Lenox Square Theatre
3393 Peachtree Road NE,
Atlanta,
GA
30319
3393 Peachtree Road NE,
Atlanta,
GA
30319
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Georgia Theatre Company, Regal Entertainment Group, United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.
Architects: J.B. Finch
Firms: Finch, Alexander, Barnes, Rothschild & Paschel
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News About This Theater
- Jul 15, 2008 — Remembering "Die Hard" -- A 20th Anniversary Tribute
- Jul 15, 2008 — Remembering "Die Hard"
The Lenox Square Theatre was built by Georgia Theatre Company as a single 660-seat screen, opening on June 20, 1963 with Frank Sinatra in “Come Blow Your Horn”. On June 11, 1969 Georgia Theatre Company took over vacant space next door and added a 320 seat shoebox theatre. In 1978 they split the 660 seat theatre into two 320-seaters, and took over more vacant space and added a 220-seater. In 1980 they put a 190-seater in the lobby space of the 1967 addition.
In 1984, they took down the wall that twinned the 1963 theatre and moved the back wall forward to create a 500-seat auditorium. Then they combined the space gained with the lobby and put in two 110-seat screens. United Artists Theatres bought Georgia Theatre Co. in 1988 and soon completely remodeled the lobby but did nothing to solve the terrible sound and projection problems caused by the atrocious layout of the theatre in its final six screen form.
The condition of the site was very poor by the time Regal took over the UA chain and it was closed in June of 2003. During its first 15 years, the 660-seat auditorium was a true showplace with 70MM projectors and 4 and 6 track sound. The next 25 years of twinning and quading and poor upkeep gave it a reputation as a place to avoid. A sad end to a once great location.
Contributed by
Stan Malone
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Recent comments (view all 30 comments)
Oct 15 1988 these movies are playing: “DIE HARD”,“SWEET HEARTS Dance”.ALIEN NATION", “MEMORIES OF ME” “ACCUSED"and "TOUGHER THAN LEATHER”.
Here a 1963 aerial view.
View link
I’ve been gone from Atlanta since ‘97. A friend recently told me about CT. I was really shocked to find
the Lenox Square Theaters closed. That’s like hearing that Lenox Square itself had folded.
Yes, I saw all the Bond movies from the 70s there. I spent many a rainy Atlanta afternoon at the
Lenox Square movies.
And yes, the later expanded layout was a lousy place to see a movie. One frequently sat in the
theater and heard the soundtrack of the movie next door blasting through the wall. And the audiences got so rude and obnoxious (usually groups of teens) I finally stopped going to evening or weekend
showings, sticking to the less well attended matinees.
I thought I remembered the original entrance was located street level, not inside the mall. It was -
thanks for that photo Stan (and all your great posts.)
No, in its latter days, Lenox Square Theaters was not a great spot, but I always thought the place
would be there. Too bad it’s not.
Thanks Ralph.The Theatre business is a joke today from when i ran theatres in the 70’s early 80’s.
The Burt Lancaster film, “The Train” (1964) was the only film I saw here. It was a single-screen theatre then. Though in black and white, “The Train” was an exciting film on the nearly wall-to-wall screen. The memory is 49 years old, but I am pretty sure that we entered from inside the mall, which was open-air back then.
The June, 1964, issue of International Projectionist featured a two page article about the Lenox Square Threatre which can be seen at this link. The house was designed for Georgia Theatres by architect J. B. Finch, of the firm Finch, Alexander, Barnes, Rothchild & Paschal.
We went to Lenox a lot when I was a kid, being the movie junkie that I am. Much later, after the theaters had been augmented, we would go sometimes before we went down to the Silver Screen to watch Rocky Horror. In the 80’s, the theater got to be a joke because the sound was horrid. The last film I saw there was “Revenge of the Pink Panther”, which itself was insipid. Still, I have so many good memories of Lenox Square.
Opened on June 20th, 1963. Grand opening ad in photo section and below.
Lenox theatre opening · Thu, Jun 20, 1963 – 23 · The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) · Newspapers.com
2nd screen opened on June 11th, 1969. Ad in photo section.
Picture of the Peachtree Road marquee from July 1975 added to the photo section. I have included a comment describing one of the more notorious examples of marquee sabotage, at least when measured by the number of people to see it.