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The latest movie theater news and updates
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November 7, 2002
Today’s Newsreel
SANDWELL, ENGLAND — Paul Jurvis has closed the only movie house left in town, the twin Kings Cinema, citing nearby construction and the loss of parking spaces as the cause of the failing business. According to the Evening Mail, these issues have forced his patrons to attend the new Showcase Cinema in Dudley.
Jurvis' family has been in the cinema business for 47-years and previously owned the Kings, Queens, and Imperial movie houses. The newer Kings Cinema was built later, in 1975. Jurvis is already entertaining offers to take over the lease, but none of them to operate the Kings as a cinema.
BETHPAGE, NY — Cablevision has reported increasing losses in its Clearview Cinemas unit, according to a new report by Reuters/iWon.com. Clearview Cinemas, which operates such Cinema Treasures as the Ziegfeld and the Beekman, is still up for sale.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The San Francisco Weekly is reporting that Landmark Theatres' Lumiere may close for seismic retrofitting and other renovations as early as Thursday, November 14th. The triplex will need to close during the lucrative Fall art house season.
According to the SF Weekly, “As it has for the last two months, Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinemas will continue to host the calendar of one-week bookings initiated at the Lumiere a few years ago.”
SEATTLE, WA — The rescued and restored facade of the former Music Hall Theatre will be auctioned off on November 16th, piece by piece, according to the Seattle Times.
The Music Hall, one of Seattle’s grandest movie palaces, was torn down in 1991 to make way for an office building. Originally opened in 1929 as the Fox, its name was changed to the Seventh Avenue and later to the Music Hall. In the 70’s, it became the Emerald Place dinner theater which lasted until 1991.
The auction will consist of “ornate urns, columns, crests, arches and other relics” and will be held at 10 a.m. at 4815 15th Ave. S.W. in Seattle. For more information, visit www.tradermick.com or call auctioneer Mike Odell at (206) 542-4460.
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November 6, 2002
Today’s Newsreel
There have been so many news stories lately that we haven’t been able to cover that we decided to post as many as we can today in an abbreviated format. Enjoy!
See you tomorrow!
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November 5, 2002
Today’s Newsreel
SANTA BARBARA, CA — Metropolitan Theatres' briefly reopened the downstairs, main auditorium of the Granada Theater this past weekend for a three-day engagement of “The Santa Clause 2”. Santa Barbara’s oldest movie house, which was previously converted into a triplex, is currently being renovated and restored.
BRIDGEPORT, CT — The city of Bridgeport hastily began removing the Palace and Majestic theaters' marquees because of fears that they might crash to the ground. The marquees will be stripped and stored in the hopes of rebuilding them if and when the city can restore and reopen the shuttered, adjacent movie palaces.
According to the Connecticut Post, “City officials hope that construction of a state courthouse at the corner of Congress and Main streets will spark a revitalization of northern downtown, including rehabilitating the now run-down theaters.”
View images of the Palace and Majestic marquees
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The Pantages Theatre will reopen this Friday after an extensive renovation effort. According to the Skyway News, the Minneapolis Community Development Agency, which bought the theater in 1999, has replicated the style in which the theater was originally built and upgraded and modernized its capabilites.
The Pantages opens with a three-day engagement by pianist Jim Brickman and will continue to offer “off-broadway performances and concerts.”
The Pantages was built as a vaudeville theater in 1916 and switched to movies in the 1920s. RKO remodeled the theater in 1946 renaming it the RKO Pan. It was bought by Ted Mann in 1960 and remodeled into a 70mm roadshow house, opening in March 1961 with “Spartacus.”
The former Mann theater closed in 1984 and has sat vacant ever since.
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November 4, 2002
Today’s Newsreel
SEATTLE, WA — Redevelopment of portions of the Northgate Mall in Seattle may, once again, impact the historic Northgate Theatre. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a redevelopment proposal would “likely include the mall’s northwest corner” which is where the former Loews Cineplex movie house is located, along with adjacent office space.
The Northgate Theater, which is cited as the first shopping center theater ever built, has recently been converted into a concert venue, the Northgate Music Theater. The operators currently have a one year lease.
The Northgate opened in 1950 and once seated 1,500 patrons during its heyday. As the Northgate Music Theater, most of the seats have been removed and the venue can now fit 2,400 patrons with only 375 seats on the floor.
Northgate Music Theater website
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The opening of the new 15-screen Crown Theatre in downtown Minneapolis is great news for moviegoers, but will add hardships to the single screen Parkway Theater.
According to the Star Tribune, Parkway owner Bill Irvine has seen his property tax bill nearly double this year due to a “reassessment” of the value of the building. That value is partially based on the development of and around the new Crown Theatre.
Irvine says he will now need to sell an additional 10,000 tickets this year to make up for the increased taxes at a theater that seats only 400 and charges $6 per ticket, 25 cents for a small popcorn, and a dollar for soda.
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Vienna Helps Save Two Historic Art Houses
VIENNA, AUSTRIA — According to ScreenDaily.com, “The city of Vienna has agreed to subsidise the operation of two historic art house cinemas that were threatened with closure after they ran into financial difficulties.”
The Vienna International Film Festival will take over the 736-seat Gartenbau cinema, while the Austrian Film Archive will operate the “historic and architecturally important” Metro Cinema.
The city will also help finance the future of these two movie houses which were put in jeopardy after the opening of nearby multiplexes.
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November 1, 2002
Riviera Theatre Up For Sale
CHICAGO, IL — According to an email sent by the Friends of the Uptown, the historic Riviera Theatre went up for sale on Wednesday for $4.5 million — a figure which includes the attached commericial space. G.B. Property Management is handling the sale of the 1918 former Balaban & Katz movie house.
According to the Friends, the 2,500-seat Riviera was the second B&K “presentation house”, after the Central Park, and was built by Rapp & Rapp, who would continue a long and fruitful relationship with Balaban and Katz.
After closing in the early 1980s, it first became a nightclub, and by the end of the decade, transformed into one of Chicago’s most popular concert venues. It continued to host concerts into 2002.
(Thanks to the Friends of the Uptown for the news.)
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Wagner Installs New Michigan Theater Marquee
ANN ARBOR, MI — The Wagner Electric Sign Company has just installed a new vertical sign on the Michigan Theater.
According to Gary Flinn, the Michigan removed the original and much larger vertical sign in 1956. Flinn also reports that the lighting of the new sign is scheduled for tonight.
For more information or to see another terrific job from Wagner, visit their Michigan Theater project page.
(Thanks to Paul Drury for the update!)
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30+ New Theaters Added!
We’ve just added over 30 new theaters including a new batch of Brooklyn movie houses thanks to Philip Goldberg, more Puerto Rico cinemas from Jose Mendez, a large number of Michigan and Illinois Cinema Treasures from Bryan Krefft, a new group of Connecticut theaters from Roger Katz, and more from Ron Pierce, Rogelio Tse, Steve Anderson, and Jean.
Thanks everyone and keep ‘em coming!
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October 31, 2002
Today’s Newsreel
AKRON, OH — The Akron Civic Theatre will reopen on November 5, 2002 following a $22.6 million restoration effort at the former Loew’s movie palace.
According to the Beacon Journal, in addition to making the venue completely accesssible to the handicapped, the Civic also added a bigger stage, a new roof, new dressing rooms, a new north wing with elevators and restrooms, a bigger stage, and numerous other technical and aesthetic upgrades.
Read the Beacon Journal article
Read an editorial about the theater
PASADENA, CA — Thanks to their supporters, the Friends of the Raymond Theatre were able to pay their latest legal bill and are continuing to fight against the gutting of the old town Pasadena movie house.
In order to raise $7,000 for the next round, the Friends are extending their raffle to November 30, 2002. To donate money or buy a raffle ticket, visit their website.
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October 30, 2002
Salinas' Crystal Theater To Be Razed Today
SALINAS, CA — The old Crystal Theater will be demolished today, along with three other surrounding buildings, to make way for a new 14-screen, 2,916-seat Maya Cinemas megaplex. According to the Californian, a ceremony will be held today at 4 p.m. at Monterey and Market streets.
Tom Delay dates the Crystal to 1916 when it was originally known as Brown’s Opera House. It was briefly renamed the T & D Theatre when it became part of the T & D circuit, before that moniker was given as the original name of the current Fox California Theatre.
The 86-year-old movie house has been known as the Crystal ever since 1921. It closed in 1972 with Gary Parks noting its last uses as a Spanish-language movie house and boxing venue.
Parks, commenting on Cinema Treasures on June 15, 2002 about the redevelopment project, noted that despite the demolition:
The Crystal’s facade, vertical sign and marquee are shown in the rendering [of the new megaplex] as being preserved.
The rest of the complex will be in a sort of Mediterranean motif. Aside from preservation considerations, the Crystal’s facade and signage are being kept because they are grandfathered-in under the sign ordinance of Downtown Salinas, which no longer allows any new overhanging signage. This way, the new theatre will have both a monumental sign and eye-catching marquee.
No official word yet on whether this is confirmed.
(Thanks to Charles Parker for the update.)