I haven’t been back to Indy in a few years so I don’t know if it’s still standing but can tell you the equipment won’t be there. In most cases when a theater closes the equipment is shipped to another theater at least if it was a chain and this closed as AMC. The equipment that doesn’t get shipped to another theater will usually be sold. There are a few companmies that specialize in used theater equipment.
I remember when when I worked for General Cinema there was a time when some theaters in I think Detroit were sold and when they shipped everything out they even keep the toilet seats and shipped it to us at the theater I was at ( Glendale )at the time.
I only know of one theater that equipment was left in at the time of closing and that was only because they thought a deal to sell it was going to be final. It turned out it was later resold to a different company.
It will usually take a week or so after a theater closes to clean out all the equipment. I even closed one theater that was going to be knocked down for a Kohls and everything had to be removed first.
It was a crime to knock down the Southtown but it wasn’t in a blink of an eye. It was over a year when everyone knew it was going to happen. Shortly before Krause Anderson wanded Wards out but Wards had a 25 year lease and theatened legal action so they gave up. The Texaco station across from the theater was not owned by Krause Anderson. It was about a year after giving up on Wards that they started trying to get General Cinema out but like Wards they had a 25 year lease renewal at General Cinema’s option. They then set sights on the gas station and when they wouldn’t sell they moved the enterance to the other side of the station with the lanes going to the parking areas near Applebees they you had to hook it in to get the theater and or gas station. The owner of the station had said he would never sell so it was assumed the theater was there for good as well but after they moved the entrance he was losing to much money not to sell. He did good when he sold because Krause Anderson bought a new location a couple miles away. It didn’t take long after that before they closed the Goodyear store.
I don’t know why any business at least in Minn. would want to do business with Krause Anderson after seeing or finding out about everything they did to get people out of Southtown even ones with leases and brought in lots of business to the center.
The Southtown Theater only had 2 years in its 31 year history that it didn’t show a profit. The first was in the ‘70’s and I think it was 1975 but I’m not sure and the other was 1995, the year it closed.
The locks were put on the theatere exits because of a break in.The only office the broke in was one the safe wasn’t in. They had chained the doors at night but the fire marshall said they couldn’t do that because they might forget to take them off. The doors at Glendale were also chained at night but they didn’t have to put locks on.
I agree about Loews having poor quality. When I worked for General Cinema we sometimes got films from the Loews near by and we had to check the films very close for damage.
I wouldn’t get my hopes up that Kerasotes will improve the quality because I also worked for them after they bought the theater I was at and we had times that we had less than 40 % of the lights working because they wouldn’t let us but light bulbs or cleaning suppies. In an effert to cut cost they stopped us from cleaning the popcorn bins at the end of the night and would have us fill the bins but not clean it. After only a month or so the board of health caught wind of and put an end to it because of the cockroaches in the popcorn bins, ice bins, and even candy cases.
When Kerasotes bought the theater the opening weekend they didn’t have one movie they didn’t break or start at least 15 min. late. I know of a few theaters they have bought and shortly afterwards they tear down the marquee and new one they just don’t put one up.
I know of a new Kerasotes that when it opened they had to put up plastic over the projectors because of all the leaks in the roof. It took a long time to build because the builders stopped working because Kerasotes thought it would be a good idea not to pay them.Another thing thaty slowed them was the way they moved the dirt and made 2 mounds that are still there today, with a road between them that would wash out the main road when it raine3d but the problem was the condo’s across the street would get slammed with mud.
I have been to a few Kerasotes in recent years only because they were the only theater near by and have gone in on the first show of the day and still just about get stuck to the floor because they never clean them. I almost never have seen an usher in any of Kerasotes theaters and it is normal for them to start the movies late if they can even get in on the screen.
I see there are some good comments but one thing I should point out is that how long a company has been in business has nothing to do with if they are a good or bad company.
I worked in the business for a number of years and do agree agree that there are some poor companies. I would say the worst bgger companies are probably Kerasotes and Cinemark. Kerasotes quality is poor at best. They don’t care about the employees or customers. I worked at one that the district manager gave orders not to clean the concession stand because he didn’t want to spend the hours and it didn’t get cleaned for over a month until board of health stepped in. I also went to a theater of theirs on first show and the floors were still so dirty that I about got stuck to them. Cinemark is well known for burning holes in the films because they don’t provide proper training.
I don’t know muck about Regal because they were’t in the areas I worked but are now in most of them. I do now that they have a habit of trying to expand to fast and then they sell off a bunch of theaters and Cinemark is there to but a lot of them.
General Cinema was a good company until the end. They hired a couple guys from AMC and had to create a new position to do so. General Cinema and United Artist were the best for years. GC had union projectist until the guys from AMC came over then the managers had to start running the booth at smaller theaters. The more things changed the more it was because that’s how they do it at AMC for a reason. United Artist didn’t have union projectionist but they could at least get the movie on the screen unlike some companies.
The stupid thing General Cinema did was hire the guys from AMC because all they did was destroy the company and now one of them is vp of AMC. They should have also fixed up older theaters and not let them run down.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the close the Har Mar 4-11. There was a 100 year lease on the front one ( 1-3 ) in the mid ‘90’s but 4-11 only had about a 25 year lease which could be about to expire and maybe a year to year by now. I would hate to see the front one close but it won’t be a loss to close the back ones.
I know it was owned by General Cinema but they didn’t run it to the end. They leased it to a local independent but I can’t think of the name. They were the largest indy in Indiana but had a tendency of not paying employees. I never worked the booth but had been told they had the platter system but the platters weren’t the ones GC had and they were plywood and the roof leaked right over the platters. When GC took it back it spring ‘93 they considered running it themselves but it was going to be to costly to repair the booth and concession area.
The layout of the theaters are like that of the theater in Philadelphia because General Cinema had many location split like that but AMC prefers large units
The info in from the library is not totally correct. The address of the Glendale 1-3 was 5988 N. Rural and at Glendale 4-6 was 6110 N. Keystone. The seating could be correct but with seat changes and theater splits in made it 472, 474, and 473 at Glendale 1-3 and at Glendale 4-6 it was 375 in 4 and 5 and 575 in # 6.
In Feb. ‘93 the “Glendale imbezzelment” was discovered in which about a dozen employees were stealing from the company. The employees were fired and banned from any General Cinema and had to repay what they stole but if they chose not to the company couldn’t do anything about it because state refused to prosecute because it wasn’t worth thier time for only $ 80,000.
When I worked for General Cinem aI was told that Har Mar never operated under Mann because they didn’t have the money and it was sold to General Cinema along with Southtown and a couple downtown theaters in 1970 and opened shortly afterwards.
Your right about General Cinema being about quality but to bad the same doesn’t go for AMC. They are more concerned about crushing or elimiting compition rather than quality.
I also worked for General Cinema and left Indy in ‘93 but did get back to the area at times. I know they were both still open at least by '98 or '98. I know the one in the mall closed first and I think the stand along closed shortly before the new Greenwood opened and the old Greenwoods closed.
The theater was General Cinema.The seats were Irwin and seating cap. was 474, 472, 473.When it opened it had the same red and white metal seats that all GC had. The company that made them went out of business in 1966 and GCC bought out their stock. They still had theaters opening in the early ‘80’s that opened with them.
It was a first run theater until General Cinema opened Clearwater Crossing 12 then it became a bargin house.
General Cinema built many theaters with the same basic layout in the ‘60’s and '70’s.
There is a website you can download the GCC candyband but I’ll have to try to find it again. I’ll also try to find the trailer before candyband that was in the mid ‘80’s.
I think it was 1986 when it was turned into a 6 plex. It became the district office after opening as a 6 plex until GC opened Clearwater Crossing in 1993 then it moved there.
I don’t know Paul Del Rossi became pres. but it was before 1986 when I started with General Cinema and I think he stasrted in 1985.
AMC will build a 100 plex if it keeps anyone from building around any of their theaters and the prices tend to be much higher than General Cinema. Any small theater less than 10 screens is at risk of closing by AMC.
I don’t have much information about it but I do know there was a twin in the mall and a triple outside in the parking lot. I think they opened in the ‘70’s along with many of General Cinema’s older theaters. I know that they replaced the seats in '92 and '93. I think the twin was opened a single and the triple as a twin.
Southtown did have 70 mm.Only one theater could run 70 mm it was the south theater or the one closest to the entrance. When it opened it had 3 projectors for the new format cinescope but was never used. When the theater was split a second projector was used for the second theater and the third was later transfered out. The last films run in 70 at Southtown were Gettsbury and Remains Of The Day.
I have to correct some information given. Mann/General Cinema Southtown never had an outside boxoffice. It opened with 1250 seats and after it was split the theaters had 540 each. The screen was 80 ft. wide by 22 ft. high when it opened. It opened on Aug. 7,1964 as a single screen and Good Neighbor Sam was the movie. It closed on Sept. 17, 1995 as a twin with the movies Dangerous Minds and Brothers Mc Mullan. General Cinema bought it from Mann in 1970.
General Cinema kept about 500 or so of the seats for a feature cinema. They hired a local copmpany to remove and store the seats along with seats they weren’t keeping. Some employees also kept some seats.
I also have some pics but some are not good quality but most are.
I haven’t been back to Indy in a few years so I don’t know if it’s still standing but can tell you the equipment won’t be there. In most cases when a theater closes the equipment is shipped to another theater at least if it was a chain and this closed as AMC. The equipment that doesn’t get shipped to another theater will usually be sold. There are a few companmies that specialize in used theater equipment.
I remember when when I worked for General Cinema there was a time when some theaters in I think Detroit were sold and when they shipped everything out they even keep the toilet seats and shipped it to us at the theater I was at ( Glendale )at the time.
I only know of one theater that equipment was left in at the time of closing and that was only because they thought a deal to sell it was going to be final. It turned out it was later resold to a different company.
It will usually take a week or so after a theater closes to clean out all the equipment. I even closed one theater that was going to be knocked down for a Kohls and everything had to be removed first.
It was a crime to knock down the Southtown but it wasn’t in a blink of an eye. It was over a year when everyone knew it was going to happen. Shortly before Krause Anderson wanded Wards out but Wards had a 25 year lease and theatened legal action so they gave up. The Texaco station across from the theater was not owned by Krause Anderson. It was about a year after giving up on Wards that they started trying to get General Cinema out but like Wards they had a 25 year lease renewal at General Cinema’s option. They then set sights on the gas station and when they wouldn’t sell they moved the enterance to the other side of the station with the lanes going to the parking areas near Applebees they you had to hook it in to get the theater and or gas station. The owner of the station had said he would never sell so it was assumed the theater was there for good as well but after they moved the entrance he was losing to much money not to sell. He did good when he sold because Krause Anderson bought a new location a couple miles away. It didn’t take long after that before they closed the Goodyear store.
I don’t know why any business at least in Minn. would want to do business with Krause Anderson after seeing or finding out about everything they did to get people out of Southtown even ones with leases and brought in lots of business to the center.
The Southtown Theater only had 2 years in its 31 year history that it didn’t show a profit. The first was in the ‘70’s and I think it was 1975 but I’m not sure and the other was 1995, the year it closed.
The locks were put on the theatere exits because of a break in.The only office the broke in was one the safe wasn’t in. They had chained the doors at night but the fire marshall said they couldn’t do that because they might forget to take them off. The doors at Glendale were also chained at night but they didn’t have to put locks on.
I agree about Loews having poor quality. When I worked for General Cinema we sometimes got films from the Loews near by and we had to check the films very close for damage.
I wouldn’t get my hopes up that Kerasotes will improve the quality because I also worked for them after they bought the theater I was at and we had times that we had less than 40 % of the lights working because they wouldn’t let us but light bulbs or cleaning suppies. In an effert to cut cost they stopped us from cleaning the popcorn bins at the end of the night and would have us fill the bins but not clean it. After only a month or so the board of health caught wind of and put an end to it because of the cockroaches in the popcorn bins, ice bins, and even candy cases.
When Kerasotes bought the theater the opening weekend they didn’t have one movie they didn’t break or start at least 15 min. late. I know of a few theaters they have bought and shortly afterwards they tear down the marquee and new one they just don’t put one up.
I know of a new Kerasotes that when it opened they had to put up plastic over the projectors because of all the leaks in the roof. It took a long time to build because the builders stopped working because Kerasotes thought it would be a good idea not to pay them.Another thing thaty slowed them was the way they moved the dirt and made 2 mounds that are still there today, with a road between them that would wash out the main road when it raine3d but the problem was the condo’s across the street would get slammed with mud.
I have been to a few Kerasotes in recent years only because they were the only theater near by and have gone in on the first show of the day and still just about get stuck to the floor because they never clean them. I almost never have seen an usher in any of Kerasotes theaters and it is normal for them to start the movies late if they can even get in on the screen.
I see there are some good comments but one thing I should point out is that how long a company has been in business has nothing to do with if they are a good or bad company.
I worked in the business for a number of years and do agree agree that there are some poor companies. I would say the worst bgger companies are probably Kerasotes and Cinemark. Kerasotes quality is poor at best. They don’t care about the employees or customers. I worked at one that the district manager gave orders not to clean the concession stand because he didn’t want to spend the hours and it didn’t get cleaned for over a month until board of health stepped in. I also went to a theater of theirs on first show and the floors were still so dirty that I about got stuck to them. Cinemark is well known for burning holes in the films because they don’t provide proper training.
I don’t know muck about Regal because they were’t in the areas I worked but are now in most of them. I do now that they have a habit of trying to expand to fast and then they sell off a bunch of theaters and Cinemark is there to but a lot of them.
General Cinema was a good company until the end. They hired a couple guys from AMC and had to create a new position to do so. General Cinema and United Artist were the best for years. GC had union projectist until the guys from AMC came over then the managers had to start running the booth at smaller theaters. The more things changed the more it was because that’s how they do it at AMC for a reason. United Artist didn’t have union projectionist but they could at least get the movie on the screen unlike some companies.
The stupid thing General Cinema did was hire the guys from AMC because all they did was destroy the company and now one of them is vp of AMC. They should have also fixed up older theaters and not let them run down.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the close the Har Mar 4-11. There was a 100 year lease on the front one ( 1-3 ) in the mid ‘90’s but 4-11 only had about a 25 year lease which could be about to expire and maybe a year to year by now. I would hate to see the front one close but it won’t be a loss to close the back ones.
I know it was owned by General Cinema but they didn’t run it to the end. They leased it to a local independent but I can’t think of the name. They were the largest indy in Indiana but had a tendency of not paying employees. I never worked the booth but had been told they had the platter system but the platters weren’t the ones GC had and they were plywood and the roof leaked right over the platters. When GC took it back it spring ‘93 they considered running it themselves but it was going to be to costly to repair the booth and concession area.
The layout of the theaters are like that of the theater in Philadelphia because General Cinema had many location split like that but AMC prefers large units
The info in from the library is not totally correct. The address of the Glendale 1-3 was 5988 N. Rural and at Glendale 4-6 was 6110 N. Keystone. The seating could be correct but with seat changes and theater splits in made it 472, 474, and 473 at Glendale 1-3 and at Glendale 4-6 it was 375 in 4 and 5 and 575 in # 6.
In Feb. ‘93 the “Glendale imbezzelment” was discovered in which about a dozen employees were stealing from the company. The employees were fired and banned from any General Cinema and had to repay what they stole but if they chose not to the company couldn’t do anything about it because state refused to prosecute because it wasn’t worth thier time for only $ 80,000.
When I worked for General Cinem aI was told that Har Mar never operated under Mann because they didn’t have the money and it was sold to General Cinema along with Southtown and a couple downtown theaters in 1970 and opened shortly afterwards.
Your right about General Cinema being about quality but to bad the same doesn’t go for AMC. They are more concerned about crushing or elimiting compition rather than quality.
The small marquee is because the theater is big enough that they figure it doesn’t need one, even more so now that it’s AMC.
I also worked for General Cinema and left Indy in ‘93 but did get back to the area at times. I know they were both still open at least by '98 or '98. I know the one in the mall closed first and I think the stand along closed shortly before the new Greenwood opened and the old Greenwoods closed.
The theater was General Cinema.The seats were Irwin and seating cap. was 474, 472, 473.When it opened it had the same red and white metal seats that all GC had. The company that made them went out of business in 1966 and GCC bought out their stock. They still had theaters opening in the early ‘80’s that opened with them.
It was a first run theater until General Cinema opened Clearwater Crossing 12 then it became a bargin house.
General Cinema built many theaters with the same basic layout in the ‘60’s and '70’s.
There is a website you can download the GCC candyband but I’ll have to try to find it again. I’ll also try to find the trailer before candyband that was in the mid ‘80’s.
I think it was 1986 when it was turned into a 6 plex. It became the district office after opening as a 6 plex until GC opened Clearwater Crossing in 1993 then it moved there.
I don’t know Paul Del Rossi became pres. but it was before 1986 when I started with General Cinema and I think he stasrted in 1985.
AMC will build a 100 plex if it keeps anyone from building around any of their theaters and the prices tend to be much higher than General Cinema. Any small theater less than 10 screens is at risk of closing by AMC.
I don’t have much information about it but I do know there was a twin in the mall and a triple outside in the parking lot. I think they opened in the ‘70’s along with many of General Cinema’s older theaters. I know that they replaced the seats in '92 and '93. I think the twin was opened a single and the triple as a twin.
Southtown did have 70 mm.Only one theater could run 70 mm it was the south theater or the one closest to the entrance. When it opened it had 3 projectors for the new format cinescope but was never used. When the theater was split a second projector was used for the second theater and the third was later transfered out. The last films run in 70 at Southtown were Gettsbury and Remains Of The Day.
There are to many pics to post but if you give me an email I’ll send them to you.
I have to correct some information given. Mann/General Cinema Southtown never had an outside boxoffice. It opened with 1250 seats and after it was split the theaters had 540 each. The screen was 80 ft. wide by 22 ft. high when it opened. It opened on Aug. 7,1964 as a single screen and Good Neighbor Sam was the movie. It closed on Sept. 17, 1995 as a twin with the movies Dangerous Minds and Brothers Mc Mullan. General Cinema bought it from Mann in 1970.
General Cinema kept about 500 or so of the seats for a feature cinema. They hired a local copmpany to remove and store the seats along with seats they weren’t keeping. Some employees also kept some seats.
I also have some pics but some are not good quality but most are.