Center Theatre 4
2000 Chapel Hill Road,
Durham,
NC
27707
2000 Chapel Hill Road,
Durham,
NC
27707
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The Center Theatre opened in 1966 next to the Lakewood Shopping Center, originally as a twin theater. I used to rememeber going down there a lot as a kid when they held their summer movie program. I even remember how huges and spacious those auditoriums were!
In 1983, one auditorium was split in two, making it a triple screen cinema. In 1986, the other auditorium was spilt in two, making it a 4-screen complex. This made the auditoriums seem quite long and narrow, thanks to the split-down-the-middle technique that they used. Still, it proved to remain quite a draw into the early 1990s, when a showing of “Boyz N The Hood” brought in record crowds. I used to work in a restaurant nearby and worked late hours for a couple of weeks to handle the movie-going crowd at the time.
By the following year, the Center fell out of favor and began showing second-run films in an attempt to stay afloat. Also, the surrounding neighborhood had been perceived to be a high crime area, which didn’t help draw in moviegoers needed to stay open. The Center Theatre 4 was closed by Carmike in 2001, and was later converted into a surplus store run by Duke University.
Contributed by
Jimmy Storey, Raymond
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Recent comments (view all 38 comments)
A lot of great movies played here at the CENTER…. Not only did the “The Sound of Music” played here during its exclusive engagement,but films like “PATTON”,“THE FRENCH CONNECTION”,“DIRTY HARRY”,“THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK”,“THE RETURN OF THE JEDI”,“GANDHI”,“REDS”,and the re-releases of “BEN-HUR”,“MY FAIR LADY”,“LAWRENCE OF ARABIA”,and “DOCTOR ZHIVAGO” brought in record crowds.I got to see “THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE”,and “THE TOWERING INFERNO” where it played at the CENTER. A lot of blaxploitation flicks played here as well…from “COFFY”,to “SLAUGHTER”,and even “SUPER FLY” and to the others like “NEW JACK CITY”,and “BOYZ IN THE HOOD” brought in massive crowds. Its best films played during the 1970’s in its largest auditorium until the 1983,when the theatre was split down the middle giving it a really bad impression to a once great cinema showplace.
I saw THE RETURN OF THE JEDI opening day at this theatre in DOBLY STEREO. It was a fantastic moviegoing experience especially those who ditched school to see it the day it opened. I was junior in high school back in 1983 when me and some buddies saw it during the 11:30am early matinee with the lines snaked around the cinema.
I saw THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK opening day at this theatre on June 20,1980. It was indeed a fantastic moviegoing experience with the lines snaked around the cinema. All five showings of the film were eventually sold out that whole weekend including additional late shows too(which were sold out!)…Tickets for this went on sale in advance,and you had to lucky to get one!!! The film played on its largest screen(CENTER II) with the seating capacity of 650.
Screen 1 had John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd in THE BLUES BROTHERS that on CENTER I(which was the original auditorium with the 180 degree Ultravision screen)that had the screening capacity of 800,which was one of the largest auditoriums in the Carolinas.
Oh my beloved Center 4 Theatres!! Visited these theatres many many times in DURHAM!! Yes, the area was perceived to be rough, but never had any problems there! Outside this building, on the left hand side of the boxoffice is a time capsule from 1966, the year this theatre was built. Probably built for Wilby-Kincey, (A Paramount Theater associate), later operated by ABC. and then Plitt Southern followed by Cineplex-Odeon, maybe operated by Carmike Theaters for a while (Yeeccch!!)
David Dymond: I loved and grew up going to the Center Theatre at Lakewood as a kid. I basically don’t know how many movies I saw here,but before the perceived area became a rough neighborhood,this theatre was a showpalace of great movies which had one of the largest auditoriums in the state….It was a magical place in its heyday…..It originally opened on November 24,1966(under Wilby-Kincey) as the Lakewood Center Theatre. Was twinned in 1971(under ABC Theatres) and later was triple and quad by 1983 and 1986(under Plitt Southern and Cineplex Odeon).
The theatre really went downhill during the mid-1990’s when this theatre became a discount house where you had a high level of crime activity,and became a haven for whatever came through…..I never worked there,but I saw a lot of second run movies there…..Carmike Cinemas closed it in 2001. The building is still there BTW….but I do know about that time capsule from 1966 that is on the left side of the box-office. The reason why it closed is that the building became a surplus store for Duke University which closed in 2009. Nowadays,the building has been turned from what I heard is now a strip club…a total disgrace to a once great movie palace that became the heart of Durham.
David Dymond:
Carmike basically had total control of all indoor moviehouses in the Durham area. This was Carmike’s decision to closed The Northgate Twin in 1985,not to mention the closing of the The Yorktowne Theatre on Chapel Hill Blvd. in 1996,and the Ram Triple in Chapel Hill in 2000.
When the Center 4 closed in 2001 only three moviehouses under Carmike Cinemas remained opened…The Carmike Cinemas 7(off Avondale Drive which closed in 2004),and the Willowdaile Cinemas 8(off Guess Road in North Durham closed in June of 2005)
In 2001,the Wynnsong Cinemas in Durham REMAINS the only Carmike operated movie theatre between Durham and Chapel Hill. And to this day is still operational.
David Lean’s LAWRENCE OF ARABIA played at the Center Theatre,aka The Lakewood Center Theatre in 1971 as a re-release.
This theatre in its heyday played GONE WITH THE WIND numerous times during it’s re-release….I remember seeing it in 1980 to packed audiences in DOBLY STEREO
“THE EXORCIST” played here to capacity crowds on March 1, 1974.
“CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND” was the BIG Christmas attraction on December 16,1977.
What theatre didn’t pack them in for “The Exorcist”.