Spartan 3
E. Saginaw Street and N. Clippert Street,
Lansing,
MI
48912
E. Saginaw Street and N. Clippert Street,
Lansing,
MI
48912
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This venue’s 70mm presentations history is included in the recently-published article “70mm Presentations in Lansing: A Chronology of 70mm Large Format Exhibition, 1967-Present”.
4 closing night photos added credit Dick Rosemont.
Grand opening ad in the photo section. Chill Willis opened many theatres for NGC in the USA and Canada. It was constructed during NGC’s building binge of 1967 going as far as Montreal.
I recall watching the re-release of “2001: A Space Odyssey” in Dolby stereo in the Fall of 1974 alone in the middle of the massive theater. The sound filled the room, complete with golden drapes, and I was totally immersed in this classic. The film had been re-marketed under the advertising tag line, “For the Ultimate Vacation, Take the Ultimate Trip” It was a sly appeal to students who would ‘get high’ to watch the final 20 minute light show at the end of the film. I had never seen it before, and it really made a big impression on me. I remember it to this day.
The exact opening date for the Spartan Twin was October 11, 1967, according to an item in Boxoffice of October 30. Operator Fox Eastern Theatres was a subsidiary of National General Corporation. The Spartan East originally seated 1,000, and the Spartan West 650.
The larger auditorium was slated to show first-run fare, opening with “A Rough Night in Jericho,” while the smaller Spartan West would be used for road shows, and opened with “The Taming of the Shrew.” The star-studded opening of the Spartan Twin was studded solely by actor Chill Wills. There’s no word on whether Lansing has yet recovered from the excitement. Chill Wills survived for another eleven years.
This theater should be identified as the Spartan 3, as it was a triplex in its last years, with Spartan Twin as an aka.
The theater was designed by Drew Eberson.
The actually closing was in Feb. of 1994.