Plaza Theater
3402 Poplar Avenue,
Memphis,
TN
38111
3402 Poplar Avenue,
Memphis,
TN
38111
4 people
favorited this theater
I am not sure of the complete name, but am certain it was once called Plaza Theater, which was located in Poplar Plaza shopping center at Poplar Avenue and Highland Street. I believe at one point it had a huge metal spire on top of the front of the building, which was later taken down and stored somewhere else in Memphis.
The theater was opened in 1953 and closed long ago, but during the early-1990’s Bookstar renovated and occupied the space, keeping the front entrance marquee. In 2012, it was converted into a restaurant.
Contributed by
AC
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Recent comments (view all 39 comments)
Bookstar is gone & the building is vacant. Here’s a photo from April 2011:
http://www.agilitynut.com/11/4/memth.jpg
I’d love to turn it back into a theatre, but a dinner theatre (supper club) and the cafe section of the old Bookstar could be the lounge!! All the retro stuff is still there, from what I hear, and there’s room for a stage. Look at the jobs we could create!!
Good news and bad news. The building is going to become a spa for Gould’s, a beauty parlor which has been at Poplar Plaza for many years. The bad news is that all the remaining decor has been gutted. Couldn’t see the restrooms but the curved lobby which Bookstar retained is gone. The interior was much handsomer after Bookstar moved in than it ever was before (it was pretty plain as were most neighborhood theatres) but all of that is also gone.
The 1952 Boxoffice Magazine item about the Plaza Theater cited in my earlier comment is now located at this link.
I was the Assistant Manager of the Plaza Cinema under Ken Goderre’s Manager-ship.About 1964-65.Used to lunch with Gus Cianciolo at Pete and Sam’s Any contacts out there? Photos or …
J Tom Miller
Arkansas.
Such a shame. My father worked across the street, and knew the manager of the Plaza Theater. There would be times when Elvis Presley rented out the whole theater so he could bring his people in to see a movie, and he’d ask the manager if he had some folks he trusted not to make a fuss, who could join them there. Dad saw a half dozen or so movies with Elvis that way.
Gould’s took over the area that was the Starbuck’s Cafe in Bookstar, the theatre itself is now getting ready for the grand opening of Osaka Japan restaurant.
This just in. Went by to look at Osaka Bistro today. No trace of the interior of the Plaza remains but the restaurant is very elaborate and beautiful. Haven’t eaten there yet. The canopy and front window remain intact with the “Osaka” letters where the vertical letters always have been. See the new exterior photos.
Was just over at the University of Memphis yesterday wondering what happened to the acroterion (spire). It never moved at all, it is in a protected niche in a courtyard with the new FedEx Institute building in front. It once faced a yard which was used for the new building and created the courtyard. It is approximately 10 feet high and in very good condition. A new photo when I get it. An image that I will always have in my mind is the contour outlined with a single stroke of white neon which looked like it was hanging in the dark.
New photo of the spire has been posted.