If you’re going strictly by box office, that may be good…for the studios. How are admissions? Fewer people probably means fewer concessions and less profit for the theatre owners. Dollar falling and energy prices going up can’t help either if you’re an owner.
I was against digital projection when I first heard about it, but seeing is believing. The last theatre I worked at (a small, cheaply built and very tired 10-plex) had teenagers that were print destroying fools. It was a 2nd job for me and since they wouldn’t pay me squat I was only there a few days a week. A print I would carefully build up and screen on a Thursday would be trashed by Sunday night. Then came the full digital conversion and now it’s a decent place to see a “film.” Cheap admission prices, good popcorn and the projection is always perfect. Seems to have increased business too, the parking lot is almost always full when I drive by now.
Awesome news. The Midland is magnificent. I saw a concert there in 1998 and they let us in early and my friend and I spent a good half hour just walking around in awe of the place. It’s the crown jewel of KC.
When AMC came back it had to have been in the early 90’s because I saw The Lion King there when it was the Ward Parkway 12. When I came back a few years later it was a 14 plex with two stadium seating auditoriums added to one end. Year or two later it was a 20 plex with 8 more auditoriums on the lower level of the mall below the 14 existing houses. As I recall those 8 were serviced by their own small box office and concession stand. I guess they didn’t make any money because they no longer exist and it’s back to a 14 screen complex.
Reading Lost Memory’s post is the first thing that makes me glad this theatre got torn down. Putting stadium seating in that big auditorium would have been sacriledge and totally destroyed all the charm that auditorium had. Let’s face it, the Glenwood was killed by the fact that it was setting on an insanely valuable piece of property. Maybe the Fine Arts Group could have done something with it had they ben around then, but even with their skill at rehabbing old theatres they couldn’t have got around the fact that the Glenwood was sitting on frontage property at 91st and Metcalf.
The last manager of the Glenwood told me that Overland Park refused to grant Goodrich any further building permits and essentially forced them to sell. Overland Park wanted the $$$ a different business would generate.
Visted this theatre on Sunday, June 10th. What a treat! It’s like stepping back in time to 1970. I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie in a theatre with operating curtains (side to side on a mildly curved screen) and no preshow advertising. I saw Oceans 13 in the biggest house (#1, which currently seats just over 500). Print and presentation were perfect, except for a glitch upon start up. Booth appears to be set up for changeover AND platter operation. Something burned up on the first projector and it took them about 10 minutes to lace up the other unit and start the show. So, we know both of them are in usable.
As was common in my youth, the auditoriums are very long, much longer than they are wide, and while the screen was plenty big it was by no means overpowering (a sin committed but most modern stadium seating shoeboxes). There was a considerable slope in the floor from the back to about 2/3s of the way to the screen, then a gentle rise up to a small stage and the screen itself. The floor was concrete with Commonwealth design carpet on the aisles. As to the carpet itself, it’s beautiful and in excellent condition; a deep bluish-purple with a diamond and Oscar statue design.
I had the privledge of speaking briefly with the owner and was able to ask some questions. The carpet which I found so nice dates to 1984! which was the last time Commonwealth rennovated the theatre under their ownership, which makes it 23 years old. The theatre is currently a 4 plex operating as a 3 plex. The unused auditorium (#2) is just to the right of the concession stand and is reached by 3 stairs or a snaked wheelchair ramp that is accessed at the entrance to auditorium #3 (which is in use). I asked the owner about this and he said that the house is just as long as the other auditoriums but very, very narrow and right now they’re in the process of dividing it in half to make 2 front-to-back houses accessed via a common door. So, it will be a 5-plex soon enough.
The lobby decor was obviously set up by a fan of cinema…classic movie posters and paintings of movie stars are very nicely displayed on walls of white-painted brick, and there are several benches for patrons to relax on while waiting for their shows. This theatre is in an older but well kept neighborhood, and the clientel is decidedly older. At 31 I was one of the youngest persons present out of about 100 seeing the 1:30 matinee. Handful of kids were present but were far better behaved than most I’ve run into at the theatre lately.
With it’s classic design, it’s decidely adult clientel and a variety of programming (blockbusters and art house fare) this is a great place to see a movie, and I highly recommend catching a show here if you’re in the Kansas City area.
The achievements of the Fine Arts Group in Overland Park cannot be overstated. They’ve made going concerns of 3 locations that were shuttered and had been given up on by all the KC chains. This theatre (Leawood), the Glenwood Arts triplex in the Metcalf South Shopping center, and the Rio in old downtown Overland Park. I will soon be vacationing in KC and intend to see films at all three locations.
Originally, Dickinson wanted to build a 3-plex to supplement the Northpark 1&2 at the other end of the mall. Mall management pressured them to build a 5-plex, and they did. The lobby was never made any larger to accomdate the increased capacity. The houses were small, 4 seating 250, and one smaller house. When opened in 1986, houses 1 and 2 got new Dolby systems. House 3 had to settle for the Dolby setup pulled from the Eastgate 5 up the road (dating to 1981). By the time this theatre closed, the sound system in house 3 was pretty much shot. Houses 4-5 (those the mall insisted be added on) were mono. Booth was incredibly cramped, as were the restrooms. I haven’t been in the mall for awhile, but the auditoriums are completely contained within the structure of the mall, so they’re probably still there.
Yes, it really is that narrow. The auditorium itself is on the back side of the block. It’s just east of the square. The former Fox Theatre (actually on the square, and now a church) in Springfield is the same way. The Fox theatre in Joplin, Mo is similar, with an enclosed “bridge” connecting the lobby on Main street to the auditorium on the other side of an alley.
Ever work there Chuck? No. Don’t know who built it originally, but it was operated as a tri-plex by Dickinson Theatres, then remodeled with the addition of 2 screens in 1981 or there abouts. At the time, house #5 was the first Dolby system in Joplin. The Hollywood Theatres/Wallace days came at the very end because of a swap of screens between Dickinson and Hollywood at various towns in Missouri. Only one auditorium was “cramped”, with seat counts of 296,296,300,333 and 212 respectively. It was always larger than the Mall 5. This theatre is currently abandoned, and in poor shape. I’ve recently been inside, through a broken exit door, and found it to have been pretty thoroughly vandalized. It was stripped clean of equipment and seating shortly after closing, so there was not much left to break, except booth glass and water fountains. Kind of sad. In the early 90’s, we would host very large and enthusiastic crowds, and only charged $1.25 to get in.
It didn’t really “replace” the Kennedy. When I came to Kirksville in 1994 the Kennedy was a bank parking lot. Most appropriately, it replaced the Petite 3 cinema out on 63 Hwy. While hardly a cinema treasure, it the Downtown 8 is decent for a town of 17,000, 90 miles from any real civilization.
Easily the best theatre in Springfield. Very similar to the Forum 8 in Columbia, but built from the get-go to be more luxurious. Main auditorium seats 455, and has the largest screen in Springfield. Was originally 70mm capable (projector came from the Century 21 that used to be at the Battlefield mall). I presume Goodrich has done away with that machine and upgraded to modern equipment, as that is their pattern. Originally equipped with side-to-side curtains (unlike the Forum 8), but these appear to have been removed to facilitate pre-show digital ads. Built in a very nice area, the brickwork and design reflect the upscale clientle. Very serene place to see a show. Also has a 350 seat house at the end of the hall, which makes this theatre somewhat unique by today’s standards with less emphasis on tiny “crackerbox” houses.
A lot of the 8-plexes built in the early 90’s got caught up and destroyed by the mega-plex building boom, but this theatre seems to have a bright future. Good location, good clientle. It’s been maintained well too. Got to give Goodrich credit, they do a better job of maintainance than Dickinson ever did, and I was working for Dickinson at the time this was built.
Hey longisland,
If you’re going strictly by box office, that may be good…for the studios. How are admissions? Fewer people probably means fewer concessions and less profit for the theatre owners. Dollar falling and energy prices going up can’t help either if you’re an owner.
I was against digital projection when I first heard about it, but seeing is believing. The last theatre I worked at (a small, cheaply built and very tired 10-plex) had teenagers that were print destroying fools. It was a 2nd job for me and since they wouldn’t pay me squat I was only there a few days a week. A print I would carefully build up and screen on a Thursday would be trashed by Sunday night. Then came the full digital conversion and now it’s a decent place to see a “film.” Cheap admission prices, good popcorn and the projection is always perfect. Seems to have increased business too, the parking lot is almost always full when I drive by now.
Awesome news. The Midland is magnificent. I saw a concert there in 1998 and they let us in early and my friend and I spent a good half hour just walking around in awe of the place. It’s the crown jewel of KC.
When AMC came back it had to have been in the early 90’s because I saw The Lion King there when it was the Ward Parkway 12. When I came back a few years later it was a 14 plex with two stadium seating auditoriums added to one end. Year or two later it was a 20 plex with 8 more auditoriums on the lower level of the mall below the 14 existing houses. As I recall those 8 were serviced by their own small box office and concession stand. I guess they didn’t make any money because they no longer exist and it’s back to a 14 screen complex.
Reading Lost Memory’s post is the first thing that makes me glad this theatre got torn down. Putting stadium seating in that big auditorium would have been sacriledge and totally destroyed all the charm that auditorium had. Let’s face it, the Glenwood was killed by the fact that it was setting on an insanely valuable piece of property. Maybe the Fine Arts Group could have done something with it had they ben around then, but even with their skill at rehabbing old theatres they couldn’t have got around the fact that the Glenwood was sitting on frontage property at 91st and Metcalf.
The last manager of the Glenwood told me that Overland Park refused to grant Goodrich any further building permits and essentially forced them to sell. Overland Park wanted the $$$ a different business would generate.
Visted this theatre on Sunday, June 10th. What a treat! It’s like stepping back in time to 1970. I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie in a theatre with operating curtains (side to side on a mildly curved screen) and no preshow advertising. I saw Oceans 13 in the biggest house (#1, which currently seats just over 500). Print and presentation were perfect, except for a glitch upon start up. Booth appears to be set up for changeover AND platter operation. Something burned up on the first projector and it took them about 10 minutes to lace up the other unit and start the show. So, we know both of them are in usable.
As was common in my youth, the auditoriums are very long, much longer than they are wide, and while the screen was plenty big it was by no means overpowering (a sin committed but most modern stadium seating shoeboxes). There was a considerable slope in the floor from the back to about 2/3s of the way to the screen, then a gentle rise up to a small stage and the screen itself. The floor was concrete with Commonwealth design carpet on the aisles. As to the carpet itself, it’s beautiful and in excellent condition; a deep bluish-purple with a diamond and Oscar statue design.
I had the privledge of speaking briefly with the owner and was able to ask some questions. The carpet which I found so nice dates to 1984! which was the last time Commonwealth rennovated the theatre under their ownership, which makes it 23 years old. The theatre is currently a 4 plex operating as a 3 plex. The unused auditorium (#2) is just to the right of the concession stand and is reached by 3 stairs or a snaked wheelchair ramp that is accessed at the entrance to auditorium #3 (which is in use). I asked the owner about this and he said that the house is just as long as the other auditoriums but very, very narrow and right now they’re in the process of dividing it in half to make 2 front-to-back houses accessed via a common door. So, it will be a 5-plex soon enough.
The lobby decor was obviously set up by a fan of cinema…classic movie posters and paintings of movie stars are very nicely displayed on walls of white-painted brick, and there are several benches for patrons to relax on while waiting for their shows. This theatre is in an older but well kept neighborhood, and the clientel is decidedly older. At 31 I was one of the youngest persons present out of about 100 seeing the 1:30 matinee. Handful of kids were present but were far better behaved than most I’ve run into at the theatre lately.
With it’s classic design, it’s decidely adult clientel and a variety of programming (blockbusters and art house fare) this is a great place to see a movie, and I highly recommend catching a show here if you’re in the Kansas City area.
The achievements of the Fine Arts Group in Overland Park cannot be overstated. They’ve made going concerns of 3 locations that were shuttered and had been given up on by all the KC chains. This theatre (Leawood), the Glenwood Arts triplex in the Metcalf South Shopping center, and the Rio in old downtown Overland Park. I will soon be vacationing in KC and intend to see films at all three locations.
Originally, Dickinson wanted to build a 3-plex to supplement the Northpark 1&2 at the other end of the mall. Mall management pressured them to build a 5-plex, and they did. The lobby was never made any larger to accomdate the increased capacity. The houses were small, 4 seating 250, and one smaller house. When opened in 1986, houses 1 and 2 got new Dolby systems. House 3 had to settle for the Dolby setup pulled from the Eastgate 5 up the road (dating to 1981). By the time this theatre closed, the sound system in house 3 was pretty much shot. Houses 4-5 (those the mall insisted be added on) were mono. Booth was incredibly cramped, as were the restrooms. I haven’t been in the mall for awhile, but the auditoriums are completely contained within the structure of the mall, so they’re probably still there.
Yes, it really is that narrow. The auditorium itself is on the back side of the block. It’s just east of the square. The former Fox Theatre (actually on the square, and now a church) in Springfield is the same way. The Fox theatre in Joplin, Mo is similar, with an enclosed “bridge” connecting the lobby on Main street to the auditorium on the other side of an alley.
Ever work there Chuck? No. Don’t know who built it originally, but it was operated as a tri-plex by Dickinson Theatres, then remodeled with the addition of 2 screens in 1981 or there abouts. At the time, house #5 was the first Dolby system in Joplin. The Hollywood Theatres/Wallace days came at the very end because of a swap of screens between Dickinson and Hollywood at various towns in Missouri. Only one auditorium was “cramped”, with seat counts of 296,296,300,333 and 212 respectively. It was always larger than the Mall 5. This theatre is currently abandoned, and in poor shape. I’ve recently been inside, through a broken exit door, and found it to have been pretty thoroughly vandalized. It was stripped clean of equipment and seating shortly after closing, so there was not much left to break, except booth glass and water fountains. Kind of sad. In the early 90’s, we would host very large and enthusiastic crowds, and only charged $1.25 to get in.
It didn’t really “replace” the Kennedy. When I came to Kirksville in 1994 the Kennedy was a bank parking lot. Most appropriately, it replaced the Petite 3 cinema out on 63 Hwy. While hardly a cinema treasure, it the Downtown 8 is decent for a town of 17,000, 90 miles from any real civilization.
Easily the best theatre in Springfield. Very similar to the Forum 8 in Columbia, but built from the get-go to be more luxurious. Main auditorium seats 455, and has the largest screen in Springfield. Was originally 70mm capable (projector came from the Century 21 that used to be at the Battlefield mall). I presume Goodrich has done away with that machine and upgraded to modern equipment, as that is their pattern. Originally equipped with side-to-side curtains (unlike the Forum 8), but these appear to have been removed to facilitate pre-show digital ads. Built in a very nice area, the brickwork and design reflect the upscale clientle. Very serene place to see a show. Also has a 350 seat house at the end of the hall, which makes this theatre somewhat unique by today’s standards with less emphasis on tiny “crackerbox” houses.
A lot of the 8-plexes built in the early 90’s got caught up and destroyed by the mega-plex building boom, but this theatre seems to have a bright future. Good location, good clientle. It’s been maintained well too. Got to give Goodrich credit, they do a better job of maintainance than Dickinson ever did, and I was working for Dickinson at the time this was built.