Loews Route 18 Theatre
Lake Avenue,
East Brunswick,
NJ
08816
Lake Avenue,
East Brunswick,
NJ
08816
4 people
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I was in East Brunswick for the first time in years the other day. I did not even recognize the area. The entire shopping plaza that housed the theatre, as well as the theatre appears to be gone. All new builds. I did not see any remnants of the old theatre building.
I saw The Buddy Holly Story here when it was first released.
June 13th, 1973 grand opening ad as a twin also in the same section.
This opened on March 4th, 1970. Grand opening ad with a drawing of the theatre can be found in the photo section.
Relinking.
Any Photos anybody?
Recall as a higher end/slightly pricier place…Saw Human Factor in 70s and Top Secret in 80s…go go bar called Talk of the Town was nearby.
Worked here from 1988 to 1989. Cool place to be. Always had decent movies. I worked concession stand on the first day of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. What a crazy day.
Another of the many theatres I was a projectionist. Worked here at various times between 1988 thru 1994. Huge twin, had almost 700 seats in each house. Nice big Cinemascope screens, even after twinning. I remember the summer of 1994 when “Forrest Gump” played in twin 1 to sold out shows for weeks. Theatre was equipped with 2 Simplex X-L projectors and 2 Christie Autowind 2 platters.
The UA Turnpike Indoor/Outdoor was not the theater on Route 1 in North Brunswick. Rather, it was located a very short distance south of the Loews Route 18 – you could see the Indoor/Outdoor from the Miracle Mall parking lot, which did indeed have a Crazy Eddie’s at one time. The UA theater on Route 1 in North Brunswick was the Brunswick Drive-In.
The Loews Route 18 was not the same theater as the UA Turnpike Indoor. The latter theater was actually located in North Brunswick on Route 1 on the site of what is now the Wal-Mart shopping center.
The Loews Route 18 originally was a single theater located as one of the anchors of the Miracle Mall shopping center. If memory serves me, a Crazy Eddie’s occupied the other anchor location.
One of the interesting things of the old Loews Route 18 was the “wallpaper” located in the lobby area which had these huge images of Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Theda Bara and other silent era stars.
From the 1970 annual report of Loew’s Theatres:
“Ever since the inauguration of the Loews theatre growth program in 1965, our selection of sites for new construction has closely followed the U.S. population’s demographic growth patterns. Emphasis has been on high-traffic locations, easily accessible by automobile.
“Typical of such properties is Loews Route 18 in East Brunswick, New Jersey, which opened on March 14, 1970. The Route 18 Theatre is situated in the Miracle Mall Shopping Plaza on busy Route 18 between Route 9 and the New Jersey Turnpike. Approximately one half million people live within a radius of 12 miles. This new theatre seats 1,115 and the parking lot accommodates 900 cars.”
The 1973 annual report discusses the twinning of this and many other Loew’s theatres.
RobertR – you are correct. drive-ins.com has the history
I think there were 3 cinemas in this area in New Brunswick at one time or another: Loews Route 18, Cinema City (down past Brunswick Square) and the GC/Cinema City Movies @ Brunswick Square/Mega Movies.
I see a listing for a theatre called UA Turnpike Indoor in East Brunswick. I assume this was part of a drive-in. I don’t see it lised on CT.
They closed Route 18 to open an 18 plex (on Route 1). Ironic. Now this is some sort of rug store I think. Also known as Sony Theatres Route 18. It had two screens before closing.
Was this a former Music Makers house?