I have a lot of fond memories of the Festival. It was always the nicest theater in the area, until the arrival of the Brendon in Concord, which is now oddly itself fallen out of favor.
The theater is thriving quite nicely since it began showing mostly independent films, but it is my understanding that some sort of remodel or relocation is on the way. The shopping center is partially demolished on one end where Montgomery Wards was located. An early proposal I viewed, had them moving the entire complex closer to the freeway, and making the theater two story vs the dome and series of other theaters in the back of the building.
The Regency cinemas, which sat at the edge of a shopping center anchored by a Toys R us and Target, closed during a remodeling of the shopping center that brought in new tennants. Rumor has it, there was a dispute involving the parking lot, where the theater could no longer use as much space as it had in the past. The theater subsequently closed, and was remodeled into a Lamps Plus. The entrance was relocated to the back of what was the theater, which faces a much smaller parking lot.
The Sun Valley Mall had a two screen theater, adjacent to an ice skating ring on the lower level next Jc Pennys. The ice ring disappeared and was nothing for a long time, while the theater fell out of favor in the early 80s. It actually showed the movie 9 to 5 for over a year! At night it was re-running Rocky Horror. Towards it’s later days, it was mainly showing kid movies. When the theater closed, the space was combined with the space for the ice ring, becoming a furniture store that barely opened, followed by Copeland’s Sports, which it remains today.
I have a lot of fond memories of the Festival. It was always the nicest theater in the area, until the arrival of the Brendon in Concord, which is now oddly itself fallen out of favor.
The theater is thriving quite nicely since it began showing mostly independent films, but it is my understanding that some sort of remodel or relocation is on the way. The shopping center is partially demolished on one end where Montgomery Wards was located. An early proposal I viewed, had them moving the entire complex closer to the freeway, and making the theater two story vs the dome and series of other theaters in the back of the building.
The Regency cinemas, which sat at the edge of a shopping center anchored by a Toys R us and Target, closed during a remodeling of the shopping center that brought in new tennants. Rumor has it, there was a dispute involving the parking lot, where the theater could no longer use as much space as it had in the past. The theater subsequently closed, and was remodeled into a Lamps Plus. The entrance was relocated to the back of what was the theater, which faces a much smaller parking lot.
The Sun Valley Mall had a two screen theater, adjacent to an ice skating ring on the lower level next Jc Pennys. The ice ring disappeared and was nothing for a long time, while the theater fell out of favor in the early 80s. It actually showed the movie 9 to 5 for over a year! At night it was re-running Rocky Horror. Towards it’s later days, it was mainly showing kid movies. When the theater closed, the space was combined with the space for the ice ring, becoming a furniture store that barely opened, followed by Copeland’s Sports, which it remains today.