In response to Stan’s post, ATS and the EFC City office had moved to 5891 New Peachtree Rd. by 1978. William Sheared was a good guy and in the summer of 1980 I purchased cleaning supplies from him/ATS for an apartment complex I was working at. My best story of him was a new manager changed out a lamp for a new one and somehow burned it up in less than 2 days. There was no extra on hand and he sent me with his keys to AST to get another while he figured out what the guy had done. He was absolutely furious about the lamp. He built a bunch of stuff for EFC since they were always looking for a way to save a buck.
I don’t recall anyone ever even giving this location a shot as an independent after Storey closed it. This has to be some kind of record for active years vs. continued idleness before demo.
A real shame and I am sad to hear this news even though I am nearly 20 years removed from Atlanta. I visited it in all of its configurations over the years and while it is no longer the showplace it was as a single, it was always a good place to see a show. I think we all have been expecting this for quite a number of years considering the economics of the business and the limitations of 4 screens in today’s business. While we’d all like to see a younger version of Lefont to come to the rescue, my guess is Halpern has a demo crew waiting to redevelop that corner at this very moment. I’d guess this is going to go a lot like the old Sears in Buckhead.
After AMC closed the MJ another company opened it briefly and had some troubles like this, I don’t recall shooting but fights, before it closed. The last time I was in ATL with some time to kill I visited the Delta museum and went out to Camp Creek to get dinner before my flight. I was at the Ruby Tuesday and there was a shooting at another restaurant in that area. I finished my meal and went to the airport without delay. When Camp Creek first opened I would fly in for the holidays and shop there for my kids, not anymore, just too much foolishness in the area. I never felt like Atlanta paid much attention to the SW side of town.
Is this in East Point, Atlanta or unincorporated Fulton? Hard to believe the local cops can’t help, but then again isn’t this the same as the end of Magic at Greenbriar and Old National?
Yes, it was a Penney’s back in the day. I guess the Sears for that area was the one at West End. In the pre Cumberland Mall era your choice for a real mall for those of us on the NW side of town was Lenox or Greenbriar, today that seems ridiculous. We had our stand alone Sears. Penney’s, Rich’s, etc. But no mall. My last visit to Greenbriar would have been just after the 97 holiday season and it was pretty rough. When mall security is dressed in black, traveling in pairs both with assault rifles in hand at 10AM on a Saturday it doesn’t say nice suburban mall, bring the family. It certainly didn’t make you want to sit in a dark room with a bunch of strangers.
Announced today that Macys will be closing at Greenbriar. I would guess that the end is near for Greenbriar as a viable shopping destination. I don’t know if there is a demand for the land at this point but with no anchor I can’t imagine it can escape the fate of Shannon Mall, Columbia Mall, etc.
I don’t know if AMC got a choice of what theaters it had to get rid of with the Carmike merger but I bet if they did they wished they had dumped the Carmike by the airport instead. Tilghman is so much better a facility. I wonder what there is to auction off, when a company bankrupts they have to walk away, but it will all depend on who owned what. If the property owner owns the fixtures, there won’t be much of value to sell. At this point I don’t think there would even be a line to buy the seats and projectors considering how much equipment is idle right now. The liquor license they had is the only thing I can think of with real value.
They are on the hook for the lease, so they must feel that it will cost them less to run them vs. close them. I always felt like New Vision was just a temporary thing until AMC could get them back. New Vision with 15 locations across half the nation couldn’t be a viable operation.
Honestly, for the last decade every time I saw there was a fresh post about the Tara I was afraid it had been closed. It is hard the believe that somebody like Regal can justify it running in the day of 12+ being the norm but it will be a shame if it is true.
Good to see the pics of the last night, sad to see the demo. I’m still surprised at how quietly this location closed considering how significant it was on the north side of town. Everyone knew Perimeter and the midnight movies were legendary. At least they didn’t just board it up and leave it to rot like so many others.
I saw it in an add posted at another theaters page here on cinema treasures. I don’t recall which one, my guess would be a scan of the AJC from then. Anyone recall what location in the metro opened around March 82?
It’s a shame to see it gone. I’ve always wondered why this location was such a poor performer when the Tara, being of the same time frame, size and area has managed to flourish despite similar modifications over the years. It’s not like Loews was particularly good to the Tara or their other locations in the 70’s.
I was just in the area and stopped to take a look at the old Miracle site. Incredibly after well over 20 years you can still clearly see the aisles in the auditorium and a slight raised spot where the concession stand stood. The tile from the bathroom floors is still 99% in place and the fencing that surrounded the site is mostly gone. Had one of Smyrnas finest not been sitting there I would have poked around a bit more. I took some pics with my phone and if they look OK, I will post them. Sad to see it gone even after all these years.
Well, 25 year lease must be up. I don’t see anyone being interested in it going forward.
Marque recently has “Reopening Soon”. I was driving by a few weeks ago and saw some activity inside. Wish them luck!
In response to Stan’s post, ATS and the EFC City office had moved to 5891 New Peachtree Rd. by 1978. William Sheared was a good guy and in the summer of 1980 I purchased cleaning supplies from him/ATS for an apartment complex I was working at. My best story of him was a new manager changed out a lamp for a new one and somehow burned it up in less than 2 days. There was no extra on hand and he sent me with his keys to AST to get another while he figured out what the guy had done. He was absolutely furious about the lamp. He built a bunch of stuff for EFC since they were always looking for a way to save a buck.
I don’t recall anyone ever even giving this location a shot as an independent after Storey closed it. This has to be some kind of record for active years vs. continued idleness before demo.
Looks like an Eastern Federal build in a way.
That is wonderful news, I hope that they were able to secure a long term lease. Fitting that it is again linked to the Plaza again.
Original layout looks identical to the Kingston four in Knoxville.
A real shame and I am sad to hear this news even though I am nearly 20 years removed from Atlanta. I visited it in all of its configurations over the years and while it is no longer the showplace it was as a single, it was always a good place to see a show. I think we all have been expecting this for quite a number of years considering the economics of the business and the limitations of 4 screens in today’s business. While we’d all like to see a younger version of Lefont to come to the rescue, my guess is Halpern has a demo crew waiting to redevelop that corner at this very moment. I’d guess this is going to go a lot like the old Sears in Buckhead.
Was just in Lehighton, this is now a bowling alley, Fritz’s I think was the name.
Apparently closed earlier this year, current article in the Marietta Daily Journal says a storage facility is proposed.
After AMC closed the MJ another company opened it briefly and had some troubles like this, I don’t recall shooting but fights, before it closed. The last time I was in ATL with some time to kill I visited the Delta museum and went out to Camp Creek to get dinner before my flight. I was at the Ruby Tuesday and there was a shooting at another restaurant in that area. I finished my meal and went to the airport without delay. When Camp Creek first opened I would fly in for the holidays and shop there for my kids, not anymore, just too much foolishness in the area. I never felt like Atlanta paid much attention to the SW side of town.
Is this in East Point, Atlanta or unincorporated Fulton? Hard to believe the local cops can’t help, but then again isn’t this the same as the end of Magic at Greenbriar and Old National?
Yes, it was a Penney’s back in the day. I guess the Sears for that area was the one at West End. In the pre Cumberland Mall era your choice for a real mall for those of us on the NW side of town was Lenox or Greenbriar, today that seems ridiculous. We had our stand alone Sears. Penney’s, Rich’s, etc. But no mall. My last visit to Greenbriar would have been just after the 97 holiday season and it was pretty rough. When mall security is dressed in black, traveling in pairs both with assault rifles in hand at 10AM on a Saturday it doesn’t say nice suburban mall, bring the family. It certainly didn’t make you want to sit in a dark room with a bunch of strangers.
Announced today that Macys will be closing at Greenbriar. I would guess that the end is near for Greenbriar as a viable shopping destination. I don’t know if there is a demand for the land at this point but with no anchor I can’t imagine it can escape the fate of Shannon Mall, Columbia Mall, etc.
I don’t know if AMC got a choice of what theaters it had to get rid of with the Carmike merger but I bet if they did they wished they had dumped the Carmike by the airport instead. Tilghman is so much better a facility. I wonder what there is to auction off, when a company bankrupts they have to walk away, but it will all depend on who owned what. If the property owner owns the fixtures, there won’t be much of value to sell. At this point I don’t think there would even be a line to buy the seats and projectors considering how much equipment is idle right now. The liquor license they had is the only thing I can think of with real value.
I think this was the last operating facility of the old Storey chain.
They are on the hook for the lease, so they must feel that it will cost them less to run them vs. close them. I always felt like New Vision was just a temporary thing until AMC could get them back. New Vision with 15 locations across half the nation couldn’t be a viable operation.
Honestly, for the last decade every time I saw there was a fresh post about the Tara I was afraid it had been closed. It is hard the believe that somebody like Regal can justify it running in the day of 12+ being the norm but it will be a shame if it is true.
Perhaps a victim on the “new” theater at Belmont Hills?
By 1979 the PO Box had gained two digits, it was 2028395. Funny how there are things you never forget for some reason.
Good to see the pics of the last night, sad to see the demo. I’m still surprised at how quietly this location closed considering how significant it was on the north side of town. Everyone knew Perimeter and the midnight movies were legendary. At least they didn’t just board it up and leave it to rot like so many others.
I saw it in an add posted at another theaters page here on cinema treasures. I don’t recall which one, my guess would be a scan of the AJC from then. Anyone recall what location in the metro opened around March 82?
It’s a shame to see it gone. I’ve always wondered why this location was such a poor performer when the Tara, being of the same time frame, size and area has managed to flourish despite similar modifications over the years. It’s not like Loews was particularly good to the Tara or their other locations in the 70’s.
Just posted a photo from the GP Center memorializing the Grand taken recently on a trip there.
I was just in the area and stopped to take a look at the old Miracle site. Incredibly after well over 20 years you can still clearly see the aisles in the auditorium and a slight raised spot where the concession stand stood. The tile from the bathroom floors is still 99% in place and the fencing that surrounded the site is mostly gone. Had one of Smyrnas finest not been sitting there I would have poked around a bit more. I took some pics with my phone and if they look OK, I will post them. Sad to see it gone even after all these years.