For everyone’s information, I was working at this theater when it closed down. The last big time movie that had a sold out crowd at the theater was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This theater will always hold a special place inside me. I remember going to this theater as a kid and working there when it closed was heartbreaking. It was an old building but it was truly state of the art, I’ll never forget the monstrous screen and how the seats shook when the woofers underneath them rumbled. We were trying to get a movie program going where once a week or every couple of weeks we would show a classic movie at the theater to promote increased attendance to the theater but the Regal Entertainment Group (once United Artists, Regal Cinemas and Edwards Theaters) corporate marketers didn’t want to hear about it. People blame the closure on the new Rave theater that opened up nearby but I blame the Regal Corporate office for not taking advantage of the true gem of a theater that they had. People would come from all around Arkansas and even some from out of state just to watch a new blockbuster movie at that theater. I actually have one of the old D-150 projection lenses that was once used when the theater first opened up. But alas, in the end it still closed. When the last showing ended of X2: X-Men United the crowd of about 200 gave a standing ovation to the theater; after the movie a lot of the customers stood around and we all shared memories of the theater. Needless to say, we went out in style.
For everyone’s information, I was working at this theater when it closed down. The last big time movie that had a sold out crowd at the theater was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This theater will always hold a special place inside me. I remember going to this theater as a kid and working there when it closed was heartbreaking. It was an old building but it was truly state of the art, I’ll never forget the monstrous screen and how the seats shook when the woofers underneath them rumbled. We were trying to get a movie program going where once a week or every couple of weeks we would show a classic movie at the theater to promote increased attendance to the theater but the Regal Entertainment Group (once United Artists, Regal Cinemas and Edwards Theaters) corporate marketers didn’t want to hear about it. People blame the closure on the new Rave theater that opened up nearby but I blame the Regal Corporate office for not taking advantage of the true gem of a theater that they had. People would come from all around Arkansas and even some from out of state just to watch a new blockbuster movie at that theater. I actually have one of the old D-150 projection lenses that was once used when the theater first opened up. But alas, in the end it still closed. When the last showing ended of X2: X-Men United the crowd of about 200 gave a standing ovation to the theater; after the movie a lot of the customers stood around and we all shared memories of the theater. Needless to say, we went out in style.