Assembly Square Cinemas

Assembly Square is the only former Sack theatre that Loews still operates today.

A dump of a theatre. When I last went there in '97, I remember a good number of the screens being stained in some way or another, old, unfortable seats, and the overall cleanliness of the building leaving something to be desired. I can't imagine, given the lack of maintenance Loews generally appoints its properties, that the situation is much better now.

I must say that it is worse - I was there recently on a rainy day to pick up a print and the lobby was full of bins for catching the many leaks in the ceiling. The projection booth was also a mess, with projectors running while covered in tarps to keep the water off of them - not something I'd feel safe working in. With the lack of a local 'regional office' in Boston now (after reorganization, Loews' regions were expanded as to minimize local office staffs) it is possible the people in the home office have no idea the theater is so bad. The thing is, they lease the space, so why not demand to the landlord it be fixed?

Why doesn't the union complain about the poor working conditions? I would not want to work in any place where water and electricity coexisted.

I don't believe that Assembly has a union booth. I am pretty sure the union would not tolerate it, but perhaps they don't want to rock the already unsteady boat.

I went to this theatre last Friday night to see Wallace & Gromit, and the place did not seem at all bustling or busy. Will AMC modernize it, replace it, or close it?

On the Somerville Theatre page there is now speculation that Assembly Square will soon close. The place certainly isn't up to AMC's usual standards.

I phoned this theatre and asked, "are you closing soon?" The lady who answered the phone said, "We have no lease beyond the end of January."

I called again today. The manager told me the last day of operation will be Monday, January 15 (MLK holiday), and that it will be demolished after it closes.

The final day's movies at Assembly Square, before it closed its doors forever:'

Freedom Writers
Code Name: The Cleaner
Happily N'ever Afer
Black Christmas
Night at the Museum
Rocky Balboa
Charlotte's Web
The Pursuit of Happyness
The Holiday
Unaccompanied Minors (matinees only)
Blood Diamond
Happy Feet
Casino Royale (one show only)

The last showings started between 7:00 and 8:15, and the final show finished a little after 10 pm. By that time, workers were already taking down letters from the marquee and handing them out to whoever wanted one.

Judy, the manager, told me that she had worked here since 1983. She wore a Sack Theatres badge on her final day. According to her, the theatre's 25-year lease expires on January 31, and they have to remove everything from the building by then.

Somebody at the Globe or AMC goofed up. The theatre is definitely closed, but today's Globe still has an ad listing showtimes.

The Somerville News reports that Planet Fitness gym will move into the cinema building, from its current location across the street. The paper isn't the most reliable source of local news, so I don't know how trustworthy this report is.

from yesterday's Boston Globe City Weekly section:

The show will go on -- but not for a while
Assembly Square theater closes
By Kristen Green, Globe Correspondent

When a movie theater at Assembly Square closed last month, it left a void at the development that probably won't be filled for four or five years.

An AMC Entertainment Inc. spokesman said company officials chose not to renew the lease for AMC Loews Assembly Square 12 when it expired Jan. 15.

"Assembly Square was identified as an underperformer which no longer competed effectively in the marketplace," said Andy DiOrio , a spokesman for the Missouri-based movie company.

He said that the company likes to "keep our theaters up-to-date" and that the Middlesex Avenue theater, built in 1981 and procured during the merger of AMC and Loews Cineplex Entertainment, retained an '80s look.

He declined to discuss AMC's level of interest in locating a new theater complex at Assembly Square, where the developer, Federal Realty Investment Trust, has set aside 60,000 square feet for such a facility. "Obviously we're evaluating it," DiOrio said.

Federal officials said they've been approached by a number of major theater companies, but declined to discuss them. The theater project is planned for the second phase of the massive development along the Mystic River in Somerville. It will be located near the proposed Ikea location and probably won't open until 2011 or 2012.

"The theater leaving really doesn't accelerate our plans," said Bob Walsh, Federal's director of development.

Last month, I repeated a rumor from the Somerville News about a gym moving into the cinema building. It is not correct. The gym is moving into the office building next door.

I rode around the area this afternoon. You can still see inside the glass entrance doors, and there's no obvious sign of any interior demolition. The word LOEWS has been removed from each of the building's three LOEWS THEATRES signs, but the word THEATRES remains, as does the old Loews Cineplex "spotlights" logo.

The adjoining office building still has a large two-sided marquee visible to motorists on I-93. The word LOEWS has been painted over on each side, but again the word THEATRES remains. Of course, the 12 slots for movie titles are now blank, and the sign is no longer lit at night.

Is the landlord keeping these signs mostly intact in case some other chain wants to move in? I can't imagine who would want to reopen it, but ...

I drove and stopped by Someville Loews today and saw there are no titles on the sign. I wasn't aware it was closed few months ago.

Does anyone know if the Assembly Square Mall cinemas are still standing or if any definitive redevelopment plans have been announced? The last time I passed by, in late July, the theatre was in the same state Ron described in his posting on March 3rd, except the right glass entry doors were boarded up, due to a likely attempted break-in. (The left glass entry doors, as well as the box office, were untouched.)

The building is still standing and still empty. All of the signs still look exactly as I reported above on March 3.

When I walked by it three days ago, I was able to open the front glass door! There appeared to be no security whatsoever. Had I not been on my way somewhere else, I could probably have wandered in and walked around in there for hours.

Thanks for the information, Ron; interesting about the security situation. I am tempted to stop by and see if I can maybe explore the inside of the building at some point when I'm home during Christmas week, but I'd probably walk up to the unlocked front door, pull on it, open it, and then, after a moment's hesitation walk away, afraid of being caught by the police; if I was with someone, I'd feel bold, but, on my own, in that kind of situation, not so much. All that being said, I do hope the building is secured before an act of vandalism, or worse, is committed.

I would not recommended to walk in unlock door. There is always risk of getting caught by police so it is best to stay away. I was going to take a picture of outside theater and post the link here yesterday but I didn't have time. Someday I will.

Here are some pictures of formerly Sack / Loews Cinema in Somerville, MA.
Pictures taken on Dec. 11, 2007 in the afternoon.
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http://aycu10.webshots.com/image/36769/2004519580548029445_rs.jpg

http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/38432/2004524920865879914_rs.jpg

http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/37333/2004593646618764384_rs.jpg

http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/35343/2004582595010782136_rs.jpg

http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/37890/2004544370887797264_rs.jpg

http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/34982/2004506974319991093_rs.jpg

http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/34495/2004562849913189531_rs.jpg

Was the left door still openable when you took these photos? Did you open it and go in?

No, I haven't try it.

If you have a chance to return, it might be neat to take photos of the big two-sided sign above the adjacent office building. This sign used to list all 12 movies being shown, for the benefit of drivers on I-93. Probably hard to get a good camera angle for it, though.

Good riddance to a real rathole. I can corroborate br91979's report: I stopped going there in the early 1990s after my brother reported a rat running over his foot during a movie.
If they ever properly re-develop the Assembly Square area, a brand new theater would be a big success in this location: Somerville is the most densely populated town in Massachusetts, and the nearest multiplex is all the way over in Fresh Pond. Maybe if the new IKEA ever gets built, someone will try again in Assembly Square.

Federal Realty's plans for future Assembly Square development include a movie theatre. Federal's land is between the current strip-mall and the Mystic River, and does not include the land occupied by this former cinema and its parking lot.

The nearest multiplex to Somerville is actually not in Fresh Pond. It's the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, which has 5 screens. There's also the Capitol Theatre in East Arlington, with 6 screens, and the AMC-Loews Harvard Square, with 5 screens.

I remember going to the Assembly Square AMC (then Lowes) cinema a number of times, even to late shows by myself. One day, about a year ago, when I was perusing the Arts/Movies section of the Boston Globe, I noticed that the Assembly Square Lowes Cinema wasn't there anymore. Not long after that, I heard from somebody that AMC had bought that particular theatre and for whatever reason, didn't want to keep it, and that there'd been some discussion of the possibility of building a new cinema to take its place. I'm sort of hoping, (though it's just wishful thinking on my part), that, if it does get renovated into a new cinema, that it gets renovated into a movie theatre that plays independent film, and older classics, etc., as opposed to the schlock that most theatres play nowadays.

Yet, at the same time, that area could get kind of wierd. Audiences were often quite rude, and, yes, the theatre did start looking kind of grubby and run-down shortly before it closed. Since the mall pretty much closed down, it began to lose customers, I think, too.

ScottM and DBrenson:

I may sound a little bit like an old prude saying this, but I think there are more risks to walking through an unlocked door and through the interior of a dark, abandoned movie theatre than just simply being caught by the police, who might rail at you some a bit:

A) There's the risk of a large chunk of heaven-knows-what falling down on somebody's head who walks in there, whether it be alone or with someone else.

B) One never knows who may be hiding out in there--it's possible to encounter a bullet, a switchblade, or to get beat up, assaulted, or worse. Imho-it's not worth the risk of walking in there, whether one's alone or accompanied.

I am aware of this. I feel not safe to walk into there.

I'm sad. I worked there 13yrs and have many happy memories of the place.

I agree it wasn't in good shape, though. I don't know why they don't fix it up. It's a good location.

Movies that I recall seeing at the Assembly Square Theatre, in Somerville, MA, include the following:

Killing Fields
Perfect Storm
Spiderman I and Spiderman II
L. A. Confidential


and afew others.

This is old Somerville Assembly Square Cinemas. It is still closed.
Pics took on November 19, 2008

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/6043/somervilleasm001ai6.jpg
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7310/somervilleasm002hk9.jpg

Thanks. Why are so many cars parked in the lot?

I don't know why but I think they work somewhere across the street or some office buildings next to the old cinemas.