditorium in two (becoming Plaza Cinema 1-2-3)in late 1977 or early 1978 (a response to the newly opened Buccaneer Movies 1 & 2 on Arlington Boulevard).
The shopping center housing the Cardinal Theatres was renamed Crossroads Plaza after K-Mart moved to a new store on Sutters Creek Boulevard, next to Golden East Crossing.
Tinseltoes: Thanks for the interior photo. About a year after that photo was taken the Pitt Theatre was converted to CinemaScope. By 1970 the Pitt’s interior was modernized and the balcony concealed following desegregation.
Raysson: When did Carmike upgrade this theater to stadium seating? When it opened in 1996 it was a slant-floor theater; at least this theater is keeping up with its sister theater Market Fair 15 and the Millstone in Hope Mills.
raysson: Thanks for the correct dates regarding the Pleasant Valley’s opening and the Valley Twin’s closing. Pleasant Valley deserved to stay in business longer than it did, but the stadium megaplexes nearby pretty much killed any chance of reviving it. Second-run theaters in North Carolina are disappearing (particularly from the Triangle eastward); Raleigh still has Blue Ridge and Raleighwood, Fayetteville has the Omni Cinemas 8, and Smithfield may still have the Howell. I’m amazed that there aren’t more discount houses now, considering the ludicrous prices of the big chains. Then again, it’s cheaper to bootleg movies off the Internet (I personally don’t do this; I prefer to pay for good quality) than it is to go to even a cheap theater.
The Midway was the only drive-in left in New Bern by 1972. My dad moved to New Bern in 1971 and for all the time he lived down there, the Midway was the only drive-in located in New Bern. The other drive-in in Craven County during the 1970s was the Havelock Drive-In (listed on CT).
At the time of the photo (1993) the Midway Drive-In had been abandoned for several years; Gordon Parrott had died about the same time as the Midway’s closing. Parrott’s family sold the supermarkets (including the one seen above) to a Morehead City chain called Pak-a-Sak in 1987; they expanded the Southgate Cinema to six screens around 1988 and sold it off years later.
hispeed54: Thanks for providing the aerial photo of the Midway. The large white building in the upper left corner of the photo is one of Gordon Parrott’s Foodland stores (acquired from Williams Red & White). Parrott owned the Midway Drive-In long before taking over Williams Red & White. His earlier Foodlands were on the north side of the Trent River in New Bern proper; another Foodland was next to his other theater, the Southgate (now Bear Town) Cinema.
This theater opened in 1987, one week before the Carmike 7 (now Carmike 15) opened. I saw Howard Stern’s “Private Parts” here in 1997, choosing this theater instead of Carmike’s Park Place, Six Forks Station or Tower Merchants 6 cinemas – Carmike got my money on this movie at Greenville’s Carolina East 4. Pleasant Valley was a well-run and well-kept multiplex; it just wasn’t elaborate enough to compete with either Carmike’s marble-lobbied multiplexes or the stadium seating of the Raleigh Grande, which opened later in 1997. The Pleasant Valley 7 was probably left in better shape when General Cinema abandoned it than any theater abandoned by Carmike; it’s a shame the discount incarnation of the Pleasant Valley failed. Under GC the admission prices were too high to compete with the Carmike and UA theaters in town; GC never ran another theater in the Triangle.
ctwrenn: I posted three of the four photos posted here of the Colonial. I used my Android phone to take the pictures (the photos showing the facade without white paint). The morning photo was taken March 12,2012; the two evening shots (showing the neon lit up) were taken April 9, 2012. WSasser posted the photo of the Colonial with the white facade; it appears to have been taken in the mid-1980s after closing but before it became a church.
This and every other Hay Street theatre still operating in the 1970s formed what was possibly the closest thing to New York City’s infamous “Forty Deuce” (42nd Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue)within North Carolina.
smyjmy1: Yes, it opened in 1985 as a 4-screen cinema and operated as such under Stewart & Everett. Carmike added screens 5 and 6 early in 1987. S&E had an identical 4-screen theater in Aberdeen, also opened in 1985; Carmike chose to leave the Aberdeen Cinema 4 as a 4-screen until it closed. S&E did build a lookalike theater in Jacksonville called Cinema 6; I believe that theater was always a sixplex. S&E’s ads for the Havelock Cinema always used the number 4; Carmike probably tacked on the rear two auditoriums (one left, one right) and made it a six.
Town Cinema 6 was originally a Stewart & Everett Theatre. S&E built several theaters based on its design: (Carmike)Cinema 4 in Aberdeen, Havelock Cinema 4/6 (Carmike Cinema 6) in Havelock, Cinema 6 in Wilmington and Cinema 6 in Jacksonville, and possibly others. Only the Havelock Cinema remains in operation; Carmike abandoned Aberdeen (and Charlotte!) and replaced the Wilmington and Jacksonville Cinemas 6 with megaplexes.
Regal acquired this theater from Eastern Federal in 2005.
The site of the Colony Theatre is now a parking lot. Status should be Demolished.
The Turnage Theater was owned by Stewart & Everett Theatres during the 1970s. S&E built the Washington Square Mall Cinema 1 & 2 (later Cinema Triple, now Cinema 7) as the replacement for the Turnage Theater in 1976. The Turnage may have stayed open until a third screen was added to the Washington Square Mall Cinema.
Berkeley Cinema added a third screen in 1978 (Berkeley Cinema 1-2-3) and a fourth screen about 1981 (after the Plitt Quad opened in Greenville but before the Litchfield 4 opened a few blocks away).
As far as I can remember the Parkhill Cinema was always an independent – I don’t know of any S&E theater having a video store in its lobby. I remember this theater being announced in the final ads for the Colonial Theater downtown, leading me to believe the Colonial’s then-owners were the Parkhill’s owners. Also, S&E had just pulled out of Williamston the previous year – why build a new three-screen in a similarly-sized town? The Parkhill Cinema was probably the last cinema in Eastern NC built with fewer than four screens (the only later theaters with less than four screens I can think of are the Cameo in Fayetteville, the Marbles IMAX Theater and possibly the Studio I & II – both in Raleigh, and the Chelsea in Chapel Hill. All of these are west of I-95).
“Batteries Not Included” from what I heard was a real turkey; one showing at Greenville’s Plitt Quad (later Carolina East 4 and co-owned with this theater) had free admission! Did Golden East 4 also do the free showing of “Batteries Not Included”? The reviews I read were so bad I passed on the free show!
The Google street view picture has been updated and the name of the music venue (South 13 Saloon and Roadhouse) is visible on the roadside marquee. At one time the South 13 Saloon hosted drag queen shows (which turned off its core customer base); those ended after a few months. I do not know if this nightclub is still in business.
The Parkwood Cinema was opened as a single-screen theater by Stewart & Everett Theatres in 1967, a second screen added on about 1975 (Parkwood Cinema 1 & 2), and a third screen added (by dividing the original auditorium in half) by 1978 (Parkwood Cinema 1-2-3).
Stewart & Everett opened the Plaza Cinema in August 1968 with “The Odd Couple”, a movie that had been released in 1967. The Plaza Cinema was a clone of the Parkwood Cinema in Wilson, which S&E opened in 1967. The Plaza Cinema added on a second screen in 1975 (becoming Plaza Cinema 1 & 2), then carved the original auditorium in two (becoming Plaza Cinema 1-2-3)in late 1977 or early 1978 (a response to the newly opened Buccaneer Movies 1 & 2 on Arlington Boulevard).
The shopping center housing the Cardinal Theatres was renamed Crossroads Plaza after K-Mart moved to a new store on Sutters Creek Boulevard, next to Golden East Crossing.
Tinseltoes: Thanks for the interior photo. About a year after that photo was taken the Pitt Theatre was converted to CinemaScope. By 1970 the Pitt’s interior was modernized and the balcony concealed following desegregation.
Carmike Cinemas bought this theater from Cineplex Odeon in 1990 and later sold it to Consolidated Theaters (1994?)
Raysson: When did Carmike upgrade this theater to stadium seating? When it opened in 1996 it was a slant-floor theater; at least this theater is keeping up with its sister theater Market Fair 15 and the Millstone in Hope Mills.
raysson: Thanks for the correct dates regarding the Pleasant Valley’s opening and the Valley Twin’s closing. Pleasant Valley deserved to stay in business longer than it did, but the stadium megaplexes nearby pretty much killed any chance of reviving it. Second-run theaters in North Carolina are disappearing (particularly from the Triangle eastward); Raleigh still has Blue Ridge and Raleighwood, Fayetteville has the Omni Cinemas 8, and Smithfield may still have the Howell. I’m amazed that there aren’t more discount houses now, considering the ludicrous prices of the big chains. Then again, it’s cheaper to bootleg movies off the Internet (I personally don’t do this; I prefer to pay for good quality) than it is to go to even a cheap theater.
The Midway was the only drive-in left in New Bern by 1972. My dad moved to New Bern in 1971 and for all the time he lived down there, the Midway was the only drive-in located in New Bern. The other drive-in in Craven County during the 1970s was the Havelock Drive-In (listed on CT).
At the time of the photo (1993) the Midway Drive-In had been abandoned for several years; Gordon Parrott had died about the same time as the Midway’s closing. Parrott’s family sold the supermarkets (including the one seen above) to a Morehead City chain called Pak-a-Sak in 1987; they expanded the Southgate Cinema to six screens around 1988 and sold it off years later.
hispeed54: Thanks for providing the aerial photo of the Midway. The large white building in the upper left corner of the photo is one of Gordon Parrott’s Foodland stores (acquired from Williams Red & White). Parrott owned the Midway Drive-In long before taking over Williams Red & White. His earlier Foodlands were on the north side of the Trent River in New Bern proper; another Foodland was next to his other theater, the Southgate (now Bear Town) Cinema.
Correction: the Raleigh Grande opened in 1998. It still hastened the Pleasant Valley 7’s demise, however. Stadium seating vs. slant-floor? No contest.
Did any part of the original Paramount survive the fire? The rebuilt Paramount looks shorter and wider than the old one.
This theater opened in 1987, one week before the Carmike 7 (now Carmike 15) opened. I saw Howard Stern’s “Private Parts” here in 1997, choosing this theater instead of Carmike’s Park Place, Six Forks Station or Tower Merchants 6 cinemas – Carmike got my money on this movie at Greenville’s Carolina East 4. Pleasant Valley was a well-run and well-kept multiplex; it just wasn’t elaborate enough to compete with either Carmike’s marble-lobbied multiplexes or the stadium seating of the Raleigh Grande, which opened later in 1997. The Pleasant Valley 7 was probably left in better shape when General Cinema abandoned it than any theater abandoned by Carmike; it’s a shame the discount incarnation of the Pleasant Valley failed. Under GC the admission prices were too high to compete with the Carmike and UA theaters in town; GC never ran another theater in the Triangle.
This and the Cameo Theatre downtown are the only operating theatres within Fayetteville’s city limits that Carmike doesn’t run.
ctwrenn: I posted three of the four photos posted here of the Colonial. I used my Android phone to take the pictures (the photos showing the facade without white paint). The morning photo was taken March 12,2012; the two evening shots (showing the neon lit up) were taken April 9, 2012. WSasser posted the photo of the Colonial with the white facade; it appears to have been taken in the mid-1980s after closing but before it became a church.
This and every other Hay Street theatre still operating in the 1970s formed what was possibly the closest thing to New York City’s infamous “Forty Deuce” (42nd Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue)within North Carolina.
smyjmy1: Yes, it opened in 1985 as a 4-screen cinema and operated as such under Stewart & Everett. Carmike added screens 5 and 6 early in 1987. S&E had an identical 4-screen theater in Aberdeen, also opened in 1985; Carmike chose to leave the Aberdeen Cinema 4 as a 4-screen until it closed. S&E did build a lookalike theater in Jacksonville called Cinema 6; I believe that theater was always a sixplex. S&E’s ads for the Havelock Cinema always used the number 4; Carmike probably tacked on the rear two auditoriums (one left, one right) and made it a six.