UA Cinema

The name by which this theatre appeared in the United Artists Theatres listings in the Los Angeles Times of August 24, 1986, was the Tyler Mall. It was one of two multiplexes being operated by UA in Riverside at the time.

This 4 plex was demolished in about 2000, not sure of the exact year. A Barnes and Noble book store is on the site now. The second UA theater which was on Park Sierra has been remodled into Medical offices.

Status should be closed/demolished. This May 2001 article discusses the UA and the decline of theater business in general:
http://tinyurl.com/2uyyb3

This is a 6/6/2000 article about the closing of this theater.


"Colorado-Based Cinema Chain Closes Riverside, Calif., Theater.

Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Author: Wadley, Jared O.

Jun. 6--RIVERSIDE, Calif.--United Artists Theatre Circuits Inc. has closed its four-screen, stand-alone theater at the Galleria at Tyler while the mall's owner continues to negotiate for a larger subterranean movie complex.

The closing leaves Englewood, Colo.-based United Artists with only one other Inland area theater. Park Sierra 6 is about a mile west of the Galleria in Riverside.

United Artists spokesman Neal Pinsker did not return calls Friday or Monday.

Mall officials still are working on a deal for an underground 16-screen complex with a developer and a theater company, both of whom they declined to name.

Charles C. Porter, senior vice president of Chicago-based Urban Retail Properties Co., which manages the Galleria, said the theater operator must decide whether the "multi-million-dollar" project is a good business decision. He said the industry is experiencing difficult times. Large theater chains have seen profits erode as an avalance of new mega-complexes has forced the closing of older, smaller facilities. Industry watchers said the United States is overscreened, and theater operators must close more locations to get supply and demand in sync.

Porter said he's not surprised that United closed the Galleria theater, which is in a building far from the rest of the mall. The movie operator's lease expires later this year, he said.

"It's so tough for the limited number of screens to compete" with mega-plex theaters, Porter said.

Mall officials said the only possible change in the plan for the new complex is a reduction in screens to 12 from 16. "No one has balked as to whether or not it could be done," said Dave DeLille, Galleria marketing director.

Urban had expected construction on the theater to begin last January with a spring 2001 opening. But even if the theater operator is signed soon, the project could not proceed until after the busy Christmas shopping period, DeLille said. It would take at least a year to complete.

The mall has not conducted research on how many of United Artists' customers visited the shopping center, DeLille said.

While movie theaters are usually considered traffic builders for a mall, no data is available, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, a trade group based in New York.

John Konarski, association senior vice president of research and government, said many developers agree that entertainment -- such as movie theaters -- is important to keeping shoppers at malls for a long period of time.

For the Galleria, the theater will become the focus of its entertainment complex, which will also include more specialty retailers and full-service restaurants.

Porter said the subterranean theater is the best option for the Riverside shopping center. The theater would lose prime parking spaces between J.C. Penney and Robinsons-May if the complex was built above ground, mall officials said.

The Galleria's theater, which occupies 30,000 square feet, will be converted to retail use. Urban is negotiating with potential retailers, but Porter declined to specify the types of tenants".

I saw "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" here.

as a kid I saw empire strikes back back in 1980 in riverside california. was this the only theater that would of been playing that movie in riverside? I've been trying to figure this out. any help would be appreciated.

Yes, the UA CINEMA at Tyler Mall had the Riverside first-run exclusive of "The Empire Strikes Back." The film opened there on June 27, 1980 and played through the autumn months.

thanks for the info micheal.

There's no such thing as the River Freeway. The Riverside Freeway, also known as the 91, transverses Riverside until it turns into the 215 North.

The Tyler Mall is now "The Galleria at Tyler", the UA Cinema is long gone and there's now an AMC 16 (opened December 2007) there.

Many movie discussions with my husband include him exclaiming "I saw that at the Tyler Mall!", or "I saw that at the Showcase!" (Corona's Showcase Theater, a prominent music venue for maaaany years, now dark and empty).

This theater is magic to me since I saw Empire Strikes Back here.