The theater still stands. I visited just after the big storm that hit vineland in the summer of 2012. “The hills have eyes” still in the poster box outside. The last film too play. Someone maintains it.They brought part of the sign in from the storm and it looks likes some work was actively being done in the lobby.
Raymond, rg i’d like to get a hold of you, interested in the history of the Budco chain of theaters. Tried your aol address and was blocked. My email is
The marketing efforts begin and end with an ad on craigslist for the property asking 1 million dollars. It is a damn shame. hopefully someone will be able to restart this drive-in some day. One benefit to the housing crisis is land is tougher to sell and worthless unless its being used. If the lease had expired a year or two later the owners would have begged the Drive in to sign a new lease, but what is done is done.
If you really want to see what films played at CineMart the archives at the Wilmington Public Library and the UD library in Newark will have Microfilm copies of News Journal for 1980. You can get into the UD library for free even if your not a student. Copies can be printed for a nominal fee.
I find it really surprising that no one ever made a go at reopening this theater. While today it is a wreck, the building had to be in better shape 25 years ago. Although not in the best location it is very close to the 75,000 residents in Wilmington who had no theater for over 20 years!
Ronnie, The bathrooms where downstairs off the lobby. The lobby has been used as storage and I think the bathrooms have only been wrecked in the past ten years. Copper thieves I suspect. So the paper is only as old as the last time the bathrooms where used.
Cinebob, The theater had a brief run of X-rated films in the mid-70’s when Hallmark theaters ran it. When Budco took over they showed mainly B horror films with the few big releases now that Cinemart was the Absolute largest screen in Delaware.
Ronnie, Cinema center 3 is in the Newark Shopping center. It’s still in operation. was a former budco twin. The second house was split 60/40 resulting in a very narrow 3rd theater much like the AMC Concord Mall II.
I took them in May of ‘06. I first started paying attention to the theater in 2000. I’d been driving past it for my whole life on the way to Baker Jeep just down the road. In April of 06 the front door was wide open and I just walked In, It was dark and so I came back with a flash light. My old boss said he’d snuck in too sometime back in '88 at that time the seats were still there. As you can see not much left of this 1,000 seat 70mm show palace. One of the fire exits in the auditorium should still be accessible as I believe it is part of the fire code the rest are barred off.
Academy Award winning director Luke Matheny applied for an Usher position at the Concord Mall II in 1993. He was not hired and had to work at the nearby Subway restaurant. He did however see “Joe versus the Volcano” here which was an inspiration for his 2010 film “God of Love” which won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
“Scream” played in the theater from December 96-August 97. In the little shoe box theater #5. A nine month run. I’m pretty sure it was still playing when the film was released to video! Hah!
I saw a two night Quadruple feature at this theater Halloween weekend 2002. Exhumed films played Alien, Darkstar, The Fog, and another John Carpenter film the first night. Then on the second night they played Night of the living dead, Dawn of the Dead Evil Dead II and Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The place was way complicated to find in the days before GPS. I missed most of Alien trying to find the place. Fun memory, sad to see its gone now.
I do believe the building still stands as a muffler shop. From the look of the Al Martin’s repair shop it stands in the same location of the former cinema.
Still Proudly showing 70mm, as of yesterday!
The theater still stands. I visited just after the big storm that hit vineland in the summer of 2012. “The hills have eyes” still in the poster box outside. The last film too play. Someone maintains it.They brought part of the sign in from the storm and it looks likes some work was actively being done in the lobby.
Raymond, rg i’d like to get a hold of you, interested in the history of the
Budco chain of theaters. Tried your aol address and was blocked.
My email is
Raymond like to get a hold of you, interested in the history of the
Budco chain of theaters. Tried your aol address and was blocked.
My email is
The marketing efforts begin and end with an ad on craigslist for the property asking 1 million dollars. It is a damn shame. hopefully someone will be able to restart this drive-in some day. One benefit to the housing crisis is land is tougher to sell and worthless unless its being used. If the lease had expired a year or two later the owners would have begged the Drive in to sign a new lease, but what is done is done.
Here is a link to a video shot in the Church that now resides in the theater.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYJuBSVSnjk&feature=related
Ronnie21,
If you really want to see what films played at CineMart the archives at the Wilmington Public Library and the UD library in Newark will have Microfilm copies of News Journal for 1980. You can get into the UD library for free even if your not a student. Copies can be printed for a nominal fee.
The building still stands! Stripped of it’s grandeur its serves as a meeting hall for the local catholic church.
I find it really surprising that no one ever made a go at reopening this theater. While today it is a wreck, the building had to be in better shape 25 years ago. Although not in the best location it is very close to the 75,000 residents in Wilmington who had no theater for over 20 years!
Ronnie, The bathrooms where downstairs off the lobby. The lobby has been used as storage and I think the bathrooms have only been wrecked in the past ten years. Copper thieves I suspect. So the paper is only as old as the last time the bathrooms where used.
Cinebob, The theater had a brief run of X-rated films in the mid-70’s when Hallmark theaters ran it. When Budco took over they showed mainly B horror films with the few big releases now that Cinemart was the Absolute largest screen in Delaware.
Ronnie, Cinema center 3 is in the Newark Shopping center. It’s still in operation. was a former budco twin. The second house was split 60/40 resulting in a very narrow 3rd theater much like the AMC Concord Mall II.
I took them in May of ‘06. I first started paying attention to the theater in 2000. I’d been driving past it for my whole life on the way to Baker Jeep just down the road. In April of 06 the front door was wide open and I just walked In, It was dark and so I came back with a flash light. My old boss said he’d snuck in too sometime back in '88 at that time the seats were still there. As you can see not much left of this 1,000 seat 70mm show palace. One of the fire exits in the auditorium should still be accessible as I believe it is part of the fire code the rest are barred off.
During this period the theater was managed by Hallmark theaters.
Photos from inside the cinemart from a few years back.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heckert/sets/72157627080894744/show/
Academy Award winning director Luke Matheny applied for an Usher position at the Concord Mall II in 1993. He was not hired and had to work at the nearby Subway restaurant. He did however see “Joe versus the Volcano” here which was an inspiration for his 2010 film “God of Love” which won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
“Scream” played in the theater from December 96-August 97. In the little shoe box theater #5. A nine month run. I’m pretty sure it was still playing when the film was released to video! Hah!
I saw a two night Quadruple feature at this theater Halloween weekend 2002. Exhumed films played Alien, Darkstar, The Fog, and another John Carpenter film the first night. Then on the second night they played Night of the living dead, Dawn of the Dead Evil Dead II and Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The place was way complicated to find in the days before GPS. I missed most of Alien trying to find the place. Fun memory, sad to see its gone now.
Opened in 1968 with the Delaware premiere showing of “The odd couple”. closed 12 years later in 1980 when it last showed “The Exterminator”.
I do believe the building still stands as a muffler shop. From the look of the Al Martin’s repair shop it stands in the same location of the former cinema.
a film clip of the theater here http://www.vimeo.com/15182257
<iframe src=“http://player.vimeo.com/video/15182257” width=“400” height=“300” frameborder=“0”></iframe><p>“The Movies” theater Hellerttown PA from Winfield Heckert on Vimeo.</p>