Tacoma South Cinemas

7601 S. Hosmer Street,
Tacoma, WA 98408

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Cineplex Odeon, Loews, SRO Theaters

Architects: Nobi Hara

Firms: Mar/Hara Architects

Functions: Gymnasium

Nearby Theaters

Front of theater

Built in 1983 by Sterling Recreation Organization (SRO) in the suburbs of South Tacoma. The theater had 5 screens; 2 large auditoriums held 450 seats with slight curved screens when it opened on December 16, 1983.

Auditorium 1 had at the time the best sound system in the city and included 70mm capabilities. This was pre-digital, but when Loews took over they never tried to keep up with the changing state of the art sound systems. It did install a seldom working DTS unit in the final few years.

It was closed in July of 2002 just a few weeks after Loews closed down the Tacoma Mall theater a few miles away.

Contributed by Dan Kaiser

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

poloboyclh
poloboyclh on March 23, 2005 at 9:11 pm

This theatre was doomed once Regal came to town. In fact, the Lowes presence was doomed in the South End when Regal got here. It’s a shame- a lot of good memories were formed at The South….

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on July 9, 2025 at 7:33 pm

During the multiplex overbuilding period of cinema exhibition, there were ‘plexes being built near other 'plexes. The Tacoma South Cinemas was built just two miles from a twin turned quad venue, less than three miles from the Tacoma Mall Twin, and less than eight miles from a new AMC 8-plex opening at the same time as this 5-plex as well as the Tacoma West 4-5 opening that weekend the existing Tacoma West 1-3.

Designed by Nobi Hara of Mar/Hara Architects of Seattle, this venue opened for Sterling Recreational Organization’s (SRO’s) on December 16, 1983 with Chuck E. Cheese on hand and 70mm projection capability. It largest screen could hold 455 patrons and featured $70,000 in sound equipment.

On December 13, 1986, SRO sold its 110 screen operation to Cineplex Odeon for $45 million. But the megaplex era wiped out most of the multiplexes. The 15-screen Lakewood spelled doom for the AMC 8-plex, the Tacoma Mall Twin, the Tac-West auditoriums, and the Tacoma South Cinemas.

Cineplex Odeon closed Tac-South after July 28, 2002 showtimes of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “Insomnia,” “Hey Arnold,” “Spirit,” “The Sum of All Fears” and “Spider-Man.” It lasted a few weeks longer than the Tacoma Mall Twin that shuttered July 7th. It would be followed by the AMC turned EFW turned Galaxy 8-plex.

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