South County Cinema
South County Centerway,
St. Louis,
MO
63129
South County Centerway,
St. Louis,
MO
63129
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: General Cinema Corp.
Architects: Kenneth Balk, Maurice D. Sornik
Nearby Theaters
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South City Cinema I & II
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Lindbergh 8 Cinema
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South Twin Drive-In
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Ronnie's 8 Cine
-
Marcus Ronnie's 20 Cinema
News About This Theater
- Jun 18, 2010 — "Jaws"... Happy 35th!
- May 14, 2010 — Please Post Today, May 14 --- "Jaws," Happy 35th
Located in Mehlville, to the southwest of St. Louis, MO. The South County Cinema was originally a one-screener, opening November 23, 1966, but in October 1976 it was divided into a twin. General Cinemas also had another theater that was 100% identical in design - the Northland Cinema, in North St. Louis County.
As late as 1985 the South County Cinema was still drawing big crowds. Around that time, Wehrenberg opened a new multi-screen complex just a few miles down Lemay Ferry Road, which began to sap audiences from South County Cinema.
Finally, in 1987, General Cinemas decided to open an 8 screen theater across the street, the Lindbergh 8. The new cinema did poor business for a few years, before becoming a bargain house with 2 dollar tickets and second run shows. The South County Cinema closed on April 28, 1988 with and was later demolished to create more parking for an adjacent mall.
Contributed by
Norman Plant
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Recent comments (view all 43 comments)
I suppose that another chain might want to go head-to-head with the Wehrenberg Ronnie’s 20 by building a megaplex closer to South County Mall; after all, the AMC operation competes with Wehrenberg’s Galaxy in Chesterfield. Except for the discount Keller 8, the area does seem underscreened. However, South County may not be seen as econonmically attractive. I do not think that there is any doubt that AMC will eventually close its Crestwood theaters, and that in time the whole Crestwood Plaza will be redeveloped just as the Jamestown Mall will be soon.
I think AMC would definitely move in this area. There are no AMC theaters in South county anyway (or at least that part of SoCo). It would greatly help if they built screens that were attached to the mall. Great idea. And yes, this is very underscreened.
Also, I believe it was Wehrenberg that bought out GCC in StL
Needy: You are correct, Wehrenberg bought out the remaining GCC theaters back in 1990 (I think). However, that was before GCC officially went out of business. When that happened, AMC acquired the remaining GCC theaters in the rest of the country.
Actually, Needy, my last post should have said Wehrenberg bought out the remaining GCC theaters IN ST. LOUIS in 1990. There were still GCC theaters in other parts of the country, as I discovered when I moved to Southern California in 1991.
Also, I apologize for my poor spelling in my original post. This editor started acting strange by not scrolling down once I came to the bottom of the box. I’m using the Firefox browser…could that have something to do with that happening?
Quite possibly; Firefox tends to slow down on my Mac the longer I have been in it. I think it builds a bigger cache of stored previous pages than some other browsers, As soon as I notice the slowdown, I shut it down an reopen it; that seems to help.
I worked there from 1976 to 1979. Had a great time, especially after hours!
November 23rd, 1966 grand opening ad in the photo section. 2 other cinemas also opened on the same day.
October 22nd, 1976 grand opening as twin also in photo section.
Closed April 28, 1988 with “Switching Channels” with “Prince of Darkness” splitting a screen with “The Serpent & the Rainbow.”