Loews Park Central
12802 Park Central Drive,
Dallas,
TX
75251
12802 Park Central Drive,
Dallas,
TX
75251
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 29 comments
Was here in the mid-80s (briefly) as an Assistant Manager. Split my time between here and the Loews in Plano.
Was Loews Park Central the Dallas venue in which the Spring 1989 Director’s Cut re-release of “Lawrence of Arabia” played?
jamestv, the intro for the Melba/Capri, if that’s where your info comes from, contains an error: it incorrectly states that Interstate took over this theatre and renamed it Melba; Loew’s was the second owner, taking over in 1922 from First National Pictures and their financial backer from Houston, Jesse Jones, whose mistress – First National Pictures star Hope Hampton – Jones named the theatre for. Loew’s renamed it Melba upon assuming the lease on the property from First National. Interstate assumed the lease in about 1939 or ‘40. McLendon took control under the Trans-Texas banner in 1960 and renamed it Capri. Loew’s takeover of the Delman from its original developer/owner (also from Houston, where he had originally built and operated another Delman) post-dated McLendon’s takeover of the Melba by a decade or more.
When I moved to Dallas in 1983 this was the first theatre I visited. I saw Octopussy in 70 mil. This was the most beautiful movie theatre I’ve ever seen and sorry to see it gone.I also saw Supergirl Thanksgiving day 1984. The last movie I saw here I think was Witness.
I remember the smoking section when a friend and I saw Star Trek in search for Spock.I love this place so much,I’d love to have a poster of the lobby hanging in my office. I wish there were photos of the seating and screen sections
Loew’s did not take over the Capri downtown—McClendon theatres did—but did take over the Delman in north Dallas. The Hope Theatre was taken over early in its life by Howard Hughes who later ceded the theatre to Hoblitzelle/Interstate where it was renamed the Melba. It premiered 3-D in Dallas and not long after became Texas' first Cinerama theatre. Then Trans-Texas theatres took it over and ran it until 1970 when McClendon turned it into a 7-plex—tripled the original theatre and built 4 small theatres in the basement of the building.
According to Boxoffice,Jack Helsley was the first manager there.
I worked at this theater as an usher during my junior and senior years in highschool, from about September of 1978 to May of 1980. It was a great place and we had a lot fun. We enjoyed free popcorn and drinks and could recite the lines to every movie because we got to see them over and over. A lot of now classic movies played there including ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’, ‘Star Trek’, ‘Moonraker’ (which we had to dress up for), ‘Halloween’, etc., etc., etc. We even had Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first movie, ‘The Villain’ with Kirk Douglas. What a stinker!
I can’t imagine that working in the new multi-screen theaters is anywhere near the experience we had in this “small” theater.
Thanks for posting Tinseltoes.
Well likely their first ground up build of the multiplex era…?
“Loews first foray into the Dallas-Fort Worth metoplex…” – sorry, not so; Loew’s opened the Downtown theatre at 1100 Elm in 1969; Loew’s took over the ownership of the Hope Theatre, built in 1921, the following year and renamed it the Melba. The company had had a long, if spotty, association with the Dallas area by the time this theatre was built.
Thanks for posting these photos.I was offered the chance to open this theatre.But turned them down to stay in Nashville.Never knew what it looked like till now.Maybe I should have moved there!I would have been the first Manager there.
I attended this theater in the 1970s and 1980s, and I could have sworn that the smoking section was to the left of the left aisle in each theater. I definitely remember the clouds of smoke rising from that side of the theater during a show. I believe that the fire marshal eventually forbid cigarette smoking in Dallas theaters.
The giant movie star mural on the wall was very cool. This was one of the first theaters that I went to with a really huge lobby, so that you could stay cool or dry while waiting for your film to start.
Hey,Cobalt.It is possible.I know a projectionist that swears he ran that horrible Burt Reynolds movie"STROKER ACE" in 70mm at National Hills Theatre in Augusta! “Meteor” was probably a bit better,not much,but a bit.Wasn’t Sean Connery and Hank Fonda in it?
METEOR had 70MM prints?
I remember this theatre fondly from the time it opened in December ‘77 with Saturday Night Fever in Dolby Stereo, but I believe screen 1 was the only house to have 70MM (saw Days Of Heaven,Hurricane,Meteor,Poltergeist,Star Trek III:The Search For Spock all in 70). When it opened with Saturday Night Fever in screen 1, rather than having surround speakers along the side walls, the surrounds were in the back. When you sat towards the back, you heard a lot more surround than front; seated toward the front, you heard more front than surround. They eventually put surround speakers along the side walls! After it was torn down, you could see where the actual theatre was because they covered it with asphalt!
Okay,I heard from Miss.Robin.
She has them has not had time to post them with school and all,she will when she has time.
You had Drive-in pictures Didn’t you?
Speaking of Photos any luck with Robin.I think she has given up on CT.
Too bad there are no photos.
Also in Mike post about the Melba I do not believe that there were any multiplexs in 1926.They may have twinned these houses but the Loews Park was a brand new quad in 1977.
I had the chance to move to Texas and manage the theater when it was going to open but I turned them down. I stayed in Nashville and Managed the Loews Crescent, Loews Madison, and Loews Melrose at different times of course. I always thought that If I would have gone I would have been Division Manager by know. Loews was great at moving people up in rank, I started working for them at the Loews Melrose as a doorman when I was 15,Red Coat, black pants and bow tie and all the popcorn you could eat. Great times….
Loews (In partnership with Publix) first foray into the Dallas-Fort Worth metoplex was not the Park Central, but the Melba theatre on April 7th, 1926 and also the Loew’s on June 6th, 1969.
I worked in this location from about the mid 80s until the early 90s. I started in the original concession stand which was not run by Loews but by another company named Ogden. I did everything at this theatre; I loved it. I was even manager of the concession stand as that operation got transferred to Loews and then I became an assist manager for Loews. I even worked in the projection booth and ran the projectors and built / broke down films. I can even remember when the seating was re-done to have 700+ and 350+ houses with new seat covers. And my co-workers …. they where the best … popcorn golf! I loved working with them all. I spent all of HS (plus a year after HS) working here. Even worked a few summers during college. The last time I was their, I worked a night shift (as always) and closed the ‘new’ concession stand (the one against the wall under the mural where the coin-op video games use to be) turned in my uniforms and walked away ready for another semester at college. I always thought I would be back for more movies or a job if needed. I did drive by once when it was closed in that 5 year span before the collapse. It was very sad to see it so empty … but I won’t dwell because this place filled so many lives with happiness for many, many years. Come to think aboutit I bet I still have a Loews neck-tie somewhere and my name-badge. At Loews we wore a red-sport-coat and a neck-tie or a maroon vest, and a neck-tie, with a white shirt and black pants … the Ogden shirts (gradient Orange to Red to Maroon … in stripes with a black bow-tie) … YUCK! The memories are flooding back … I was even the voice on the answering machine when you called the number for the movie times … and for several years and I even scheduled the times for the movies to start and also worked the copy and postings in the local newspapers. And the marquees … their where two … one lowered on the 635 frontage road and you still needed a ladder for the top two rows and the smaller one (on Coit road) was always full of red-fire-ants!!! So many memories … so many friends … so many customers … (OMG! I still remember the crowds for the Indiana Jones movies) … what great times … and so many movies … and tons of bagged popcorn!!! Thanks to everybody that made this such a great place to work and grow-up as a teenager. BEST JOB EVER!!!!
There was a viaduct underneath LBJ freeway that I would crouch down and walk thru to get to the Loews Park central. I was a “latch-key” kid so movies were a great escape for me. I remember seeing Police Academy 2, Crocodile Dundee, Witness, Lethal Weapon 2, Spaceballs, and the classic Tom Berenger musical, Rustler’s Rhapsody, all at this theater.
There is a church being developed on the site.