AMC Ward Parkway 14
8600 Ward Parkway,
Kansas City,
MO
64114
8600 Ward Parkway,
Kansas City,
MO
64114
2 people
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Lower level screens closed March 2001
AMC Parkway lower level closings Sat, Mar 31, 2001 – 65 · The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri) · Newspapers.com
On September 18th, 1998 the 8 lower-level screens at the Ward Parkway 22 becomes the Parkway Artplex 8
AMC Parkway Artplex opening Fri, Sep 18, 1998 – 78 · The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri) · Newspapers.com
Expanded to 20 screens on June 30th, 1995, the same day as the Dickinson WestGlen 12’s opening. Grand opening ad posted.
more details (click on the image to zoom in)
AMC Ward Parkway details Sun, Nov 17, 1991 – 6 · The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri) · Newspapers.com
The first 12 screens of the AMC Ward Parkway opened on November 22nd, 1991. Grand opening ad posted
Early 90’s – Remember the high wall faces that held the movie posters as you waited for tickets. We always tried to get there early so we could ear at the food court downstairs (Sbarro: pizza slice and those doughy bread sticks with clumps of garlic wrapped in foil).
Walk up some steps to the consession stand, then, a ramp to the ticket tearer. I believe for Gettysburg (1993) they had a few Civil War reactors hanging around the steps for its opening weekend.
Use to browse the Suncoast store after a film.
A video crew was set up out side the auditorium of Showgirl (1995) getting reactions from people.
Saw Braveheart and Multiplicity in the lower level theaters.
I, too, remember it as one of the first theaters having multiple auditoriums for a single film (Batman Returns / 1992). I think it went up to a count of 6 at one time in the 2000’s.
I think I still got my AMC Moviegoer card somewhere…
Added New Pictures
1/22/2014
The theatre was recently renovated with new seats (all are recliners), added concessions and a bar and it looks great. I saw The Oranges today and it was like being in a studio screening room. It also helped that the audience enjoyed the film.
The theatre opened on November 22nd, 1991 as a twelve-screen theatre. The theatre opened eight additional screens on June 30th, 1995 to become twenty screens. The theatre became twenty-two later that year.
I saw Inspector Gadget here in 1999 back when it was 20 screens. However, I always thought it was 24 screens and therefore thought this was the BarryWoods. I remember being so wowed with a 20 screen theatre and everything surrounding it. The theatre was non-stadium seating but a very filled theatre. The Blair Witch Project was also playing well and you could hear that one in the halls where the auditoriums were.
In short, I’ve got to come here again to remember again. Even with fewer screens.
When AMC came back it had to have been in the early 90’s because I saw The Lion King there when it was the Ward Parkway 12. When I came back a few years later it was a 14 plex with two stadium seating auditoriums added to one end. Year or two later it was a 20 plex with 8 more auditoriums on the lower level of the mall below the 14 existing houses. As I recall those 8 were serviced by their own small box office and concession stand. I guess they didn’t make any money because they no longer exist and it’s back to a 14 screen complex.
Ward Parkway is the orignial home of the multi-plex. This shopping center is where AMC orginally put in a twin theatre becuase the overhead beams of the mall would not alow a single wide screen theatre to be constructed. This new twin actually ran the same movie in both houses, it wasn’t until about a year later that two different movies were shown at the same time. AMC moved back into Ward Parkway , (might be in 2000,) after closing the twin many years earlier.