As far as I can recall this theater stayed open til 1990. I remember the AJC having an article saying that a high point in Atlanta (the Ansley Cinema) movie going and a low point (the Rialto) both closed around the same time in 1990.
I was in Sandersville this past Sunday and the Pastime appeared to be closed. I asked my cousin about it and he thinks it might be closed for awhile. Mike, the other theater you mentioned is around the corner, the Arcade.
This was a nice theater. I was impressed with the art-deco interior. This place tried to make a go as a dollar house after Southlake 24 opened. Unfortunately it did not work. Anything was better than the GCC Southlake III up the street.
Last week I rode by the theater and it looks as if they are doing some renovation. There is a sign in front that says the Buchead Theater coming soon. I doubt if this will be a cinema but hopefully it will be preserved.
I remember my mother telling me about this drive-in. I don’t remember the name but she said that it was off the road going to Sandersville almost on the bank of the Oconee River. If the drive-in closed in 59 she may not have remembered the exact location.
From what I can remember, there was a theater called the Terrace Theater in this location. The Terrace was originally a single screen theater but converted to a twin. The only time I attended the Terrace, it was already a twin. It seems the next year, the walls of the old Terrace became the lobby of this new theater and the auditoriums were added on either side. The lobby of this theater resembled the lobby of the Riverdale cinema.
Chuck The Ashby Theater has not been called the Edifice Dinner Theater for over 20 years. If you drive by the theater today, you will see the marquee is covered up.
Sorry to burst you bubble, Chuck, but your picture is of a theater in Jonesboro Arkansas. The above theater is in Jonesboro Georgia and did not look like the above picture. Good try anyway.
Love the picture. I don’t remember the screen being so close to the highway but like I said in my original post it was almost 30 years ago when I saw the theater.
Prior to closing, this site was a porno house. I think George Echols took over this site and several others and began showing porn. This was one of the last porno housed to close. For a while the Academy Theater group used this property as thier playhouse.
When they left, it was not long before the building was demolished.
About three weeks ago I went to see one of my students bowl at the bowling alley in what was once Woolco department store adjacent to the old theater. The part of the shopping center that was the theater is still there but it appears to be completely sealed off. You cannot tell where the entrance was if you did not already know where it was.
The whole shopping center area is closed off and looks like a bombed out town.
It is painful to see what once was a prosperous shopping center go down so badly.
To the best of my knowledge, the Roosevelt lasted until the early 1980s. I do remember they lowered thier admission to $2.00 a carload which would make that comparable to the dollar movie theaters. The drive-in remained single screen until it closed. Now the whole area looks like a forest.
While demolishing the Paramount, the facade was preserved and now adorns a home in Moultre Georgia. I have some pictures that I need to find. What looks like the second floor frontage is now the front of the house. It still looks very impressive.
All the bad posts about the Lenox Square Theater are true. I remember going a few times before they split the big auditorium. It definitely was not art deco but more of the typical 60s theaters.
After they began splitting auditoriums, it was like looking down a long hallway at a TV screen. The screen did not look much bigger than what some people have in their homes now.
Another bad memory of this theater was seeing Armageddon (Excuse the spelling). That night they had the lights on in back of the auditorium and someone was moving stuff around creating enough noise to drown out the movie.
What once was a nice place degenerated into the worst place to see a movie.
Prior to becoming a porno house, the Gordon was only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Obviously not enough people were attending during the week. It stayed this way about a year before going all adult. When it first began showing “Art films,” the Gordon was showing rather high class porn becacuse I remember seeing these at other downtown theaters. Although after a few weeks, it was showing the usual stuff.
It is interesting to note that the East Point Theater also was only opened on the weekends before it closed.
This theater and surrounding mall have been demolished and the Wal-Mart is already open. I did go to Northeast Plaza several times but never attended this theater.
Avondale Mall, formerly Columbia Mall was never much of a mall. Although it had a Davidsons and a Sears, there was not much between the two stores.
One interesting tidbit about Columbia Mall was Chuck Norris filmed a scene of his movie Invasion U.S.A. at this mall.
Sorry Chuck1231. You are right.
The victory theater was gutted and used as the lobby for the Victory Square 9.
As far as I can recall this theater stayed open til 1990. I remember the AJC having an article saying that a high point in Atlanta (the Ansley Cinema) movie going and a low point (the Rialto) both closed around the same time in 1990.
Is this a photo taken after the fire that destroyed the adjacent buildings?
I was in Sandersville this past Sunday and the Pastime appeared to be closed. I asked my cousin about it and he thinks it might be closed for awhile. Mike, the other theater you mentioned is around the corner, the Arcade.
Beautiful shot of an old classic theater.
Does anybody know about a drive-in theater in Cornelia that stayed open until the Grand reopened?
This was a nice theater. I was impressed with the art-deco interior. This place tried to make a go as a dollar house after Southlake 24 opened. Unfortunately it did not work. Anything was better than the GCC Southlake III up the street.
Last week I rode by the theater and it looks as if they are doing some renovation. There is a sign in front that says the Buchead Theater coming soon. I doubt if this will be a cinema but hopefully it will be preserved.
I remember my mother telling me about this drive-in. I don’t remember the name but she said that it was off the road going to Sandersville almost on the bank of the Oconee River. If the drive-in closed in 59 she may not have remembered the exact location.
I don’t remember this theater looking this good when I used to commute through Butler.
From what I can remember, there was a theater called the Terrace Theater in this location. The Terrace was originally a single screen theater but converted to a twin. The only time I attended the Terrace, it was already a twin. It seems the next year, the walls of the old Terrace became the lobby of this new theater and the auditoriums were added on either side. The lobby of this theater resembled the lobby of the Riverdale cinema.
Chuck The Ashby Theater has not been called the Edifice Dinner Theater for over 20 years. If you drive by the theater today, you will see the marquee is covered up.
Sorry to burst you bubble, Chuck, but your picture is of a theater in Jonesboro Arkansas. The above theater is in Jonesboro Georgia and did not look like the above picture. Good try anyway.
I rode by the theater yesterday and it is officially closed. The sign for the theater had been taken down and there is a for rent sign on the front.
Love the picture. I don’t remember the screen being so close to the highway but like I said in my original post it was almost 30 years ago when I saw the theater.
I hate to burst your excitement but the theater listed above is the Dublin Theater.
Prior to closing, this site was a porno house. I think George Echols took over this site and several others and began showing porn. This was one of the last porno housed to close. For a while the Academy Theater group used this property as thier playhouse.
When they left, it was not long before the building was demolished.
About three weeks ago I went to see one of my students bowl at the bowling alley in what was once Woolco department store adjacent to the old theater. The part of the shopping center that was the theater is still there but it appears to be completely sealed off. You cannot tell where the entrance was if you did not already know where it was.
The whole shopping center area is closed off and looks like a bombed out town.
It is painful to see what once was a prosperous shopping center go down so badly.
To the best of my knowledge, the Roosevelt lasted until the early 1980s. I do remember they lowered thier admission to $2.00 a carload which would make that comparable to the dollar movie theaters. The drive-in remained single screen until it closed. Now the whole area looks like a forest.
While demolishing the Paramount, the facade was preserved and now adorns a home in Moultre Georgia. I have some pictures that I need to find. What looks like the second floor frontage is now the front of the house. It still looks very impressive.
All the bad posts about the Lenox Square Theater are true. I remember going a few times before they split the big auditorium. It definitely was not art deco but more of the typical 60s theaters.
After they began splitting auditoriums, it was like looking down a long hallway at a TV screen. The screen did not look much bigger than what some people have in their homes now.
Another bad memory of this theater was seeing Armageddon (Excuse the spelling). That night they had the lights on in back of the auditorium and someone was moving stuff around creating enough noise to drown out the movie.
What once was a nice place degenerated into the worst place to see a movie.
Prior to becoming a porno house, the Gordon was only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Obviously not enough people were attending during the week. It stayed this way about a year before going all adult. When it first began showing “Art films,” the Gordon was showing rather high class porn becacuse I remember seeing these at other downtown theaters. Although after a few weeks, it was showing the usual stuff.
It is interesting to note that the East Point Theater also was only opened on the weekends before it closed.
Great post. Wished I had enough time to do all that research.
This theater and surrounding mall have been demolished and the Wal-Mart is already open. I did go to Northeast Plaza several times but never attended this theater.
Avondale Mall, formerly Columbia Mall was never much of a mall. Although it had a Davidsons and a Sears, there was not much between the two stores.
One interesting tidbit about Columbia Mall was Chuck Norris filmed a scene of his movie Invasion U.S.A. at this mall.