The fifth and sixth screens of this cinema were added sometime after “Showgirls” played here in 1995; at the time “Showgirls” ran here it was known as the UA Cinema 4. The final name of this cinema was UA Cinema 6, as Regal did/does not use its own name simultaneously with the United Artists brand on any of its cinemas (unlike AMC and its former Loews locations – now AMC Loews).
Not very likely that Vernon Park Mall will go high-end; all of Kinston’s upscale retail is downtown on the west side of Queen Street (the Paramount Theatre is apparently on the wrong [east] side of Queen Street). A reuse of the Mall Cinema is even more unlikely; there are plenty of empty cinemas laying around Eastern North Carolina and three vacant cinemas in Kinston alone (Mall Cinema, Park Theatre and Paramount Theatre). None of them will likely ever be used as theaters (live or film) again; the Mall Cinema seems to be too far gone for conversion to retail/office space. Redevelopment would most likely push retail space closer to Vernon Avenue with the cinema and plaza being demolished and replaced with office buildings (or sold separately from the main mall).
Kinston had at least two other downtown “white” theaters besides the Paramount. The Oasis Theatre was located at 106 South Queen Street and the building at 102 S. Queen Street may have been the Carolina Theatre. The Center Theatre also operated downtown, possibly an AKA for either the Oasis or the Carolina theaters.
The Center Theatre is most likely an AKA for either the Oasis Theatre at 106 S. Queen Street or the Carolina Theatre, possibly at 102 S. Queen Street (two doors north of the Oasis).
The former Oasis Theatre currently houses a church. It appears to have been converted to retail around 1960. The building at 102 South Queen Street appears to have also been built as a movie theater (possibly the Carolina Theatre).
The Mall Cinema Twin has not been demolished – yet. Vernon Park Mall is essentially a dead mall now, as anchor JCPenney has just closed their store here. Aside from Belk and junior anchors Goody’s (THEY still exist?) and Sears Hometown Store (hardlines only), Vernon Park Mall is empty. The Mall Cinema building and the former Winn-Dixie strip next to it are vacant as well; only a drycleaning shop between the cinema and the old Winn-Dixie strip remains in business. This mall is ripe for redevelopment as a strip mall; most likely everything except Belk will be torn down. Aerial views of the Mall Cinema show a deteriorated roof that looks ready to fall in; it will probably be demolished when redevelopment of the Vernon Park Mall takes place.
The Oasis Theatre now has its own listing on Cinema Treasures, so it may be a different theater from the Center and Carolina theaters. Perhaps the Center and Carolina were the same theater?
Carmike’s last day of operating the Golden East 4 was May 1, 2003 (a Thursday). The Cinema Grill opened in December 2003 and was gone by April 2004. Raysson: I had the extreme displeasure of watching “Harry and the Hendersons”…made even worse by watching it at the Plaza Cinema in Greenville – in the middle auditorium (a rotten shoebox with a postage-stamp screen, it was the right half of the original auditorium). From my one time watching a movie at the Golden East 4 (in 2003), it seemed that Carmike had brought in people from the defunct Plaza Cinema 3 in Greenville to run Golden East 4. The Rocky Mount theater was just as run-down as the Greenville shoebox was on its last night of operation (August 6, 1998 – I saw “There’s Something About Mary”). The Cinema Grill concept was too upscale for Rocky Mount; it may have fared better in Greenville at the Carolina East 4, Buccaneer 3 or Park Theater locations. The Golden East should have been converted to a 99-cent second-run house instead; Books-a-Million wound up moving in the vacant theater at Golden East Crossing.
The Premiere 14 (originally 12) in Rocky Mount was UEC’s second location in North Carolina, opening two weeks after the Premiere 7 in Kinston (April 21, 2000). The Premiere 12 in Goldsboro followed in 2009. These three Premiere Theatres in Eastern North Carolina were never part of a chain called Premiere Cinemas.
The owners of the Park Theatre in Kinston were as follows: H.B. Meiselman Theatres, ca. 1951 (opening) through 1968; Eastern Federal Corp., 1969-70; Winyah Bay Theatres, 1970-73; Martin Theatres (Fuqua Industries), 1973-ca. 1981 (closing).
I had my doubts about S&E owning this Park Theatre; I probably confused this with the Park Theatre over in Greenville (which was definitely S&E since 1960, when it was still the State). This Park Theatre in Kinston sold Coca-Cola drinks, whereas S&E Theatres sold Pepsi products. Coca-Cola would be more in line with Martin: both Martin Theatres and Coca-Cola were out of Georgia. As to the Trans-Lux/Plaza Cinema 1, I went there one time only, to see Disney’s “The Rescuers”. I was not impressed with that theater, and neither were my parents – we never went back. If a movie we wanted to see played the Kinston Plaza, we went to Greenville to see it – the Kinston Plaza Cinema made the awful (Pitt) Plaza Cinema 1-2-3 in Greenville look good. The Park Theatre in Kinston was the best movie house in town during the 1970s; the only other Martin Theatre in eastern North Carolina (east of Interstate 95) was the old Paramount Theatre in Goldsboro.
No progress has been made on the proposed Southeast Cinema on the west side of New Bern as of May 14, 2014 (the project was announced back in September 2012). That cinema will most likely never be built as it is outside of the city limits heading towards Kinston. New Bern’s growth is occuring along US 17 Business South (Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) towards Jacksonville and US 70 East towards Havelock. A new cinema for New Bern (which hasn’t had a completely new cinema built there in 40 years) would most likely be built on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. south of US 70 West as this is where all of the major chain stores are located. A location on US 70 East (across the Trent River from downtown) is possible but would put the squeeze on Carmike Cinema 6 in Havelock. For the time being the Bear Town 6 and the Neuse Boulevard 3 cinemas are safe; Southeast Cinemas won’t be building in New Bern anytime soon (if at all).
I believe wantsomepopcorn is correct about this theater not being demolished. I have compared aerial views of the Westwood 6 (1993) and the Carmike 12 (2012) and judging from those views the original Westwood 1-2-3 building is still standing and part of the Carmike 12. The aerial views (from Google Earth) seem to prove wantsomepopcorn’s remark that auditoriums 5 and 6 were removed and eight new auditoriums were added to the first four auditoriums. The cooments on this page therefore should be moved to the Carmike 12 Fayetteville page and that theater be given the AKAs Westwood Cinema 1-2-3, Westwood Cinema 4, and Westwood Cinema 6.
This theater may not have been demolished but instead divided into retail shops. The building housing the Glidden Paint store looks like a converted cinema.
This is not a photo of the Rialto Theatre in Durham; the Belk store across from the Rialto shown in the photo is the clue. Durham’s downtown (and later at South Square Mall) Belk store was called Belk-Leggett; while the above picture shows a Belk-Stevens store, which was the Winston-Salem Belk banner. There is no Rialto Theatre listed on CT for Winston-Salem nor do any of the downtown W-S theaters have Rialto listed as an AKA. If Belk-Stevens operated outside of Winston-Salem it was most likely in smaller towns near Winston-Salem. Judging from the scene this Rialto was in Winston-Salem.
This is now the Ahoskie Cinema 4.
The fifth and sixth screens of this cinema were added sometime after “Showgirls” played here in 1995; at the time “Showgirls” ran here it was known as the UA Cinema 4. The final name of this cinema was UA Cinema 6, as Regal did/does not use its own name simultaneously with the United Artists brand on any of its cinemas (unlike AMC and its former Loews locations – now AMC Loews).
Goldsboro now has only one cinema open to civilians, the UEC Premiere Theatres 12. There may be a military cinema on Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
This theater was also known as the Paramount Twin (after Martin Theatres twinned it), reverting to Paramount Theatre when it reopened as a live venue.
The last remnants of the North 11 Drive-In (marquee and ticket booth) have been demolished.
Not very likely that Vernon Park Mall will go high-end; all of Kinston’s upscale retail is downtown on the west side of Queen Street (the Paramount Theatre is apparently on the wrong [east] side of Queen Street). A reuse of the Mall Cinema is even more unlikely; there are plenty of empty cinemas laying around Eastern North Carolina and three vacant cinemas in Kinston alone (Mall Cinema, Park Theatre and Paramount Theatre). None of them will likely ever be used as theaters (live or film) again; the Mall Cinema seems to be too far gone for conversion to retail/office space. Redevelopment would most likely push retail space closer to Vernon Avenue with the cinema and plaza being demolished and replaced with office buildings (or sold separately from the main mall).
Kinston had at least two other downtown “white” theaters besides the Paramount. The Oasis Theatre was located at 106 South Queen Street and the building at 102 S. Queen Street may have been the Carolina Theatre. The Center Theatre also operated downtown, possibly an AKA for either the Oasis or the Carolina theaters.
The Center Theatre is most likely an AKA for either the Oasis Theatre at 106 S. Queen Street or the Carolina Theatre, possibly at 102 S. Queen Street (two doors north of the Oasis).
The former Oasis Theatre currently houses a church. It appears to have been converted to retail around 1960. The building at 102 South Queen Street appears to have also been built as a movie theater (possibly the Carolina Theatre).
The Mall Cinema Twin has not been demolished – yet. Vernon Park Mall is essentially a dead mall now, as anchor JCPenney has just closed their store here. Aside from Belk and junior anchors Goody’s (THEY still exist?) and Sears Hometown Store (hardlines only), Vernon Park Mall is empty. The Mall Cinema building and the former Winn-Dixie strip next to it are vacant as well; only a drycleaning shop between the cinema and the old Winn-Dixie strip remains in business. This mall is ripe for redevelopment as a strip mall; most likely everything except Belk will be torn down. Aerial views of the Mall Cinema show a deteriorated roof that looks ready to fall in; it will probably be demolished when redevelopment of the Vernon Park Mall takes place.
The Oasis Theatre now has its own listing on Cinema Treasures, so it may be a different theater from the Center and Carolina theaters. Perhaps the Center and Carolina were the same theater?
Was this theater ever named the Center Theatre?
Roanoke Rapids, the city in which this Peoples Theater is located, is actually in North Carolina (not South Carolina).
Correct website for the Premiere Theatres 14 Rocky Mount: www.uecmovies.com
Carmike’s last day of operating the Golden East 4 was May 1, 2003 (a Thursday). The Cinema Grill opened in December 2003 and was gone by April 2004. Raysson: I had the extreme displeasure of watching “Harry and the Hendersons”…made even worse by watching it at the Plaza Cinema in Greenville – in the middle auditorium (a rotten shoebox with a postage-stamp screen, it was the right half of the original auditorium). From my one time watching a movie at the Golden East 4 (in 2003), it seemed that Carmike had brought in people from the defunct Plaza Cinema 3 in Greenville to run Golden East 4. The Rocky Mount theater was just as run-down as the Greenville shoebox was on its last night of operation (August 6, 1998 – I saw “There’s Something About Mary”). The Cinema Grill concept was too upscale for Rocky Mount; it may have fared better in Greenville at the Carolina East 4, Buccaneer 3 or Park Theater locations. The Golden East should have been converted to a 99-cent second-run house instead; Books-a-Million wound up moving in the vacant theater at Golden East Crossing.
The Premiere 14 (originally 12) in Rocky Mount was UEC’s second location in North Carolina, opening two weeks after the Premiere 7 in Kinston (April 21, 2000). The Premiere 12 in Goldsboro followed in 2009. These three Premiere Theatres in Eastern North Carolina were never part of a chain called Premiere Cinemas.
This theater should be listed as Closed and Demolished.
The owners of the Park Theatre in Kinston were as follows: H.B. Meiselman Theatres, ca. 1951 (opening) through 1968; Eastern Federal Corp., 1969-70; Winyah Bay Theatres, 1970-73; Martin Theatres (Fuqua Industries), 1973-ca. 1981 (closing).
I had my doubts about S&E owning this Park Theatre; I probably confused this with the Park Theatre over in Greenville (which was definitely S&E since 1960, when it was still the State). This Park Theatre in Kinston sold Coca-Cola drinks, whereas S&E Theatres sold Pepsi products. Coca-Cola would be more in line with Martin: both Martin Theatres and Coca-Cola were out of Georgia. As to the Trans-Lux/Plaza Cinema 1, I went there one time only, to see Disney’s “The Rescuers”. I was not impressed with that theater, and neither were my parents – we never went back. If a movie we wanted to see played the Kinston Plaza, we went to Greenville to see it – the Kinston Plaza Cinema made the awful (Pitt) Plaza Cinema 1-2-3 in Greenville look good. The Park Theatre in Kinston was the best movie house in town during the 1970s; the only other Martin Theatre in eastern North Carolina (east of Interstate 95) was the old Paramount Theatre in Goldsboro.
Theater name is now Regal Greenville Grande Stadium 14. Phone is now 252-215-0195.
No progress has been made on the proposed Southeast Cinema on the west side of New Bern as of May 14, 2014 (the project was announced back in September 2012). That cinema will most likely never be built as it is outside of the city limits heading towards Kinston. New Bern’s growth is occuring along US 17 Business South (Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) towards Jacksonville and US 70 East towards Havelock. A new cinema for New Bern (which hasn’t had a completely new cinema built there in 40 years) would most likely be built on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. south of US 70 West as this is where all of the major chain stores are located. A location on US 70 East (across the Trent River from downtown) is possible but would put the squeeze on Carmike Cinema 6 in Havelock. For the time being the Bear Town 6 and the Neuse Boulevard 3 cinemas are safe; Southeast Cinemas won’t be building in New Bern anytime soon (if at all).
That should be “comments” not “cooments”
I believe wantsomepopcorn is correct about this theater not being demolished. I have compared aerial views of the Westwood 6 (1993) and the Carmike 12 (2012) and judging from those views the original Westwood 1-2-3 building is still standing and part of the Carmike 12. The aerial views (from Google Earth) seem to prove wantsomepopcorn’s remark that auditoriums 5 and 6 were removed and eight new auditoriums were added to the first four auditoriums. The cooments on this page therefore should be moved to the Carmike 12 Fayetteville page and that theater be given the AKAs Westwood Cinema 1-2-3, Westwood Cinema 4, and Westwood Cinema 6.
This theater may not have been demolished but instead divided into retail shops. The building housing the Glidden Paint store looks like a converted cinema.
This is not a photo of the Rialto Theatre in Durham; the Belk store across from the Rialto shown in the photo is the clue. Durham’s downtown (and later at South Square Mall) Belk store was called Belk-Leggett; while the above picture shows a Belk-Stevens store, which was the Winston-Salem Belk banner. There is no Rialto Theatre listed on CT for Winston-Salem nor do any of the downtown W-S theaters have Rialto listed as an AKA. If Belk-Stevens operated outside of Winston-Salem it was most likely in smaller towns near Winston-Salem. Judging from the scene this Rialto was in Winston-Salem.