The Washington Square Mall Cinema 1 & 2 was opened in 1976 by Stewart & Everett Theatres. S&E later expanded it to three screens (Washington Square Mall Cinema 1-2-3) and subsequently shuttered the co-owned Turnage Theater. Carmike Cinemas acquired Stewart & Everett in 1986 and renamed this location Cinema Triple (along with the former S&E triplexes in New Bern and Morehead City). Carmike later added four screens to the three built by S&E and renamed the theater Cinema 7. Since the Turnage Theater closed as a movie theater in the late 1970s the Washington Square Mall Cinema 1-2-3/Cinema Triple/Cinema 7 has been Beaufort County’s sole full-time cinema.
Piecesoftheater is right; Blue Ridge Cinemas was second-run from day one. It replaced the old Terrace Twin, Falls Twin and South Hills Twin 99-cent theaters (the former two reopened under different owners as the Colony Twin and Raleighwood Cinema Grill, respectively). Carmike never charged first-run prices at the Blue Ridge Cinemas.
Carmike won’t be retuning to Chapel Hill anytime soon. A new 13-screen multiplex is planned for University Mall, replacing Dillard’s (which is pulling out of Chapel Hill). According to newsobserver.com the new theater will be operated by Silverspot Cinema, a South American-owned chain.
The days of this theater may be numbered. Newsobserver.com announced on November 19, 2013 that a new 13-screen multiplex will be built at University Mall, on the site of the soon to close Dillard’s Department Store. The new multiplex may have less impact on the Lumina Theatre, as that fiveplex is further away from University Mall than the Timberlyne 6.
Actually the Roses currently at Wilson Mall is not the original Roses store from the old Parkwood Shopping Center. The original Roses closed around 1995, became a Hills discount store from about 1996 to 1998, then was a Sears department store from about 2000 until 2011; since 2011 that store has been vacant. The current Roses was opened around 2010, long after the Carmike 10 was built; it was built as a Belk-Tyler department store in 1978 as part of the enclosing of Parkwood Mall.
Cphillips: Was Winyah Bay’s Foster McKissick the same one who later started both Litchfield theater chains (Fairlaine-Litchfield – sold to UA, and the second Litchfield Theatres – sold to Regal Cinemas)? Also regarding the Kinston Park Theatre, was it sold to Martin Theatres along with the Asheboro Cinema 1 & 2? I used to watch movies here at the Kinston Park Theatre in the mid-1970s and don’t remember who ran it at that time. I always thought that this Park Theatre was a Stewart-Everett house after 1977 (S&E bought the old Trans-Lux Inflight Cinema at Kinston Plaza in 1975 and did not own the Park at that time).
DavidDymond: The Mission Valley Cinemas in Raleigh opened as an independent twin and were later bought by Fairlane-Litchfield (later simply Litchfield). Litchfield expanded Mission Valley to five screens and it has been only five screens since, neither UA nor Ambassador have added a sixth screen. Rivest266: The owner of the Premiere Theatres 12 in Goldsboro is UEC (United Entertainment Corp.), not UGC. UEC also owns multiplexes in Kinston and Rocky Mount, NC.
I saw “Charlie’s Angels” (the first film) here in 2000 – the concession stand sold “BladderBuster” sodas the size of a popcorn bucket (do they still sell those?). Ambassador was running the theater then (as they still do); “Charlie’s Angels” at the Mission Valley was a better experience than at the Carolina East 4 (by then a Carmike DUMP) in Greenville a couple of months later: second-run film (previously shown in Greenville at Carmike 12) in a decaying theater at first-run prices ($6 when they should have charged $1.50 tops). Karma comes around: Mission Valley is still in business while most of those old Carmike shoeboxes disappeared in bankruptcy.
Stephen: Thanks for the info about Carmike Big D screens in NC. I am surprised they aren’t putting Big D in their Raleigh, Durham, Morrisville, Greensboro, Winston-Salem or Fayetteville locations. Not putting Big D at the Carmike 12 in Greenville doesn’t surprise me; Carmike’s Greenville operations were always inferior to the competition (Consolidated Buccaneer 3, Cineplex Odeon Plitt Quad, Consolidated/Regal Greenville Grande 14). Carmike bought all of its Greenville rivals except the Grande 14, as well as buying out their Jacksonville competitor (Cineplex Odeon Cardinal 4).
Judging from a photo of the Wilson (Edna Boykin) and Center (former Oasis) theaters posted on the Edna Boykin Cultural Center page, I believe the Oasis/Center theater was not demolished but instead combined with 106 West Nash Street (the building between the Center and Wilson theaters) and remodeled into offices for the Thomas & Farris law firm.
Carmike generally did not put its name on former Stewart-Everett theaters; they frequently used the generic Cinema name on many S&E houses (Cinema Triple in New Bern, Morehead City and Washington NC – the last is now Cinema 7; Cinema 6 in Jacksonville and Wilmington NC).
According to WNCT-TV9 6PM News (Sep. 6, 2013): The Beaufort County Arts Council will be acquiring the Turnage Theater from Wells Fargo Bank. Plans are to reopen the Turnage in 2014.
The old Carmike 7 sits abandoned while Carmike built yet another theater in Jacksonville (Carmike Patriot 12). Amazingly the church in the shopping center chose to locate in an old drugstore rather than the old theater.
Chuck: Good one. It wouldn’t surprise me. Are there any other Carmikes in North Carolina with the Big D auditoriums? This one (Patriot 12 Jacksonville) is the only one I know of in North Carolina.
This theater is NOT demolished; it is still standing and vacant as it has been since 2001. The marquee board has been removed but the “Carmike Cinemas” and “1-2-3-4” signs remain.
This drive-in closed before 1981; when Stewart & Everett closed the Cinema (later Galaxy Theatre) downtown in 1981 there were no other theaters operating in Martin County.
I thought this building looked like an old Cato’s. A similar façade was on the downtown Greenville Cato’s (a converted WT Grant dimestore – since demolished). If any of the old Viccar Theatre building remains, it would be the only theater building left in Martin County. Williamston never had a shopping-center cinema.
This theater began operating as the Plaza Theatre in 1937. It was the only theater in Greenville available to African-Americans from 1937 until the Roxy Theatre opened in 1948. The Plaza Theatre may have operated earlier under the name of Colonial Theatre.
The Washington Square Mall Cinema 1 & 2 was opened in 1976 by Stewart & Everett Theatres. S&E later expanded it to three screens (Washington Square Mall Cinema 1-2-3) and subsequently shuttered the co-owned Turnage Theater. Carmike Cinemas acquired Stewart & Everett in 1986 and renamed this location Cinema Triple (along with the former S&E triplexes in New Bern and Morehead City). Carmike later added four screens to the three built by S&E and renamed the theater Cinema 7. Since the Turnage Theater closed as a movie theater in the late 1970s the Washington Square Mall Cinema 1-2-3/Cinema Triple/Cinema 7 has been Beaufort County’s sole full-time cinema.
Carmike operated this theater as the Long Leaf Twin.
Piecesoftheater is right; Blue Ridge Cinemas was second-run from day one. It replaced the old Terrace Twin, Falls Twin and South Hills Twin 99-cent theaters (the former two reopened under different owners as the Colony Twin and Raleighwood Cinema Grill, respectively). Carmike never charged first-run prices at the Blue Ridge Cinemas.
Carmike won’t be retuning to Chapel Hill anytime soon. A new 13-screen multiplex is planned for University Mall, replacing Dillard’s (which is pulling out of Chapel Hill). According to newsobserver.com the new theater will be operated by Silverspot Cinema, a South American-owned chain.
The days of this theater may be numbered. Newsobserver.com announced on November 19, 2013 that a new 13-screen multiplex will be built at University Mall, on the site of the soon to close Dillard’s Department Store. The new multiplex may have less impact on the Lumina Theatre, as that fiveplex is further away from University Mall than the Timberlyne 6.
The Sycamore Cinemas V was operating as a discount cinema in 1996.
Dickinson Theatres went bankrupt and out of business; who runs this cinema now?
The radio station has left the former Iwo Jima Theater, it has since been converted into office space.
Actually the Roses currently at Wilson Mall is not the original Roses store from the old Parkwood Shopping Center. The original Roses closed around 1995, became a Hills discount store from about 1996 to 1998, then was a Sears department store from about 2000 until 2011; since 2011 that store has been vacant. The current Roses was opened around 2010, long after the Carmike 10 was built; it was built as a Belk-Tyler department store in 1978 as part of the enclosing of Parkwood Mall.
Cphillips: Was Winyah Bay’s Foster McKissick the same one who later started both Litchfield theater chains (Fairlaine-Litchfield – sold to UA, and the second Litchfield Theatres – sold to Regal Cinemas)? Also regarding the Kinston Park Theatre, was it sold to Martin Theatres along with the Asheboro Cinema 1 & 2? I used to watch movies here at the Kinston Park Theatre in the mid-1970s and don’t remember who ran it at that time. I always thought that this Park Theatre was a Stewart-Everett house after 1977 (S&E bought the old Trans-Lux Inflight Cinema at Kinston Plaza in 1975 and did not own the Park at that time).
DavidDymond: The Mission Valley Cinemas in Raleigh opened as an independent twin and were later bought by Fairlane-Litchfield (later simply Litchfield). Litchfield expanded Mission Valley to five screens and it has been only five screens since, neither UA nor Ambassador have added a sixth screen. Rivest266: The owner of the Premiere Theatres 12 in Goldsboro is UEC (United Entertainment Corp.), not UGC. UEC also owns multiplexes in Kinston and Rocky Mount, NC.
I saw “Charlie’s Angels” (the first film) here in 2000 – the concession stand sold “BladderBuster” sodas the size of a popcorn bucket (do they still sell those?). Ambassador was running the theater then (as they still do); “Charlie’s Angels” at the Mission Valley was a better experience than at the Carolina East 4 (by then a Carmike DUMP) in Greenville a couple of months later: second-run film (previously shown in Greenville at Carmike 12) in a decaying theater at first-run prices ($6 when they should have charged $1.50 tops). Karma comes around: Mission Valley is still in business while most of those old Carmike shoeboxes disappeared in bankruptcy.
Stephen: Thanks for the info about Carmike Big D screens in NC. I am surprised they aren’t putting Big D in their Raleigh, Durham, Morrisville, Greensboro, Winston-Salem or Fayetteville locations. Not putting Big D at the Carmike 12 in Greenville doesn’t surprise me; Carmike’s Greenville operations were always inferior to the competition (Consolidated Buccaneer 3, Cineplex Odeon Plitt Quad, Consolidated/Regal Greenville Grande 14). Carmike bought all of its Greenville rivals except the Grande 14, as well as buying out their Jacksonville competitor (Cineplex Odeon Cardinal 4).
Judging from a photo of the Wilson (Edna Boykin) and Center (former Oasis) theaters posted on the Edna Boykin Cultural Center page, I believe the Oasis/Center theater was not demolished but instead combined with 106 West Nash Street (the building between the Center and Wilson theaters) and remodeled into offices for the Thomas & Farris law firm.
Carmike generally did not put its name on former Stewart-Everett theaters; they frequently used the generic Cinema name on many S&E houses (Cinema Triple in New Bern, Morehead City and Washington NC – the last is now Cinema 7; Cinema 6 in Jacksonville and Wilmington NC).
According to WNCT-TV9 6PM News (Sep. 6, 2013): The Beaufort County Arts Council will be acquiring the Turnage Theater from Wells Fargo Bank. Plans are to reopen the Turnage in 2014.
The Trans-Lux Inflight Cinema at Kinston Plaza was actually Kinston’s second shopping-center cinema, as it opened about a year before the Mall Cinema.
The old Carmike 7 sits abandoned while Carmike built yet another theater in Jacksonville (Carmike Patriot 12). Amazingly the church in the shopping center chose to locate in an old drugstore rather than the old theater.
Chuck: Good one. It wouldn’t surprise me. Are there any other Carmikes in North Carolina with the Big D auditoriums? This one (Patriot 12 Jacksonville) is the only one I know of in North Carolina.
This theater is NOT demolished; it is still standing and vacant as it has been since 2001. The marquee board has been removed but the “Carmike Cinemas” and “1-2-3-4” signs remain.
This drive-in closed before 1981; when Stewart & Everett closed the Cinema (later Galaxy Theatre) downtown in 1981 there were no other theaters operating in Martin County.
I thought this building looked like an old Cato’s. A similar façade was on the downtown Greenville Cato’s (a converted WT Grant dimestore – since demolished). If any of the old Viccar Theatre building remains, it would be the only theater building left in Martin County. Williamston never had a shopping-center cinema.
This theater was called the West Park Twin under Carmike’s ownership.
The Regal Boone Cinema 7 is currently the only operating cinema in Boone and Wautauga County, NC.
This theater began operating as the Plaza Theatre in 1937. It was the only theater in Greenville available to African-Americans from 1937 until the Roxy Theatre opened in 1948. The Plaza Theatre may have operated earlier under the name of Colonial Theatre.