What a trip down memory lane! Fond memories… I worked for/at THIS Theatre from 1981 to 1984, if I recall the dates right. I’ll have to go check my annual SS income statements, I’ll know as this was my FIRST ‘real’ job, started as an usher one summer in high school, stayed on into some College, and went on to be one of the managers of this location. I remember so much about this battle-ship! I started working there when it was still a single-screen, 1200 seat theatre. A bit of trivia,,, it was actually 1198 seats. Not sure if 2 were actually broken and removed or the layout required the 2 les seats to satisfy minimum fire code rules for exit aisle width – we used to debate that one all the time… but the official count was 1198. I was there thru the ‘split’ conversion too. It was for some time the “Plitt – Mercury Theatre” before Cineoplex Odeon took over.
The cat walk in the ceilings, the spooky, vacant apartment upstairs that had become the ‘storage room’ for the cups and supplies. I HATED coming to work on a day or shift when that darn soda truck pulled up and we had to unload and haul down, sometimes 50-60 of these stainless steel cylinders of the soda syrup. Back and hand breaking work, it was such a haul for the lobby down 3 zigzag flights of stairs to the basement. Really cool cement shelter tho-. Met a lot of great friends while working there. Lived through some interesting times there too, one a small explosion & resulting fire from the old, massive furnace; hated getting up on a rickety old ladder to change the old hook-on, red marquee letters when the stick/pole didn’t work – finally got one of those scissor-life things to help with that task; the basement was extended under the store front on both the east & west, as those business were actually ‘tenants’ to the Mercury building, one a hair/nail shop, the other the jewelry store. Once someone broke into the theatre to try to go thru the adjoining wall into the jewelry store to avoid tripping the alarm next door- they never made it. Despite one comment on this site, we actually DID pop our own corn. We would, however, be ‘required’ to save the previous night’s popped corn in those huge plastic bags, then we’d pop fresh and inter-mix, cost-cutting even back then!
I remember my ‘second’ movie I ever worked there for, Sophie’s Choice, but cannot recall my first?!
I was sad years later for the demo… I remember seeing them just bang the old place down, dumping crap right into the old seat pits, I wish I could have grabbed some seats, but it was too busy a day. I did get a few bricks for myself and some old friends I used to work with there…
What a trip down memory lane! Fond memories… I worked for/at THIS Theatre from 1981 to 1984, if I recall the dates right. I’ll have to go check my annual SS income statements, I’ll know as this was my FIRST ‘real’ job, started as an usher one summer in high school, stayed on into some College, and went on to be one of the managers of this location. I remember so much about this battle-ship! I started working there when it was still a single-screen, 1200 seat theatre. A bit of trivia,,, it was actually 1198 seats. Not sure if 2 were actually broken and removed or the layout required the 2 les seats to satisfy minimum fire code rules for exit aisle width – we used to debate that one all the time… but the official count was 1198. I was there thru the ‘split’ conversion too. It was for some time the “Plitt – Mercury Theatre” before Cineoplex Odeon took over.
The cat walk in the ceilings, the spooky, vacant apartment upstairs that had become the ‘storage room’ for the cups and supplies. I HATED coming to work on a day or shift when that darn soda truck pulled up and we had to unload and haul down, sometimes 50-60 of these stainless steel cylinders of the soda syrup. Back and hand breaking work, it was such a haul for the lobby down 3 zigzag flights of stairs to the basement. Really cool cement shelter tho-. Met a lot of great friends while working there. Lived through some interesting times there too, one a small explosion & resulting fire from the old, massive furnace; hated getting up on a rickety old ladder to change the old hook-on, red marquee letters when the stick/pole didn’t work – finally got one of those scissor-life things to help with that task; the basement was extended under the store front on both the east & west, as those business were actually ‘tenants’ to the Mercury building, one a hair/nail shop, the other the jewelry store. Once someone broke into the theatre to try to go thru the adjoining wall into the jewelry store to avoid tripping the alarm next door- they never made it. Despite one comment on this site, we actually DID pop our own corn. We would, however, be ‘required’ to save the previous night’s popped corn in those huge plastic bags, then we’d pop fresh and inter-mix, cost-cutting even back then!
I remember my ‘second’ movie I ever worked there for, Sophie’s Choice, but cannot recall my first?!
I was sad years later for the demo… I remember seeing them just bang the old place down, dumping crap right into the old seat pits, I wish I could have grabbed some seats, but it was too busy a day. I did get a few bricks for myself and some old friends I used to work with there…
I could go & on… but I’m probably boring ya.