Eastland Four Theater
530 SE Washington Boulevard,
Bartlesville,
OK
74006
530 SE Washington Boulevard,
Bartlesville,
OK
74006
1 person
favorited this theater
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The Eastland Four, which had limped along as a second-run house for the last decade, closed its doors for the final time last night. Unfortunately, the condition of the theater had deteriorated to a point where refurbishment and renovation were deemed too costly.
Still running 35 mm projectors, Eastland was also losing business on films that only released in a digital projection format. The closure was rather abrupt and, despite the efforts of well-meaning locals to keep the theater open via donations, the Eastland Four theater’s nearly 46 years of entertaining local citizens has come to an end.
I worked at the Eastland Four in the late 1990s. I am not sure when the theater converted from a Twin to a four screen but it had been that way virtually all my life. Here’s what I remember about the building at that time.
As for the interior, the glass facade was still present on the building. The terrazzo flooring in the lobby also endured but had sustained damage from poor upkeep. The lobby, at one point, featured two sunken gardens flanking the main lobby. These were covered over with wood platforms prior to 1998 and arcade games were placed to entertain theater patrons while they waited. In the late 90’s, Eastland had a four player X men cabinet and a Star Wars pinball game. In the summer of 98, the platforms were removed in an attempt to beautify the lobby. These never sustained plant life well because of poor drainage and little sunlight filtering in through the facade.
The lobby also featured a massive slanted wall covered in acoustic popcorn. The concession stand was designed as a symmetrical trapezoid with identical candy cases and soda towers on each side and the popcorn kettle placed at the forefront, as the focal point of the lobby. Because of its unique architecture, the kettle echoed quite loudly. The lobby was lit by aluminum light fixtures suspended from long cables. Changing the bulbs required a twenty foot ladder and the ceiling was at last another ten to fifteen above the hanging lights. The concession stand had drainage issues, as the main water drain line had broken in 1997 and Carmike Cinemas(the owner at the time) would not pay to have the flooring removed to repair the line.
The contemporary stylizing of the theater in the late 60’s, along with its initial status as a Twin theater, meant that symmetry was virtually everywhere, with the sole exception being that the door to the concession stand backroom, the managing office, and the projection room were on the east side of the lobby. The hallways featured dark walnut paneling and had to be hand-oiled twice a year to prevent damage. There were numerous scratches in the paneling and some large sections were loose at the edges. The carpeting was low-pile rust-orange carpet with large brown accents in the shape of swirls.
Upon entering and moving past the concession stand, both sides of the theater had two houses on the opposite side of a lounge and set of restrooms. The restrooms were not connected. Each of the four houses held approximately 275-350 seats and none were identical in layout. There were actual stages behind each screen, with approximately twelve feet of stage. Large house speakers, pointing out towards the audience through the screens were mounted here and the area was also used for storage of seat parts and broken equipment. The theaters themselves were quite long and narrow, featuring a lighted walkway down the center. Houses 1 and 3 were the largest in the building and had additional aisles on the northern side. Houses 2 and 4 were smaller and only had a center aisle.
The projection room was quite large and featured a large storage cage for marquee lettering, old posters, and spare projector parts. There was one booth for each side of the theater and the two theaters towards the back of the building (screens 1 and 3) had functioning stereo sound. Screens 2 and 4 had speakers mounted on the walls but had all been disconnected due to malfunction.
Carmike also owned the Penn Twin in Bartlesville at the same time and both theaters were managed from Eastland’s business office.
The formal opening of the Eastland Twin East and West Theatres took place on November 21, 1968, according to an article in Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of December 16 that year. The owners and operators were Tulsa-based Snyder-Ashley Enterprises. The new twin, like the earlier Boman Twin Cinemas and the later Park Lane Theatre, both in Tulsa, was designed by the Tulsa architectural firm of Whiteside, Schultz, & Chadsey.
The Eastland Twins occupied a contemporary styled building with a two story glass facade flanked by tall pillars. The east auditorium had 717 seats, and the west auditorium 528 seats. The lobby featured a terrazzo floor and walnut paneling. Each auditorium had its own carpeted lounge area, and there was a pair of rest rooms for each side of the theatre.
The screens were 18x36 feet, and each auditorium had its own projection booth. There were custom-designed Voice of the Theatre sound systems in each auditorium, and 8 foot deep stages were provided so that the theaters could be used for meetings and special events by various civic organizations.
Aerial photo at View link
The Eastland was originally built as a “twin” theater and played first-run films well into the 1990s. Not sure when it became a $1 theater (probably sometime after the addition of chain theaters to the local Mall).
I remember seeing ET, Blade Runner, and many, many other blockbusters at this theater. It was a pretty decent theater in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The lobby featured an old projector as “decoration.”
This was previously a Carmike theatre, but it is no longer shown on Carmike’s web site (www.carmike.com), so I am presuming they sold it some time ago. I see no listing on movies.yahoo.com for any theatre at this address, so can’t provide any more information. Sorry.
This is a working theater…it is a $1 movie and i take my kids there all the time (all 5 of them) and it doesnt break me..
Dear Miss Grubb,
Please, include a discription of the theatres you list. It makes it so much more enjoyable for the reader especially since the ADD A PHOTO! program is still not working. Just a suggestion. Thanks.