Can confirm this theater is now permanently closed. :(
At the time of closure it had 7.1 digital sound and Sony 4k digital projection. At least one but I think a few of the auditoriums were originally built to THX spec. It was a nice quiet low traffic location to watch a movie. Shallow stadium seating with attractive dark green velour seating.
Kim Jennings and Winston Bennett purchased the building in 2011 and over the course of 10 years have done some rehab including a new roof, but never fully finished the project or reopened the theater. They finished the area behind the screen/stage for dressing rooms, and flattened the rear of the auditorium to make space for tables and a bar.
They sold the building within the last month(Jan/Feb 2021) to Andy Montee and his mother, who plan to restore the exterior and rehab the interior further with plans for live entertainment and food service with a kitchen and bar. Expected to reopen early 2022.
This theater will unfortunately be closing permanently on Sunday, May 19th, 2019 to make room for a Nordstroms. It is possible that half of the auditoriums get redone for a smaller, more upscale complex a few years in the future according to this article:
15 year lease was up, and they didn’t renew due to poor business and the mall being a ghost town. Some seats will end up in the Hollywood 10 in St. Joseph, MO. Total complex seat count at time of closure: 4,043
This building now houses Lehr Construction Company. Slope floor is still intact, as is some of the interior architecture and the basic elements of the front facade. Kudos to them for keeping the shell intact and in good shape, you never know what could happen in the future…
The building is indeed still standing. Has been vacant since April 1st, 2014. With a leaking roof over most of the auditoriums, and a large hole in the low spot of the lobby roof, the interior is in absolute deplorable condition with mold covering everything and crumbling ceilings. On top of the vandalism, the leasing party had a crew come in to strip all projection and sound equipment leaving the building a sad hollow shell of its former self. I hear from a moderately reputable source that Price Chopper plans to “break ground” this spring, 2015. How sad…
Fun Fact: This Bridge Drive-in opened as Skylark Drive-in the same year the Skylark Drive-in in St. Joseph opened(1949) by the same owners, closed the same year(1982), and both had their gently used SPECO 35mm platter trees transferred to the brand new Plaza 4 in St. Joseph upon opening. Both platters were on location, the St. Joseph Skylark platter even used, up until Plaza 8’s closing in March 2014.
“ The last dollar-house theater in the Kansas City metropolitan area has succumbed to the era of digital film.
Noland Fashion Cinema 6, 13520 E. U.S. 40 in Independence, closed its doors for good June 22. The movie theater ran films that had been out weeks, or even months, prior to their initial release at discounted ticket prices since 2002. It opened in the mid 1980s as a first-run theater, said former General Manager Daryl Smith.
“We sure didn’t want to close, but had no choice,” he said.
The major reason behind the theater’s closing was the movie studios’ push for digital film, he added. Both he and Brian Wolfgang of Pharaoh 4 Cinemas, 114 West Maple Ave., in Independence, said it is harder to secure 35 millimeter film prints for exhibition due to many Hollywood movie studios releasing movies only in a digital format. The two theaters still use celluloid film projectors.
“The cost ... didn’t justify the need to continue,” said Smith. He added that attendance at Noland Fashion Cinema 6 declined over the past few years, too. Given the low volume of business, it didn’t warrant the purchase of expensive digital projectors. Plus the time between a film’s theatrical release and its release on either DVD or Blu-ray has considerably shortened over the years, he added.
Now the Pharaoh 4 remains as the only theater in Independence that still uses 35mm prints, but hopefully that is about to change soon, said Wolfgang.
He said his theater is in the process of financing digital projectors that should be installed by late summer. However, it is estimated that four digital projectors for all of Pharaoh’s auditoriums would be in the price range of $250,000.
But it should pay off.
“Developing a 35mm print could be up to $2,000 to $2,500,” Smith said. “It’s cheaper on the digital factor.”
With digital projectors comes the opportunity to also have a 3-D projector, he added. “There should be a resurgence when we become digital.”
Currently, Wolfgang says he had to pass up on some films because the ones they previously acquired have to be shown for a specific amount of time. “We have to make a deal with the studio to show a film for two to three weeks, and we just don’t have the auditorium space.” And given the movie business, it’s hard to foresee what will be a box office draw.
Wolfgang said a kick start program will be set up soon to help raise money for new digital projectors.
As for Smith, he believes the movie theater market will not become obsolete."
Joe- Apparently there was one right across the street. LIBERTY SILENT MOVIE THEATER 2007 St Joseph Avenue.
“Known to be in operation September 12, 1920
Edward A Brondridge was the owner
The 2007 directory has that address being Floyds Alibi Lounge
2007 St Joseph Avenue would have been directly across the street from the Regal Theater
Information donated by Terry Plumb”
http://stjosephmemorylane.com/theater.htm
Apparently there may have been one what ended up being right beside it-
“The Palace Theater had two locations in town, moving between 1909 & 1915
The 1st Palace theater appeared in the 1908 City Directory
The address was 707 Edmond, later becoming the House of Wheels and Toys
There is a lot of graffiti on the building side, too bad it isn’t legible In 1909, for some reason, it no longer appeared in city directory In 1915, the Palace Theater once again appeared in the city directory
The new address was 2018 St Joseph Avenue, currently Foxy’s Hair Den
I would say they were most likely building & moving the new theater”
And then of course, Regal, which used to be called Palace, perhaps rebuilt right next door?
“Pallace Theater opened on Thursday, December 21,1922
Movie Shown: Song of Life Last date the Regal was open: Saturday, June 7, 1961
Last shows played:
William Holden in The World of Suzie Wong
Virgilio Teixeira in The Boy Who Stole A Million Regal Theater on St Joseph Avenue
across from the Bottoms Up Bar & Grill They had the best candy selection in town”
All information from http://stjosephmemorylane.com/theater.htm
Can confirm this theater is now permanently closed. :(
At the time of closure it had 7.1 digital sound and Sony 4k digital projection. At least one but I think a few of the auditoriums were originally built to THX spec. It was a nice quiet low traffic location to watch a movie. Shallow stadium seating with attractive dark green velour seating.
Kim Jennings and Winston Bennett purchased the building in 2011 and over the course of 10 years have done some rehab including a new roof, but never fully finished the project or reopened the theater. They finished the area behind the screen/stage for dressing rooms, and flattened the rear of the auditorium to make space for tables and a bar.
They sold the building within the last month(Jan/Feb 2021) to Andy Montee and his mother, who plan to restore the exterior and rehab the interior further with plans for live entertainment and food service with a kitchen and bar. Expected to reopen early 2022.
This theater will unfortunately be closing permanently on Sunday, May 19th, 2019 to make room for a Nordstroms. It is possible that half of the auditoriums get redone for a smaller, more upscale complex a few years in the future according to this article:
https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/cityscape/article230341349.html
985 seats after recliner conversion
1432 seats
2,674 seats
515 seats after recliner conversion
2,150 seats
Seat count: 2,752
Seat count: 1,992
Seat count: 3379
15 year lease was up, and they didn’t renew due to poor business and the mall being a ghost town. Some seats will end up in the Hollywood 10 in St. Joseph, MO. Total complex seat count at time of closure: 4,043
This building now houses Lehr Construction Company. Slope floor is still intact, as is some of the interior architecture and the basic elements of the front facade. Kudos to them for keeping the shell intact and in good shape, you never know what could happen in the future…
Reportedly played E.T. in 70mm for two weeks starting on April 1st, 1983
As far as I can tell looking at Google Earth satellite imagery, this theater was demolished sometime in the early 2000’s.
This theater has REOPENED, under the company “Picture Show” theaters.
http://www.nbc11news.com/content/news/399567741.html
According to Kodak’s website, this theater is still 35mm capable(if not reliant?) as of April 2016 with a print of Batman vs Superman.
Building is officially DEMOLISHED.
This theater had 70mm film capability and played at minimum “INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE” in 70mm in 1989.
Norman, I’m glad you got a picture of this original sign before they changed it to the tacky bank provided sign.
The building is indeed still standing. Has been vacant since April 1st, 2014. With a leaking roof over most of the auditoriums, and a large hole in the low spot of the lobby roof, the interior is in absolute deplorable condition with mold covering everything and crumbling ceilings. On top of the vandalism, the leasing party had a crew come in to strip all projection and sound equipment leaving the building a sad hollow shell of its former self. I hear from a moderately reputable source that Price Chopper plans to “break ground” this spring, 2015. How sad…
This theater is slated to get a 5/70mm print of Interstellar November 4th 2014
Fun Fact: This Bridge Drive-in opened as Skylark Drive-in the same year the Skylark Drive-in in St. Joseph opened(1949) by the same owners, closed the same year(1982), and both had their gently used SPECO 35mm platter trees transferred to the brand new Plaza 4 in St. Joseph upon opening. Both platters were on location, the St. Joseph Skylark platter even used, up until Plaza 8’s closing in March 2014.
This theater is now CLOSED.
http://www.examiner.net/article/20140628/NEWS/140628877/1994/NEWS/?Start=1
“ The last dollar-house theater in the Kansas City metropolitan area has succumbed to the era of digital film.
Joe- Apparently there was one right across the street. LIBERTY SILENT MOVIE THEATER 2007 St Joseph Avenue. “Known to be in operation September 12, 1920 Edward A Brondridge was the owner The 2007 directory has that address being Floyds Alibi Lounge 2007 St Joseph Avenue would have been directly across the street from the Regal Theater Information donated by Terry Plumb” http://stjosephmemorylane.com/theater.htm
Apparently there may have been one what ended up being right beside it- “The Palace Theater had two locations in town, moving between 1909 & 1915 The 1st Palace theater appeared in the 1908 City Directory The address was 707 Edmond, later becoming the House of Wheels and Toys There is a lot of graffiti on the building side, too bad it isn’t legible In 1909, for some reason, it no longer appeared in city directory In 1915, the Palace Theater once again appeared in the city directory The new address was 2018 St Joseph Avenue, currently Foxy’s Hair Den I would say they were most likely building & moving the new theater”
And then of course, Regal, which used to be called Palace, perhaps rebuilt right next door? “Pallace Theater opened on Thursday, December 21,1922 Movie Shown: Song of Life Last date the Regal was open: Saturday, June 7, 1961 Last shows played: William Holden in The World of Suzie Wong Virgilio Teixeira in The Boy Who Stole A Million Regal Theater on St Joseph Avenue across from the Bottoms Up Bar & Grill They had the best candy selection in town”
All information from http://stjosephmemorylane.com/theater.htm