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Theaters
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January 16, 2009
Riverbank not so sure now about theater
RIVERBANK, CA — After purchasing it two years ago, the city is now thinking twice about investing the necessary money to revitalize the Del Rio Theater.
The mayor says he wants to board it up. One City Council member says she’s sorry the city ever bought it.
The object of their scorn? The 61-year-old Del Rio Theater at Third and Atchison streets.
Riverbank’s redevelopment agency bought the downtown landmark in 2007 for $1.7 million. The aim was to transform the one-time movie house into the centerpiece of a revitalized downtown.
Read more in the Modesto Bee.
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January 15, 2009
Palace Theatre Huddersfield future
HUDDERSFIELD, WEST YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND — It looks like the planning application turned down last year which would involve demolition of the Palace Theatre has been appealed against and upheld. This will involve the demolition of the theatre and expansion of the Kingsgate Shopping Centre, but with the retention of Roland Satchwells 1936 Art Deco frontage. This is despite the recommendations put forward by the Theatres Trust UK. It looks like farewell to another Art Deco gem, and such a shame about the interior ceiling.
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January 13, 2009
Matching funds raised for Franklin theater
FRANKLIN, TN — After closing two years ago, funds have been collected to save the Franklin Cinema.
The Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County has matched a $1.5 million challenge grant from the Martin Foundation for the restoration of the Franklin Theatre, the organization announced Tuesday.
The former movie theater on Main Street closed in 2007. The project aims to restore the 1937 theater as a public performance, movie and meeting venue.
Read the full story in the Tennessean.
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January 12, 2009
Future plan for Carlisle being established
CARLISLE, PA — Local residents want to find out how to make needed changes to the already successful reuse of the Carlisle Theatre so that the theater will continue to have success in the future.
Carlisle Theatre is rightly described as “the crown jewel” of the borough’s downtown.
In a Sentinel story Wednesday, the phrase was used by Tim Scott, a theatre board member and borough councilman, in explaining why a joint feasibility study is being launched to help guide the future of the nearly 70-year-old venue.
Read more in the Sentinel.
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South Fayette stalls decision on movie theater purchase
SOUTH FAYETTE, PA — A local theater could have a future as a civic center.
South Fayette commissioners are weighing whether to buy a vacant movie theater for use as multipurpose civic center, or to seek a location in the planned mixed-use Newbury development nearby.
The five-member board decided Tuesday to delay a decision on purchasing Star City Screen Works at the interchange of Interstate 79 and Route 50. Township manager Michael Hoy said the property’s owner had set a Jan. 13 deadline to accept a proposed $5 million purchase price for the building and surrounding 12 acres.
Read more in iStock Analyst.
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January 9, 2009
Carthay Circle statue coming home
LOS ANGELES, CA — After being stolen and then rescued, the statue across the street from the site of the former Carthay Circle Theatre is finally coming back.
The 6-foot bronze miner statue stolen last February from the Carthay Circle area and later recovered from a Los Angeles scrapyard is back on familiar ground, where it will be fully installed in the next two weeks, city officials said today.
For decades, the gold miner stood in plain view at the busy intersection of San Vicente Boulevard and McCarthy Vista. But sky-high prices for such metals as bronze, brass and copper made the statue too tempting a target to thieves.
Read more in the Los Angeles Times.
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Horse became the show when it walked into an English cinema
A runaway horse startled moviegoers when it found its way into an English cinema.
A runaway horse unwittingly became a star movie attraction – after bursting into a cinema.
The animal left film-goers in shock after galloping through the automatic front doors, trotting around the foyer and cantering down a corridor.
It then turned round and fled through the exit as bewildered couples, friends and families hurried to clear a path.
Read the full story in the Daily Mail.
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Cinema Cafe
I discovered this while doing a search on local restaurants. I have not been to this location personally, Cinema Cafe in Litchfield, CT. The address is: 8 Village Green Dr. in Litchfield. Telephone is: 860-567-9438. Fax is: 860-567-3912. The site said: “Showing Old Movies All Day!”. Some of their menu is named after blockbusters of the past such as “Gone with the Wind”, “Ten Commandments”, and “Terminator”.
Hours are Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the site. Sounds a bit to me like the way Ground Round restaurants were in the 70’s around here.
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January 7, 2009
New Metro to become Urban Outfitters
NEW YORK, NY — The New York Post reports that the New Metro, vacant since movies ceased, has a new tenant Urban Outfitters, which has a 20 year lease for all 15,000 square feet on three and a half levels.
The Metro’s owners, who have had it on the sale block since early last year, just signed a big tenant: Urban Outfitters, which is netleasing all 15,000 square feet on 3 and a half levels. It will be the seventh Manhattan location for the teen-oriented clothing chain, which bucked prevailing trends and enjoyed a 31 percent earnings increase last year.
Read the full story in the New York Post.
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January 5, 2009
Mayfair Theatre plans
SANTA MONICA, CA — The Santa Monica Daily Press announced plans for the Mayfair Theatre, which has been sitting vacant since the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The facade would be preserved, while apartments, ground floor retail and underground parking would take up the space behind it.
After a years-long process that has involved repeated trips back to the drawing board, back-and-forth discussions with the Architectural Review Board, and even a lawsuit, the long-anticipated construction of a mixed-use project that involves preserving the theater’s ornate facade is expected to move forward.
The project, which received final approval from the ARB in June, is currently in the plan check phase and could receive its building permit by Jan. 26, according to David Forbes Hibbert, the principal of DFH Architects, the firm overseeing the project. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year and will take roughly two years to complete.