Carmike took it over after Cineplex, but it only lasted a short time. Next up was EFW, a bit of a sketchy operator, who I was told was thrown out due to non-payment of rent. The landlord then ran it briefly with the old EFW staff to help them recoup their pay that EFW never made. That arrangement didn’t last long and it was closed up for good to the best of my knowledge. It wasn’t a bad theater for its time, it was always just in third place behind AMC and Storey/Regal and had the least desirable location.
This is a good thing for Northeast Plaza. The old O'Neil conversion from retail was overall pretty good for the time and I believe did good business until they went bankrupt. I was always under the impression that they were doing OK with this location, the one they ran in Gwinnett and the old one they put on the top floor of the old Columbia Mall Davidson’s. I think they were just a small company caught up in the wave of bankruptcies while everybody was trying to outspend each other.
The bowling alley, bar/restaurant conversion run by Frank Theaters closed abruptly this past weekend. Plaza this was in lost its other big tenant when A&P folded and the Pathmark closed. Not a great location and things don’t look promising.
Apparently reopening soon by Cosmic Cinemas out of South Carolina, there is an interview from the Scranton Fox affiliate at https://fox56.com/news/local/dont-call-it-a-comeback-iron-horse-bistro-is-set-to-return with a few shots of the interior, looks nice.
Bad news today https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/2019/02/22m-apartment-project-to-be-the-next-act-for-bethlehems-beloved-boyd-theatre-report-says.html
I visited the Varsity in around 78, it was nearly identical to the Miracle in Smyrna, GA. EFC had the Miracle, North Springs, Toco Hills and Belvedere that used a variation of that design in Metro Atlanta.
Wow, standard 70’s EFC stuff! Win a free pass sign, loved that, tear the cup seam to look for the star. About 10 passes per case of cups. A program brought about to destroy cups so unscrupulous managers wouldn’t pick cups up and resell them, pocketing the $. EFC had no cash registers at the stand so everything was based on cup counts for drinks and popcorn. They loved those shield shaped signs and the crazy carpet! Those gold pendant light fixtures likely had matching ashtrays, the kind that you put kitty litter in and the lobby likely had a row or two of those fiberglass row seats in that mid-century style on orange, turquoise and yellow. Did they have a big mid-century light fixture in the middle of the lobby, multiple colors and levels or “Sputnik” style?
Eastern Federal was a commercial property developer who happened to run a theater chain. One of their standard operating procedures was to build the shopping center, give themselves a dirt cheap ground lease in case they decided to sell the center, that way they kept bargain basement rent and could continue on with minimal overhead. With the ground lease they only paid rent on the ground under the building, the building and all of the contents were theirs to do with as they pleased. Needless to say they couldn’t take the building with them but they could/would strip them clean if they left. They could have torn the building down if they wanted to! I saw them tear up old filthy aisle carpet that was worthless when their lease ran out just because they could. I saw them lease a property where they only had a year left on the ground lease and the independent who was operating it had no idea how the ground lease worked. He redid some drain plumbing from a newer set of bathrooms that never worked correctly the whole time EFC had it just a month or so before the lease was up. The independent thought he’d be able to get a new lease with the landlord but EFC came in and took everything down to the block walls. They took the toilets and the suspended ceiling! The landlord would have leased it to him but he’d have to re-equip the whole operation, not something he had the money to do and would not have been a financially viable option. I’m not saying they were bad guys, they just knew exactly what they were doing. In a couple of instances they had decent properties and the new owner of the center eventually wanted to buy them out, so they would sell the lease back. It was like a bonus sale after the initial sale. They eventually sold the theaters to Regal but are still in the property development game today.
Thanks, I knew it had change names. At one point it was re-seated and the old seats found their way to Cobb Cinema in Smyrna, GA. EFC brought a manger up from there to launch their Tripling of the Town & Country in Marietta, Ga (late 80/early 81?), I think with the hope he might bring some magic along with him. By then no amount of splitting existing locations could keep EFC in stride with all of the other operators in Metro Atlanta.
EFC had a theatre called the Royal Palm somewhere around Jacksonville as best I can recall that was one of their most profitable locations in the 70’s. Anybody know what its last name was?
That is a shame, even though I was from Cobb, I liked N. Dekalb Mall. When I read that Rich’s (oops “Macy’s) was closing down I knew it would be the end eventually, such a shame. I think the worst part of the destruction of Atlanta is that there is never any significant fanfare, it just disappears. When Perimeter closed it was a whimper, not that it was the showplace it once was, but I think a lot of folks would have gone to one last show had we known it was coming. I know everyone I knew in the late 70’s saw at least one midnight movie there regardless of what part of town you were from and had great, if fuzzy, memories of it.
I agree about the Tara, but it isn’t quite as rounded as the Cinerama, otherwise the resemblance is remarkable. When I moved to Northern NJ a visit to the Zeigfeld was a must. I don’t even recall what we saw, I was busy checking out the theater, it was a spot on for the Rialto except it wasn’t rough and threadbare. A shame it was gutted, but NYC property is what it is.
Martin built a ton of twins and triples in the 70’s similar to the Martin Theatre in Talladega, AL, the southeast was virtually littered with them. They were never bashful about reusing a design. I have a recollection of another theater somewhere that had both the distinctive ribbed walls and overall shape as the Cinerama, but can’t put my finger on it. I keep trying to think of another area that would have had similar demographics in that time frame that would have supported a house of this size in their market. Perhaps another regular will have some suggestions.
I was only in the auditorium once prior to the butchering and that was a long time ago. The offices were small as I remember, when you went into the back door there was a narrow stairway to the second floor. Martin liked to use plans over and over again, I wonder did they use this plan elsewhere to compare it to? I know I have seen another theater with a similar shaped footprint somewhere in the southeast, but can seem to recall where.
I only recall ever visiting this location once to see “The Reincarnation of Peter Proud” (at least I think this was where I saw it!) Funny how in that era you sometimes had to travel to see a film.
I recall this being open in the early 80’s but never visited. Had relatives in the area and wold catch a movie in Athens maybe once a year but always at the Martin Plaza Twin.
Was in the area yesterday, still no permanent signs, just banners, the big one is showing some wear. Surprised they have not invested in signage yet, it has been a year or so since the spin-off from AMC. Seemed very busy for 4PM on one of our first decent weather Saturdays.
Was operated by an independent and either the recorded telephone greeting or the ads in the AJC mentioned “The Green Room” like it was the circuit’s name. As best as I can recall this was immediately before Lefont gave it a go. The only time I visited it during that operators time I took my kids to see The Flintstones, so that puts it around 94.
Carmike took it over after Cineplex, but it only lasted a short time. Next up was EFW, a bit of a sketchy operator, who I was told was thrown out due to non-payment of rent. The landlord then ran it briefly with the old EFW staff to help them recoup their pay that EFW never made. That arrangement didn’t last long and it was closed up for good to the best of my knowledge. It wasn’t a bad theater for its time, it was always just in third place behind AMC and Storey/Regal and had the least desirable location.
This is a good thing for Northeast Plaza. The old O'Neil conversion from retail was overall pretty good for the time and I believe did good business until they went bankrupt. I was always under the impression that they were doing OK with this location, the one they ran in Gwinnett and the old one they put on the top floor of the old Columbia Mall Davidson’s. I think they were just a small company caught up in the wave of bankruptcies while everybody was trying to outspend each other.
The bowling alley, bar/restaurant conversion run by Frank Theaters closed abruptly this past weekend. Plaza this was in lost its other big tenant when A&P folded and the Pathmark closed. Not a great location and things don’t look promising.
Apparently reopening soon by Cosmic Cinemas out of South Carolina, there is an interview from the Scranton Fox affiliate at https://fox56.com/news/local/dont-call-it-a-comeback-iron-horse-bistro-is-set-to-return with a few shots of the interior, looks nice.
Bad news today https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/2019/02/22m-apartment-project-to-be-the-next-act-for-bethlehems-beloved-boyd-theatre-report-says.html
Same setup, including the huge window, as in the original Town & Country in Marietta, GA, Cobb Cinema in Smyrna, GA and the Ben Hill Twin In Atlanta.
I visited the Varsity in around 78, it was nearly identical to the Miracle in Smyrna, GA. EFC had the Miracle, North Springs, Toco Hills and Belvedere that used a variation of that design in Metro Atlanta.
Wow, standard 70’s EFC stuff! Win a free pass sign, loved that, tear the cup seam to look for the star. About 10 passes per case of cups. A program brought about to destroy cups so unscrupulous managers wouldn’t pick cups up and resell them, pocketing the $. EFC had no cash registers at the stand so everything was based on cup counts for drinks and popcorn. They loved those shield shaped signs and the crazy carpet! Those gold pendant light fixtures likely had matching ashtrays, the kind that you put kitty litter in and the lobby likely had a row or two of those fiberglass row seats in that mid-century style on orange, turquoise and yellow. Did they have a big mid-century light fixture in the middle of the lobby, multiple colors and levels or “Sputnik” style?
Eastern Federal was a commercial property developer who happened to run a theater chain. One of their standard operating procedures was to build the shopping center, give themselves a dirt cheap ground lease in case they decided to sell the center, that way they kept bargain basement rent and could continue on with minimal overhead. With the ground lease they only paid rent on the ground under the building, the building and all of the contents were theirs to do with as they pleased. Needless to say they couldn’t take the building with them but they could/would strip them clean if they left. They could have torn the building down if they wanted to! I saw them tear up old filthy aisle carpet that was worthless when their lease ran out just because they could. I saw them lease a property where they only had a year left on the ground lease and the independent who was operating it had no idea how the ground lease worked. He redid some drain plumbing from a newer set of bathrooms that never worked correctly the whole time EFC had it just a month or so before the lease was up. The independent thought he’d be able to get a new lease with the landlord but EFC came in and took everything down to the block walls. They took the toilets and the suspended ceiling! The landlord would have leased it to him but he’d have to re-equip the whole operation, not something he had the money to do and would not have been a financially viable option. I’m not saying they were bad guys, they just knew exactly what they were doing. In a couple of instances they had decent properties and the new owner of the center eventually wanted to buy them out, so they would sell the lease back. It was like a bonus sale after the initial sale. They eventually sold the theaters to Regal but are still in the property development game today.
Thanks, I knew it had change names. At one point it was re-seated and the old seats found their way to Cobb Cinema in Smyrna, GA. EFC brought a manger up from there to launch their Tripling of the Town & Country in Marietta, Ga (late 80/early 81?), I think with the hope he might bring some magic along with him. By then no amount of splitting existing locations could keep EFC in stride with all of the other operators in Metro Atlanta.
EFC had a theatre called the Royal Palm somewhere around Jacksonville as best I can recall that was one of their most profitable locations in the 70’s. Anybody know what its last name was?
Looks just like the Ben Hill Twin in Atlanta. EFC wasn’t bashful about using the same plans over and over.
AMC also picked up the Franklin 3, if I recall correctly at one point all AMC had in Atlanta was the Omni 6, Arrowhead 3 and Franklin 3.
That is a shame, even though I was from Cobb, I liked N. Dekalb Mall. When I read that Rich’s (oops “Macy’s) was closing down I knew it would be the end eventually, such a shame. I think the worst part of the destruction of Atlanta is that there is never any significant fanfare, it just disappears. When Perimeter closed it was a whimper, not that it was the showplace it once was, but I think a lot of folks would have gone to one last show had we known it was coming. I know everyone I knew in the late 70’s saw at least one midnight movie there regardless of what part of town you were from and had great, if fuzzy, memories of it.
I agree about the Tara, but it isn’t quite as rounded as the Cinerama, otherwise the resemblance is remarkable. When I moved to Northern NJ a visit to the Zeigfeld was a must. I don’t even recall what we saw, I was busy checking out the theater, it was a spot on for the Rialto except it wasn’t rough and threadbare. A shame it was gutted, but NYC property is what it is.
Martin built a ton of twins and triples in the 70’s similar to the Martin Theatre in Talladega, AL, the southeast was virtually littered with them. They were never bashful about reusing a design. I have a recollection of another theater somewhere that had both the distinctive ribbed walls and overall shape as the Cinerama, but can’t put my finger on it. I keep trying to think of another area that would have had similar demographics in that time frame that would have supported a house of this size in their market. Perhaps another regular will have some suggestions.
I was only in the auditorium once prior to the butchering and that was a long time ago. The offices were small as I remember, when you went into the back door there was a narrow stairway to the second floor. Martin liked to use plans over and over again, I wonder did they use this plan elsewhere to compare it to? I know I have seen another theater with a similar shaped footprint somewhere in the southeast, but can seem to recall where.
Wow, that is a couple of stinkers to introduce your newest offering! Stan, see my reply to your question in the photo section.
I only recall ever visiting this location once to see “The Reincarnation of Peter Proud” (at least I think this was where I saw it!) Funny how in that era you sometimes had to travel to see a film.
I recall this being open in the early 80’s but never visited. Had relatives in the area and wold catch a movie in Athens maybe once a year but always at the Martin Plaza Twin.
Now Athens Movie Palace, from Google street view it appears to be a new lobby addition to a classic 70’s Martin Twin.
Was in the area yesterday, still no permanent signs, just banners, the big one is showing some wear. Surprised they have not invested in signage yet, it has been a year or so since the spin-off from AMC. Seemed very busy for 4PM on one of our first decent weather Saturdays.
Rivest266, thank you for all of your research and clippings concerning the Atlanta area theaters!
Was operated by an independent and either the recorded telephone greeting or the ads in the AJC mentioned “The Green Room” like it was the circuit’s name. As best as I can recall this was immediately before Lefont gave it a go. The only time I visited it during that operators time I took my kids to see The Flintstones, so that puts it around 94.
Yes, EFW had a brief run here. Parts of their leadership seem to have touched just about every closed theater in the area at some point.