Showplace
3112 S. 27th Street,
Abilene,
TX
79605
3112 S. 27th Street,
Abilene,
TX
79605
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 5 comments
Closed at the end of June, 1982.
Newspaper listings as The Movies! ended in 1980 and reopened as Showplace on December 27th, 1981, by Noret Theatres. Grand opening ad posted.
Sorry to be five years late in response, but this wasn’t a Jerry Lewis Cinema. Not in concept and not when in business - the company, Network Cinema Corporation, was already out of business. It was The Movies! - Brookhollow as stated above by American Automated Theatres Inc. Circuit by J. Cooper Burks out of Oklahoma City and franchisee was Major Walt Mergenhagen.
The Fuji Japanese Steak House was located behind the theater. This was a Jerry Lewis Cinema. After it closed, it was turned into a dance club. It is currently closed.
The 6,300 twin movie theater The Movies: Brookhollow was an automated theatre by the American Automated Theatres Circuit out of Oklahoma City and operated by Walt Mergenhagen, a first-time theater owner. It was at 3112 S. 27th Street and launched January 24, 1975 with “The Sting” and “One Little Indian” for $1. Abilene Mayor J.C. Hunter Jr. was among the dignitaries there for the opening. The Movies had two identical 273-seat auditoria and cost $210,000 to build. J.J. Aguilar & Associates of Fort Worth built the theater. The flatbed 35mm projectors projected the show automatically, taped music played between shoes, and both lighting and curtains were controlled as well.
The building still stands and was a Fuji Japanese Steak House until 2013.