Westgate Cinema
445 S. Central Expressway,
McKinney,
TX
75069
445 S. Central Expressway,
McKinney,
TX
75069
2 people
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Throughout portions of the mid-1980s, the Westgate Cinema was listed as a major burglary hotspot.
On August 31, 1984, its scheduled run of “Gremlins” was cancelled due to the manager reporting an unknown person snuck into the projection booth and destroyed the entire print.
On February 21, 1985, two unidentified men allegedly stole a carton of assorted cigarettes worth $300 from the Safeway Supermarket before going straight to the Westgate Cinema while it closed for the night before stealing a metal box containing more than $600 in cash.
On June 14, 1985, more than $400 were robbed after an unknown person hid inside the auditorium after an unknown movie was finished and waited until all employees left for the night. He took the theater’s cash box and fled afterward.
The actual opening date is July 5, 1972 with George C. Scott in “The Hospital”.
The Westgate Cinema closed for the final time in late-February 1986, leaving McKinney without a movie house until the launch of Cinemark’s Movies 10 (now Movies 14) in June 1994.
The Westgate Cinema was later operated by Texas Cinema Corporation after its short-lived ownership of Showcase Theatres. The Texas Cinema Corporation also operated the city’s Ritz Theatre and the McKinney Drive-In as well.
Also according to the website CinemaTour, there was another cinema in McKinney back in the day called Cinema McKinney, and was also operated by the Texas Cinema Corporation; but unfortunately I don’t know anything else about it.
The Jerry Lewis Cinema Was First Planned During The First Few Days Of January 1972. The Westgate Shopping Center Then Opened It’s First Place Which Is A Retail Store “Interior Of Rice’s” On February 16, 1972. The Company Mitchell’s Also Opened It’s 50th Location In The Westgate 11 Days Later. Followed By A Safeway (2/29/72), Beall’s Department Store (Opened: 3/2/72), TG&Y Family Center (3/26/72), Among Others. Other Stores That Were Included Were Wards Drugs, The Sound Center (Later The Music Gallery), Sharon West, And Southern Maid Donuts. The Jerry Lewis Cinema Didn’t Open Until The Summer Of 1972.
Did This Theater Ever Became Expanded To A Plex Or Does It Remain As A Single-Screener For The Rest Of Its Life?
Operated for a short period by Cinemark Theatres
According To Google Earth, It Was Demolished In Very Early 1995. It Was Left Plain Grass As Old As March 7th, 1995.
Who Knows The Real Address on Highway 75?
The Jerry Lewis Cinema was called that for less than one year changing names to the Westgate Cinema in March of 1973 when the Lewis brand was cratering. Later, the Westgate Cinema was operated by William B. Boren’s fledgling circuit consisting of the Eastgate Cinema in Garland, the Wilshire Showcase I & II in Euless, Cineworld 4 and Lancaster Showcase in Fort Worth and two theaters in Blackwell, OK.
They were selling franchises in LIFE. View link