Century Stadium 14 Sacramento
1600 Arden Way,
Sacramento,
CA
95825
1600 Arden Way,
Sacramento,
CA
95825
4 people
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The peanuts movie was the last movie to be played there
Such a sad story for these theaters. Century 22 was awkwardly split in half in 1973, only five years after it opened. Century 21 suffered the same fate in 1978. The two smaller domes were added on in 1974 and survived until their demolition, in 1994 the 8 smaller auditoriums were added. I laughed out loud when that ad above was printed- “It’s everything you’ve come to expect from Century Theatres and much more” meant that it would be run incompetently as in the past film presentation was lackluster with print damage being quite common. It would have been “Spectacularly Refurbished” had they properly restored the two large domes, but they did not and I never patronized the “new” complex. Quite often the free-standing 21 dome would play the same movie in both halves.
The wall dividing Century 21 was taken down prior to demolition in order for the dome to fall more easily, this was not done with 22 and the wall stuck up like a shark fin as the dome roof was taken down and then the wall was knocked down. If they had properly restored those two domes, I would have come to see every movie played there. As it is there are no theaters in Sacramento currently that I would want to patronize on a regular basis, if at all.
Here’s a new 4-page 50th anniversary FIDDLER ON THE ROOF retrospective featuring a roadshow playdate chronology and historian Q&A. Century 21’s lengthy run is mentioned in the piece.
Expanded to 14 screens on May 27th, 1994. Grand opening ad below:
Correction: Century 21 opened on November 21st, 1967 not September 21st, and Century 22 opening in 1969 not 1968 (same date). sorry for the mistake.
Century 23 opened on August 1st, 1973 and Century 24 and 25 opened on October 18th, 1974. The listings changed to Century Complex 5 in 1977 and the 6th screen opened in 1978.
1973 and 1975 grand opening ads posted.
Video at
Century 21 opened on September 21st, 1967 with “Gone With The Wind” and Century 22 opened on June 19th, 1968 with “Camelot”. Grand opening ads posted.
The guys told me they have a higher res version of the “The Last Days of The Domes” at https://vimeo.com/180076948 ,it does look and sound better…enjoy…
Here is a documentary celebrating the life and demolition of the Sacramento Century Stadium 14 domes, Camelot is shown playing inside on the screen for example, thanks Chad!…The Last Days of The Domes – MAB Telepictures Special https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHU7TjFt678
the above link is the demolition crew bringing the dome down. this is tragic. it looked like a great place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61INjYBpDOs
the Replacement theater opened offically yesterday: Century Arden 14 and XD 1590 Ethan Way, Sacramento, CA 95825 just south of the old main building, retangular box with a corner tower, sort of art deco with luxury seating. Only a couple of the old employees are back.
Destroyed this day, February 1, 2016. Our community’s heart lies broken, but our resolve is strengthened. RIP Vincent G. Raney.
This theatre has now closed and is in the process of being demolished. A new 14 screen will be constructed on this site. It is projected to open in late 2016.
Prior to adding the 8 box houses, the numbering scheme was: the front split dome was the Century 21-22. The other split dome with the two smaller domes were the Century 23-24-25-26. After adding the box theaters, they were numbered 5 through 8. Century Theatres regional office was in the Century 21-22. As a side note, the FAA required the theater to add lights to the roof because of it’s proximity to a nearby airport. The lights, when they were operational, gave the site a unique look.
Oh, the memories! This is one of the great Sacramento landmarks.
They took one dome down yesterday, the solo one with two screens…the others will stay up till the new movie complex is built.
They are redoing/doubling the whole complex area (the motel 6 is torn down) and the permit is open since Nov 14, 2014 to tear down the theater complex and replace it with a new Cinemark movie complex boasting 14 screens in place of the old domes…I went there to see Star Wars a few times before it was generally released…
Whether a company advertises two theatres as one, while historically significant to the way we’ll remember it, seems irrelevant to me. It’s still two separate theatres. In San Jose the domes are referred to as “Movies on Winchester” but they’re 4 separate buildings and four separate theatres.
But yes, I agree, the mods will need to decide on this.
Cinemark advertises the whole complex as a single operation called Century Stadium 14 Sacramento, and I don’t know of any open theatres listed on Cinema Treasures that aren’t listed under their current operating name (unless they’ve not yet been updated, of course.) I don’t know of any open theatres operating as single complex that are listed on two separate CT pages (except by accident) either.
I guess the mods will have to decide what their policy will be about this complex and its peculiar arrangement. I’d be inclined to just list it under its current name and then have a single paragraph describing the situation of its orphaned building. But right now this page is like a tail wagging its dog.
Oy, this location is so hard to describe to people who haven’t been there. This listing for the Century 21 Theatre is now considered to be screens 13 & 14 of the Century Stadium 14, but is a separate building than the other 12 screens.
These two screens are essentially the original Century 21 theatre, and were operated independently of the 12-screen “Complex” until about 2003.
The other twelve screens are part of the original Century 22 theatre, which started as a single dome, then had two smaller domes added similar to the Century 22 in San Jose. At some point, the large dome of Century 22 Sacramento got split in half, and when they expanded the complex in 1996? they added 8 more screens and a new entrance, box office, snack bar and restrooms.
So technically I suppose this listing is correct. Another listing should be created for the Century 22 Sacramento/Century Complex Sacramento/Century Stadium 14(12) Sacramento.
It’s the same theatre. The page needs to be updated.
Century Stadium 14 Sacramento
The correct address and telephone number:
1590 Ethan Way
Sacramento, CA 95825
(916) 922-4241
The number of screens is 14, of course.
It is now owned by Cinemark, which swallowed up most of the Century chain.
And of course we can add Scott Neff’s information that the architect was Vincent G. Raney.
I don’t understand. Is this a different theater than the Century theater down the street on Ethan avenue with dome shaped theaters? Because that one has a different name and location.
Vincent Raney was the architect for these theatres.
Both large domes had 70mm when they opened- the 21 opened with the reissue of “Gone With The Wind”, and the 22 opened with “Camelot”. I don’t know what the last films shown in them before they were twinned were. One of the smaller domes also has 70mm, though it hasn’t been used since “True Lies”.