Town Cinema 6
8640 University City Boulevard,
Charlotte,
NC
28213
8640 University City Boulevard,
Charlotte,
NC
28213
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 13 comments
The final day of performances: August 23rd, 2000. It marks the end of Carmike Cinemas in Charlotte.
Grand opening ad posted.
I had the pleasure of seeing Rambo First Blood Part II the opening week of Town Cinema 6 in 1985. I started working there in 1987 (my first job), shortly after Carmike took it over. The pay was horrible – since I was in high school, I was paid a “student” wage, which was below minimum (it was somewhere around $2.50 to $2.75 an hour). I loved it anyway. Free movies, popcorn, and drinks somehow make up for low wages, at least when you’re 16. I see in the other comments how Amadeus showed there in 70mm; projector #6, which was for one of the two big auditoriums, had the 70mm fittings, but I doubt they were ever used again. I know they weren’t used between 1987 and 1990, plus other theaters that came along were more advanced for special engagements like that.
The lifespan of a film was interesting to watch – we had some films that were pulled within a week because no one was coming to see them (Evil Dead 2 was one of them). And although not a grindhouse, there were so many obscure, grindhouse-style or 80s horror that passed through there: anthology films like The Offspring with Vincent Price, Creepshow 2, and forgotten oddities like Nightmare at Shadow Woods, or The Outing.
But the summer of 87 was amazing. In just a couple of short months, we had The Untouchables, Predator, Robocop, The Lost Boys, The Living Daylights, Innerspace, Jaws the Revenge… okay scratch that last one. It was a very busy, very fun summer.
Despite becoming my second home, the theater itself was nothing special. Dull green curtains throughout the auditoriums, green carpets and accents on gray walls in the lobby (I wish I had pictures). Three auditoriums on each side of the building – 2 big and 4 small. In the back of the middle auditoriums on each side were small rooms. The small room on the left was where the drink syrup and CO2 tanks were setup and stored; if you were watching a film in this auditorium, you probably heard the release valves of the CO2 tanks with short bursts of hissing sounds. On the right, the small room had the time clock and early on had a rack with the vests we wore.
The manager’s office was the first door on the left when you entered the lobby. For a time, the district offices were located here, so the district manager’s office was the first door on the right (which became storage later on) and the general manager had an office between the second and third auditoriums on the right.
That only left the candy/popcorn storage – last door on the left side before the exit. For a long time the door to that room didn’t even have a doorknob on it. All it took was one theft to get one installed.
The projector booth was H shaped. Despite inadequate air conditioning, I spent many hours up there either building/breaking down films, threading/running projectors, or just sitting by the windows watching the movies themselves. Plus I’ve fixed my share of brain-wraps (if you’ve ever worked in a theater with a platter system, you know what I’m talking about). A wicked wrap left a nasty scratch down the print of Beetlejuice for a good reel or so (we got that movie months after it had been released, so it didn’t really upset any crowds). Sometimes we would find some gems up there, like old prints of Music Video ZAP, which were just music videos like Rick Springfield’s Bop til You Drop and Sade’s Smooth Operator. These videos were advertised in the paper along with the movies back when the place opened.
And I’ve seen it mentioned on other theater sites, yes, the marquis was above a slanted, slippery metal roof that you had to shimmy up to from the top of a rickety step ladder. I have changed it in the rain, snow, and ice. But even on a clear day, it was no treat. Minor sour grapes there.
It was sad to hear about the theater’s decline and that it was leveled, but I was glad to be there during the heyday. Thanks to facebook, I’ve reconnected with several former co-workers from 30 years ago. We all look back at it fondly (we were so young). It was a huge part of my youth, so it will always maintain a special place in my heart.
I have the original ads from its May 24,1985 opening of the Town Cinema 6. If you need to see them please contact me at and I would be glad to send you the newspaper scans.
AMADEUS was one of the grand opening attractions that the Town Cinema 6 had that was one of the 70MM Dolby Stereo presentations in the Carolinas.
Opened on May 24,1985 under Charlotte based Stewart and Everett Theatres. Closed on June 16,1997 by Carmike Cinemas.
Closed under Carmike Cinemas on June 16,1997.
Open on May 24,1985 under Stewart and Everett Theatres The Town Cinema 6 was Charlotte’s state of the art deluxe cinema complex.
THE OPENING ATTRACTIONS FROM THE TOWN CINEMA 6:
“AMADEUS”-First Charlotte Showing in 70MM-6 Track Dobly Stereo Presentation[The Town Cinema 6 along with the Park Terrace(A Plitt Theatre) were the only two movie theatres in the greater Charlotte area that were equipped with full 70MM-6 Track Dobly Stereo capabilities]
Sylvester Stallone in RAMBO FIRST BLOOD PART II
Roger Moore as James Bond 007 in A VIEW TO A KILL
Richard Pryor and John Candy in BREWSTER’S MILLIONS
Screens Five and Six opens May 31,1985….with…..
Chevy Chase in FLETCH
Steven Spielburg’s THE GOONIES
And Coming Soon To The Town Cinema 6:
Clint Eastwood in PALE RIDER
Town Cinema 6 was originally a Stewart and Everett Theatre that opened on May 24,1985 as Charlotte’s newest deluxe state-of-the-art theatre complex. S&E built several theatres based on its design on the same architectural structure: Cinema 4 in Aberdeen,the Havelock Cinema 4/6 in Havelock, Cinema 6 in Wilmington and Cinema 6 in Jacksonville not to mention Cinema 4/8 in Lexington and others within the region that were former S&E Theatres.
When Carmike Cinemas took over the operations of the Town Cinema 6 and others after Carmike’s acquisition of all S&E Theatres in 1986,it abandoned Aberdeen,Charlotte,and Lexington and replaced the Wilmington and Jacksonville Cinemas 6 with megaplexes. In Charlotte,Carmike closed the Capri and Village Theatres by the late-1980’s and the Town Cinema 6 went from showing first-run movies to becoming a second run dollar house under Carmike Cinemas. Only the Havelock Cinema remains in operation as it expanded from four to six screens and most recently expanded from six to eight screens in order to keep up with the competition.
Town Cinema 6 was originally a Stewart & Everett Theatre. S&E built several theaters based on its design: (Carmike)Cinema 4 in Aberdeen, Havelock Cinema 4/6 (Carmike Cinema 6) in Havelock, Cinema 6 in Wilmington and Cinema 6 in Jacksonville, and possibly others. Only the Havelock Cinema remains in operation; Carmike abandoned Aberdeen (and Charlotte!) and replaced the Wilmington and Jacksonville Cinemas 6 with megaplexes.
Carmike Cinemas also operated the Capri Theatres off Independence Blvd.,which was a triplex. It also operated the Matthews Festival 10,which is on the other side of Independence Blvd. going towards Monroe(which is at the intersection of N.C. 51 and U.S. 74),which Carmike acquired from Cineplex Odeon,which was a 10-screen theatre.
Also Town Cinema 6 and University Place was also under Carmike Cinemas.
Actually the Charlotte area theatre count sits at 12 with the semi-recent closings of the Delta 6, Movies at the Lake, and The Palace. I believe some of the theatres you are including are as far south as Rock Hill and as far north as Mooresville. None the less Charlotte remians saturated with screens. Can’t wait for the new AMC 14 plex to open up on WT Harris. oh jooooy!
Charles,
The Consolidated Theatres Abortium 12, Phillips Place 10 and AMC Pavillion 22 are located on the other side of Charlotte. Interstate 485 wasn’t open yet so would have taken a great bit of time for someone in the university area to drive down to these theatres. There was a number of factors that darkened these screens. Whenever I originally posted this theatre I didn’t want to slam the former operators of these two theatres but here goes…
Town Cinema and University were poorly planned from the get go. As I previously mentioned they were built within a mile of each other. The plan was that Town would serve the students at UNCC and University would cater to Charlotte’s developing art house community. Infact, the “Screening Room” at University would bring in some really hard to rent prints that Atlanta didn’t even have! Be here’s why things went sour…
University was built in a extremely cramped shopping area. The parking is very limited and is located at the very busy and dangerous interestion of Hwy 29 and WT Harris Blvd. If one screen sold out then there really was no room for anyone to park. Another negative aspect to this theatre is that her box office tellers were on the ends of the concession island in the middle of the lobby. Fridays were horrible. Both sets of lines would merge into each other and it was hard to tell if you were in line for tickets or popcorn. This also made very easy to ahem skip. Given that the theatre had dual entries the theatre became the target of several robberies. As you all can guess robberies will quickly take away from a theatre’s reputation.
Town Cinema catered to the university crowd but then things turned for the worse. Carmike continually jacked up the prices to levels that the average on campus non working student would question. Seriously think about about it.. Tony could spend $6.00 on one ticket or get a rental for a few nights and maybe go down to the Taco H#ll down the street. To make things even worse they discontinued students prices whenever things started going down hill. The last nail in the coffin arrived in the summer of 1997. Eastern Federal Cinemas opened the Starlight 14 Cinemas a quick mile up Hwy 29. A year or so later AMC opened up a 24 screen demonplex in Mall of America’s Concord Mills.
As for renovations, the mere thought was laughable. My friend who co-managed BOTH theatres gave me a tour of the builds and folk is wasn’t pretty. These poor theatres were just a Carolina rain storm away from being a safety issue. Town Cinemas had mold, rats and roaches. University was infested wih roaches and had severe problems with her ceiling and HVAC.
Now let’s talk about the manager’s pay. Given the circumstances you would think that the manager might earn some form of check that could justify the fun times at the theatre. Oh my fellow cinephiles..not so. Carmike didn’t hold her managers in too high of a light. The highest that any GM was paid at University was around $275-$300 per week..before taxes. Even then that was horrible pay.
Whenever you add up low pay + long hours (managing two theatres at one time)+ poor attendance + no renovations you will get theatres that closely resimble Town Cinema 6 and University Cinemas.
That my friends is what killed the sisters.
What killed these two houses?