Hi, Rosalind.
I’m happy to tell you that National Amusements' other remaining drive-in, the Miracle Twin DI in Burton, MI outside Flint will also open this year. Like yourself, I’m maintaining an individual web page devoted to that DI at View link which I admit is much more primitive compared to yours. I’ve posted a news story to the Cinema Treasures webmasters about the opening of both drive-ins giving you credit for the Kenwood DI info.
An updated report from WJRT at View link mentions that a construction crew was on the Lebowsky Center roof to make repairs after the bricks fell onto the bank building. The partial demolition will take place once it’s OK for the heavy machinery to be sent due to the springtime load limit laws. Architects are working on a “phased reconstruction” first involving rebuilding the outside walls and the theater and stage house roofs to enclose the theater again before making interior repairs. They hope to have the theater completely renovated by the summer of 2009.
There is a poignant video tour of the fire damaged Lebowsky Center at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gju6f8e_D1M which shows that much of the theater escaped serious damage which shows hope that the theater can be rebuilt. The Owosso Independent newspaper dated March 11 also has a tour with an article which a PDF is at View link The fire safety features typical of 1920s vintage vaudeville theaters worked perfectly during the fire. The smoke louvers on top of the stage house (nearly a full story higher than the theater’s roof) opened up as did a steel curtain which dropped over the proscenium arch closing the stage from the auditorium until the fire spread to the theater’s roof. The firewalls kept the fire from spreading to the two story front section so the lobby only suffered water damage as did the upstairs corridor. The upstairs office showed no obvious damage, but the wall clock is frozen at 11:08, the late night time when electricity was cut.
There is a poignant video tour of the fire damaged Lebowsky Center at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gju6f8e_D1M which shows that much of the theater escaped serious damage which shows hope that the theater can be rebuilt. The Owosso Independent newspaper dated March 11 also has a tour with an article which a PDF is at View link The fire safety features typical of 1920s vintage vaudeville theaters worked perfectly during the fire. The smoke louvers on top of the stage house (nearly a full story higher than the theater’s roof) opened up as did a steel curtain which dropped over the proscenium arch closing the stage from the auditorium until the fire spread to the theater’s roof. The firewalls kept the fire from spreading to the two story front section so the lobby only suffered water damage as did the upstairs corridor. The upstairs office showed no obvious damage, but the wall clock is frozen at 11:08, the late night time when electricity was cut.
The Save Free TV trailer is available on one of the Something Weird Video trailer compilations titled “Hey Folks, It’s Intermission Time”. I forget which one but you can ask at http://www.somethingweird.com The direct URL for the series is at View link
Actually, all the theaters in the Flint area are in the suburbs. The last theater in the city of Flint to close was the single screen Flint Cinema which closed in 1986. “Roger & Me” premiered at the Showcase Cinemas Flint East in Burton. There is a fourth National Amusements theater in the Flint area, the second-run Courtland Cinemas in the Courtland Center mall in Burton where all seats are $2.
NOTE TO PATRICK AND ROSS: The dateline for this story is misleading. Please change the dateline to ANN ARBOR, MI as the Showcase Cinemas getting the CyGamZ center is in Ann Arbor.
About the Flint theaters…
The Flint Art closed in 1953. The address is now Classic Charter and Tour.
The Roxy was earlier known as the Colonial, then the Durant. It closed in 1956, was torn down in 1971 and is still a vacant lot.
The State closed in 1953 and was converted to retail space. It still bears the name of the last occupant, Blackstone’s.
The Rialto was the theater’s second name. It’s first was the Savoy and the final name was the Royal. It did play porn at the end and was torn down in 1973 to make room for the new Citizens Bank building.
All of the above are listed at http://www.waterwinterwonderland.com
Sad to say that a November 2005 wind storm has damaged the Getty’s original screen tower beyond repair and is being dismanted. The official web site does give a progress report on the unplanned face lift at View link
The updated URL for the Capitol Theatre Building is…
http://www.capitoltheatrebuilding.com
and there is also a MySpace page for the theater at…
View link
Hi, Rosalind.
I’m happy to tell you that National Amusements' other remaining drive-in, the Miracle Twin DI in Burton, MI outside Flint will also open this year. Like yourself, I’m maintaining an individual web page devoted to that DI at View link which I admit is much more primitive compared to yours. I’ve posted a news story to the Cinema Treasures webmasters about the opening of both drive-ins giving you credit for the Kenwood DI info.
An updated report from WJRT at View link mentions that a construction crew was on the Lebowsky Center roof to make repairs after the bricks fell onto the bank building. The partial demolition will take place once it’s OK for the heavy machinery to be sent due to the springtime load limit laws. Architects are working on a “phased reconstruction” first involving rebuilding the outside walls and the theater and stage house roofs to enclose the theater again before making interior repairs. They hope to have the theater completely renovated by the summer of 2009.
My tribute to the Lebowsky Center is on line at http://www.waterwinterwonderland.com/flinn.asp
The Lebowsky Center tribute article is now on line and you can see it by clicking on the Flinn’s Journal link in the above article.
The article I mentioned in this report is now on line at http://www.waterwinterwonderland.com/flinn.asp
This postscript is to note that the article about the Lebowsky Center I was talking about in an earlier report is now on line at http://www.waterwinterwonderland.com/flinn.asp
There is a poignant video tour of the fire damaged Lebowsky Center at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gju6f8e_D1M which shows that much of the theater escaped serious damage which shows hope that the theater can be rebuilt. The Owosso Independent newspaper dated March 11 also has a tour with an article which a PDF is at View link The fire safety features typical of 1920s vintage vaudeville theaters worked perfectly during the fire. The smoke louvers on top of the stage house (nearly a full story higher than the theater’s roof) opened up as did a steel curtain which dropped over the proscenium arch closing the stage from the auditorium until the fire spread to the theater’s roof. The firewalls kept the fire from spreading to the two story front section so the lobby only suffered water damage as did the upstairs corridor. The upstairs office showed no obvious damage, but the wall clock is frozen at 11:08, the late night time when electricity was cut.
There is a poignant video tour of the fire damaged Lebowsky Center at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gju6f8e_D1M which shows that much of the theater escaped serious damage which shows hope that the theater can be rebuilt. The Owosso Independent newspaper dated March 11 also has a tour with an article which a PDF is at View link The fire safety features typical of 1920s vintage vaudeville theaters worked perfectly during the fire. The smoke louvers on top of the stage house (nearly a full story higher than the theater’s roof) opened up as did a steel curtain which dropped over the proscenium arch closing the stage from the auditorium until the fire spread to the theater’s roof. The firewalls kept the fire from spreading to the two story front section so the lobby only suffered water damage as did the upstairs corridor. The upstairs office showed no obvious damage, but the wall clock is frozen at 11:08, the late night time when electricity was cut.
The Owosso Community Players have published a special post-fire edition of their Marquee newsletter which you can read at View link
A photo of fire investigators on the Lebowsky Center stage can be found from the Owosso Argus-Press at View link
The Save Free TV trailer is available on one of the Something Weird Video trailer compilations titled “Hey Folks, It’s Intermission Time”. I forget which one but you can ask at http://www.somethingweird.com The direct URL for the series is at View link
Actually, all the theaters in the Flint area are in the suburbs. The last theater in the city of Flint to close was the single screen Flint Cinema which closed in 1986. “Roger & Me” premiered at the Showcase Cinemas Flint East in Burton. There is a fourth National Amusements theater in the Flint area, the second-run Courtland Cinemas in the Courtland Center mall in Burton where all seats are $2.
NOTE TO PATRICK AND ROSS: The dateline for this story is misleading. Please change the dateline to ANN ARBOR, MI as the Showcase Cinemas getting the CyGamZ center is in Ann Arbor.
Found at View link
About the Flint theaters…
The Flint Art closed in 1953. The address is now Classic Charter and Tour.
The Roxy was earlier known as the Colonial, then the Durant. It closed in 1956, was torn down in 1971 and is still a vacant lot.
The State closed in 1953 and was converted to retail space. It still bears the name of the last occupant, Blackstone’s.
The Rialto was the theater’s second name. It’s first was the Savoy and the final name was the Royal. It did play porn at the end and was torn down in 1973 to make room for the new Citizens Bank building.
All of the above are listed at http://www.waterwinterwonderland.com
Sad to say that a November 2005 wind storm has damaged the Getty’s original screen tower beyond repair and is being dismanted. The official web site does give a progress report on the unplanned face lift at View link
There is a new web site about the Capitol Theatre set up by its owners at http://capitolrealtyholdings.com/theatre/
Mundy Township is in southern Genesee County.
This drive in, built by Michael Redstone, was the beginning of what would become National Amusements.
Actually, the post-1950 Palace Theatre photo is at View link and the pre-1950 photo is at View link
This drive in is mentioned in my article in The Uncommon Sense at View link
This drive in is mentioned in my article in The Uncommon Sense at View link
Hi, Patsy. I’m curious if you wrote the letter which got published in The Uncommon Sense at View link
about the Capitol Theatre.
You’re welcome, Patsy. I wrote on article on this theater which you can read at View link