Orange Park Village Cinema
Kingsley Avenue,
Orange Park,
FL
32073
Kingsley Avenue,
Orange Park,
FL
32073
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The Village Cinema was located on Kingsley Avenue near the actual town limits of the town of Orange Park, Florida. It was located in a very small shopping center that had a Winn-Dixie grocery store as it’s largest retailer.
The theatre was opened in early-1975 with Clark Gable in “Gone With the Wind”. A second screen opened on March 20, 1975. It was located near the rear of the plaza and provided the only movies in Orange Park until the mall theatre opened in 1976. The floors in the Village Cinema were flat, so it was sometimes difficult to see over heads to watch a movie.
It was eventually run out of business by the big chains (AMC, General Cinema, United Artists and ABC). Only the AMC theater remains as of 2008. The Winn-Dixie is now a store called ‘Pinch-A-Penny’.
Contributed by
Chuck Hankinson
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Chuck,
Thanks for the clarification of where the Village was. I always suspected that was the location but could never confirm it. I’ve been in that plaza and it’s pretty old. I’m going to scout around and take some pics.
I believe the Village Cinema opened in 1973~74, It rarely got the big A pictures and usually got the stuff the Drive-ins got and second-run A pictures. It did a great business up until the Kingsley and OP5 opened in 76 which offered better selection and experiences. It was great little theater though and I could ride my bike to see a movie if I wanted since it was the only game in town for a while. The owner was a pretty young guy and was really cool to me a 12 year old. He even booked a few pics I asked for the Saturday kid shows including the infamous “Navy vs the Night Monsters”!
The Village Twin Cinema opened only one screen in 1975 in the Village Mall located at 552 Kingsley Avenue with the classic “Gone With The Wind”. The one screen operated successfully until April when the second screen opened with the first-run title “Drowning Pool” starring Paul Newman. Competition quickly grew in the area, with Florida State circuit opening a twin on the other end of Kingsley Avenue. Soon AMC opened a 5-screen theatre in the then new Orange Park Mall on Blanding Blvd. The small “Village Cinema” was unable to compete with the larger chains. It converted first one screen, then eventually the other screen to an all-seats .99 cent house. It played “subrun”, or second run pictures and competed successfully mostly with nearby drive-ins. The theatre was loved in the community, if only for a brief while. The Village Cinema closed Labor Day weekend, 1977.
The 2nd screen opened on March 20th, 1975. Grand opening ad posted.