iPic North Miami Beach

dallasmovietheaters on September 10, 2022 at 3:33 pm

The Intracoastal Mall on the waterfront of North Miami Beach opened in 1987 with discount clothing chains T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s, grocer Winn-Dixie, and a General Cinema multiplex theater as its anchors. Restaurants included Shooters and a Ruth Chris Steak House. The General Cinema Intracoastal 8 launched with “Orphans,” “Deadline,” “Killing Time,” “When You Were Here,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Someone to Watch Over Me,” and “The Sicilian” on October 23, 1987.

Ten years later, General Cinema was watching aggressive building of new destination theatre complexes in the “megaplex era” devour aging 6-8 screen multiplexes. Unfortunately for the circuit, they held a huge portfolio of such multiplexes and they witnessed their death in slow motion. GCC’s Intracoastal was the very definition of an aging and uncomfortable multiplex. The circuit closed all eleven of its remaining Florida locations on “(GCC) Black Friday” September 29, 2000 along with 13 others (five in Atlanta, three in New Orleans, as well as Seattle, Albuquerque, Houston, Raleigh and Columbus, Ohio).

On May 4, 2001, the venue was reopened as the Sunrise Intracoastal Cinemas 8. The venue featured independent films, international films, and hosted events including a question and answer with the director of “Play the Game” in 2009. Sunrise moved on in November of 2011. That same month, it was taken over as the Intracoastal Cinemas 8 operated by Frank Theatres. Frank also moved on as the theatre staggered, by all reviews, toward its April 27, 2014 closure in need of repairs and air fresheners.

The theatre received a much-needed transformation in 2014 when Boca Raton-based iPic Theatres completely gutted the existing space and created a premium dining/bar/theatre experience with seating drastically reduced to just 50 to 90 seats per the eight auditoriums. The iPic North Miami Beach launched (deciding not to include “Intracoastal” for reasons unknown) on November 10, 2017. As the retail portion of the Intracoastal Mall staggered, an ambitious master plan was announced for the Mall that would turn it into a mixed used facility. The iPic North Miami Beach continued to operate as the plan was under consideration.

Harvey on January 13, 2021 at 9:03 am

Pics at Abandoned Florida:

Intracoastal 8

Al Alvarez on January 20, 2015 at 6:47 pm

Muvico man is back!

CSWalczak on November 30, 2010 at 9:15 pm

This theater is now being managed by Frank Theatres; the new official website is: http://www.franktheatres.com/Home.aspx

chomposaurus on August 25, 2008 at 6:55 am

LM,

I just combed through the text on this page and could not find a single instance in which “Intracoastal” was mispelled, so I can’t see the relevance of your post.

chomposaurus on March 22, 2005 at 12:39 am

The Intracoastal 8 was originally a General Cinemas (GCC) location, until it closed and sat dormant for about four years. The GCC locations were mostly excellent, although, as with many of their 8-plexes, four of the auditoriums had stereo capabilities, while the other four were monaural. Since the Sunrise Cinemas chain reopened this former GCC location and others, it has made no attempt to upgrade the audio, and so four of the houses are still in monaural. Tens of thousands, if not more, in post-production dollars are spent in mixing and perfecting multi-channel soundtracks, and therefore, exhibitors should respect the art of multi-channel audio presentation by presenting it as such.

The GCC locations, in my opinion, featured the best projection in town, and had perfectly flat screens with durable-looking movable masking. The Intracoastal 8 showcases a fairly pleasing selection of films, balancing commercial and limited releases, and is overall a good venue, conducive to a more cinematic experience than some of larger, more impersonal megaplexes in the area. My recommendation, though: see a film in one of the four larger, stereo-equipped houses, or not at all.