Christiana Mall Cinema 5

Does anyone know where in the mall this theatre was located?

The theatre was located in the food court next to the Taco Bell express. I'm not sure of the condition of the theares inside as I was never in the theaters. The original movie marquee still stands in the parking lot. The mall uses it to advertise for stores and upcoming events.

It was in the Christiana Mall, in Delaware.

I remember it being a very profitable house. Perhaps it was one of the many five-plexes that GCC chose not to expand, and then when these 14+ theatres were built, it couldn't compete.

The closing of this theater was a tragedy and followed closely on the heels of General Cinemas' bankruptcy. The cinema was on the south side of the mall adjacent to the food court. The exterior entrance and ticket window have been effectively covered with sheet rock and camouflaged to look like the rest of the building. The interior mall portion of the cinema retained its plate glass windows for several months afterward allowing the curious to peek inside at the dark and abandoned theater. The glass was later either covered up or replaced by white painted dry wall. I often wonder if the cinema auditoriums, candy stands, and projectors are still preserved inside.

The Christiana Mall was the perfect place for a cinema. Finances permitting you could spend a whole day a the mall shopping, having a meal, and seeing a movie -- though not necessarily in that order. The cinema was a great sanctuary when my wife went Christmas shopping. The kids and I would duck into the movies and emerge two hours later and effectively avoid having to carry packages.

We saw countless movies at the Christiana Mall. The parking area near the food court was one of the safest to park in as it was well lit and patroled by both mall security and Delaware State Police.

General Cinemas fell on hard times during the recession of 2000 - 2001. The last movie I saw at the Christiana Mall was an uncomfortable disappointment. My son and I went to see PEARL HARBOR. The theater used to boast two snack stands, but only one was open and the pickings were slim. Though it was stifling hot the cinema had no air-conditioning. I complained at the front counter but the two hapless employees simply shrugged their shoulders. The cinema shut its doors for good soon afterward.

At the time I read that the AMC chain acquired General Cinemas and made specific mention on its website that it would honor all existing General Cinemas gift certificates and coupons. I had high hopes that the cinema would reopen as an AMC theater, but they boarded it up instead.

It's too bad this theater will never see customers again. It's scheduled to be demolished in January 2008 to make room for the Christiana Mall expansion project.

Despite my hope that the cinema would eventually reopen, the surviving complex was demolished in early 2008. The mall expansion project and redesigned food court doomed the entombed theater. I drove up to the mall in mid spring and was surprised to find the former cinema extension of the mall a gutted ruin. No more Christiana Cinema.