Halls Ferry 14 Cine'
2845 Target Drive,
Ferguson,
MO
63140
2845 Target Drive,
Ferguson,
MO
63140
4 people
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Thanks for the dates — but can you also include the list of movies showing at each theater when they opened or expanded? Thanks!
April 7th, 1989 grand opening ad as a 14-plex in photo section. It was the largest theatre in the Midwest.
Also uploaded an aerial.
This opened as the area’s first 6-plex cinema on March 17th, 1978. Grand opening ad in the photo section. It marks the time Wehrenberg uses Cine' instead of Ciné since American typewriters of the time were unable to “put the hats on”.
The theater was not on Target’s parking lot. There were two other businesses between Target’s lot and the theater. Children’s Palace and Showbiz Pizza.
In this interview published in the April 29, 1911, issue of the St. Louis Business Journal, architect Don Rataj said that the late-1980s remodeling of the Halls Ferry Cine was his first project for the Wehrenberg Theatres circuit. His firm has been designing Wehrenberg’s theaters since 1987.
Kurt Krueger became a partner in 2000 and the firm was renamed Rataj-Krueger Architects, Inc. at that time. Rataj retired at the end of 2012. Geoffrey Crowley is now a principal of the firm, but I don’t know if there are any plans to rename it or not.
Just wanted to add my memories of the Halls Ferry 14…
I was only 10 when Something About Mary came out, but I remember getting the free hair gel if you purchased tickets to this movie. We still have a pack, too! And yes, it’s real hair gel, not like the “gel” used in the movie.
My dad and I went to see Star Trek:First Contact in 1996 and the theater, though it was smaller compared to the ones of today, was packed. It was raining outside and the storm got so bad that during one of the key scenes in the movie, the electric went out. Everyone just sat there waiting for the power to come back on but only the emergency lighting lit the room. A lot of people left because it took so long, but for those of us that waited, we all got free movie passes.
There also used to be a large candy cart in the lobby. It was very expensive but we would try it out every now and then.
I have to say though, most of the movies I saw as a kid, I saw here. It wasn’t a glamorous spot, but it was close to home. I didn’t need all the extras that they have in theaters now. It was all about the movies, not the lobby or food counter. You’re in there all of five seconds and just to get your popcorn. Too bad the neighborhood got run down.
According to the company’s president in a 1989 mention of the theatre in Boxoffice magazine, Child’s Play made more money at this theatre than any other theatre that played it.
It’s demolished now? What’s in its place?
Just got word that the theatre is currently being demolished.
The transition from an 8-plex to a 14-plex occurred on April 7, 1989. In its publicity, Wehrenberg claimed “The Largest Theatre in the Midwest.”
Verifiable historical facts: The original six-plex opened in March 1978. Published capacity of each was 360…making a total of 2160.
Two auditoria were added in April 1982 making it an eight-plex. Capacity of these additions was 185 each…now making a total of 2530.
All of this before the opening date in the description section!
During Wehrenberg’s bankruptcy they had no where left to store equipment from the closed theatres. They took one of the auditoriums and put everything in there. Then the theatre became a 13 plex.
The old Hals Ferry 14 Cine' building is used as a storage facility by Wehrenberg and R & H Distributing (owned by Wehrenberg). It is full of old projecters, carpet, popcorn poppers, cabinets, and lots of other old equipment that the Wehrenberg theatres don’t use anymore. When a theatre gets new equipment, the old goes into the Halls Ferry location. They’ve been clearing it out to make it more desirable to a potential buyer.
Some of the historical facts are inaccurate. The Halls Ferry started out as a 6-screen and was built around 1978 or so (I was there opening weekend-a bunch of moms took a bunch of us kids to Disney’s “Return From Witch Mountain” there). A couple of years later, they upgraded from “6” to “8”. The 6 newer screens which made it a 14-plex were built adjacent to the original building.