This theater operated in a single room in an upper floor of a business complex. The floor was carpeted, the seats were folding chairs, and there was a single screen and (probably consumer-grade) digital projector. It accommodated maybe around 60 people. There was a small concession area in the same room with freshly-popped popcorn.
It was a small business with limited clientele. The employees and patrons were friendly and cordial. It filled a very small niche, and at the time, it didn’t need to be anything more. Greenville’s downtown area had been recently revitalized when this business opened, but there were far fewer residents at the time, so it was a risk. The city has grown by leaps and bounds in the intervening years since its closure. No doubt, this kind of thing would be more popular now for Downtown’s nascent, courtly denizens.
I screened the original Metropolis and Nosferatu silent movies here. It was a simple, but quite positive, experience.
Haywood Cinemas was owned by Litchfield Theatres at the time of its opening in 1985. /Back to the Future/ was among the opening day premieres. 6 screens was big for the time and area. The huge lobby, indoor plants in the queue, and other little touches made it feel luxurious. For instance, every screen had motorized bi-parting horizontal curtains, followed by vertical contour curtains, which was part of the automation for starting every showing. Litchfield was also smart to capitalize on the booming home video rental business. As I recall, their “Reel Store” also sold movie soundtracks and posters.
After United Artists Theatres acquired Litchfield Theatres, it was remodeled in 1989. 4 more screens were added, partly to complete with a new $1 cinema with a large arcade a few blocks away. It remained a popular cinema for several years.
By 1999, the in-lobby store was closed, the fancy curtain motors were disabled, and the theatre was operating with lower attendance and a significantly reduced budget. Competition from other theatres in the area, its location off the main road, and the home theatre revolution were cited as reasons for the decline. Customer inconveniences and temporary closures due to malfunctioning HVAC, projection, and POS equipment were common. Concession was operating with only one working popper and ice machine. In early 2001, the letter marquee facing the road and showing the film schedule was damaged by a storm and could not be replaced with the available budget; it was replaced only with a simple banner showing a phone number to call for showtimes. On more than one occasion, employees pitched in to help out the theatre. An assistant manager contributed his money and time to theme the lobby with sculptures of scenes of current movies in an attempt to bolster attendance. With no budget remaining for a professional technician, I bought parts at local electronics supply stores and made repairs to projection and concession equipment and built test equipment to keep projection running. Competing theatres in the area swapped film prints, projector lamphouse bulbs, and helped each other out with concessions when there were problems keeping up.
The theatre was permanently shuttered in 2001 as part of Regal Entertainment Group’s acquisition of United Artists Theatres. It was one of the last remaining theatres in the area to exclusively use film and analog-only audio for presentation, with most of its equipment still dating back to the early 1980s.
Indexx Inc., a local commercial printing company, purchased the building and began remodeling it in 2005. The facility is still open in 2019.
As someone who grew up in Greenville, I was a customer as a child and an employee as an adult, and have many fond memories of this theatre. As a projectionist and honorary technician, I met my love there in 2000. 19 years later, we are finally engaged to be married. =D
This theater operated in a single room in an upper floor of a business complex. The floor was carpeted, the seats were folding chairs, and there was a single screen and (probably consumer-grade) digital projector. It accommodated maybe around 60 people. There was a small concession area in the same room with freshly-popped popcorn.
It was a small business with limited clientele. The employees and patrons were friendly and cordial. It filled a very small niche, and at the time, it didn’t need to be anything more. Greenville’s downtown area had been recently revitalized when this business opened, but there were far fewer residents at the time, so it was a risk. The city has grown by leaps and bounds in the intervening years since its closure. No doubt, this kind of thing would be more popular now for Downtown’s nascent, courtly denizens.
I screened the original Metropolis and Nosferatu silent movies here. It was a simple, but quite positive, experience.
Yes, it was demolished at least a decade ago.
White Horse Rd. was originally a rural dirt road and is currently 6 lanes and part of SC Hwy 25.
@davidcoppock It was named for its location on White Horse Rd.
Haywood Cinemas was owned by Litchfield Theatres at the time of its opening in 1985. /Back to the Future/ was among the opening day premieres. 6 screens was big for the time and area. The huge lobby, indoor plants in the queue, and other little touches made it feel luxurious. For instance, every screen had motorized bi-parting horizontal curtains, followed by vertical contour curtains, which was part of the automation for starting every showing. Litchfield was also smart to capitalize on the booming home video rental business. As I recall, their “Reel Store” also sold movie soundtracks and posters.
After United Artists Theatres acquired Litchfield Theatres, it was remodeled in 1989. 4 more screens were added, partly to complete with a new $1 cinema with a large arcade a few blocks away. It remained a popular cinema for several years.
By 1999, the in-lobby store was closed, the fancy curtain motors were disabled, and the theatre was operating with lower attendance and a significantly reduced budget. Competition from other theatres in the area, its location off the main road, and the home theatre revolution were cited as reasons for the decline. Customer inconveniences and temporary closures due to malfunctioning HVAC, projection, and POS equipment were common. Concession was operating with only one working popper and ice machine. In early 2001, the letter marquee facing the road and showing the film schedule was damaged by a storm and could not be replaced with the available budget; it was replaced only with a simple banner showing a phone number to call for showtimes. On more than one occasion, employees pitched in to help out the theatre. An assistant manager contributed his money and time to theme the lobby with sculptures of scenes of current movies in an attempt to bolster attendance. With no budget remaining for a professional technician, I bought parts at local electronics supply stores and made repairs to projection and concession equipment and built test equipment to keep projection running. Competing theatres in the area swapped film prints, projector lamphouse bulbs, and helped each other out with concessions when there were problems keeping up.
The theatre was permanently shuttered in 2001 as part of Regal Entertainment Group’s acquisition of United Artists Theatres. It was one of the last remaining theatres in the area to exclusively use film and analog-only audio for presentation, with most of its equipment still dating back to the early 1980s.
Indexx Inc., a local commercial printing company, purchased the building and began remodeling it in 2005. The facility is still open in 2019.
As someone who grew up in Greenville, I was a customer as a child and an employee as an adult, and have many fond memories of this theatre. As a projectionist and honorary technician, I met my love there in 2000. 19 years later, we are finally engaged to be married. =D