AMC Classic Mankato 6

Joe Vogel on May 19, 2010 at 2:31 am

Here’s what I’ve been able to puzzle out about theaters that have operated at this location. A twin called the Camelot 1 and 2 opened at Stadium Road and Warren Street in 1970. It had 475 seats in each auditorium. In 1973 the house was taken over by Carisch Theatres, and the name was changed to Cine 1 and 2. A few years later it was being called simply Cine 2.

In 1988, Carisch Theatres was taken over by Essaness Theatres, which about that time renamed itself Excellence Theatres. The Cine 2 might have been renamed the University Square Cinemas, either before or after Essaness took it over. Essaness/Excellence had plans to add four more screens to the house, according to a 1988 Boxoffice article. I haven’t been able to discover when the additional screens opened, or if any splitting of one or both original auditoriums was involved.

Excellence Theatres didn’t last very long. The circuit was absorbed by Carmike Theatres in 1992.

A review of the current theater on the web site Insider Pages says that it underwent a complete remodeling in 2004, being converted to stadium seating. That’s the only source I’ve found saying that this was a remodeling job, but then I can’t find any sources at all saying that the original theater was demolished to make way for a new building, so I suspect that the current theater does incorporate the original 1970 building and its four-screen addition from around 1988. If it does, then the aka’s Camelot 1 and 2, Cine 1 and 2, and perhaps University Square Cinemas can be added. I’m not sure if the place was actually called University Square Cinemas, or if the writer of the single 1988 Boxoffice item that mentioned it mistook the location of the house for its name. Eventually somebody familiar with Mankato will probably visit this page and let us know.

Also, note that Carmike’s official web site calls this house the Stadium Cinema 6, not the Cine 6. Web sites that haven’t been updated in years indicate that it was called Cine 6 before the 2004 remodeling, so that should be another aka.

wankerichard on October 5, 2010 at 9:59 am

Cine 2 turned into Cine 4. When Carisch owned Cine 2 it also showed adult films after midnight I believe into the early 80’s and was famous for late night Rocky Horror movie screenings. Mall 4 which is now Maverick 4 was never part of Cine 2 but shared common ownership. Cine 2 split its larger two screens into 4 smaller ones. Carmike expanded what was Cine 4 and added on to create 2 additional screens. I worked at Cine 2/4 during its remodel as well as Mall 4 and the Twin Star Driven in Mankato. After Carisch was purchased by Essenesse out of Chicago (Can’t remember the spelling) they changed their name to Excellence Theatres. During Excellence Theatres ownership they specialized in having the staff wear tuxedos to give a roaring 20’s feel.