Meyerland Plaza 8
100 Meyerland Plaza,
Houston,
TX
77096
100 Meyerland Plaza,
Houston,
TX
77096
7 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: General Cinema Theatres
Architects: William C. Riseman
Firms: William Riseman Associates
Previous Names: Meyerland Cinema I & II
Nearby Theaters
Although there were at least three other General Cinemas two-screen complexes with the same “butterfly” design (e.g. the Northline and the Gulfgate cinemas) the Meyerland was the only of the lot to survive the auditorium splitting of the 1970’s and 1980’s. The proprietors of the Meyerland Shopping Centre allegedly had a rider on the GC contract stating that at least one of the theatre’s two auditoriums must remain intact. It opened on April 14, 1965.
Whatever the reason, the “un-twined” auditorium was one of the top five spots to screen a flick up until the early-1990’s. By then AMC had opened a 14 screen multiplex near by in Meyer Park and GC needed more space to compete. The Meyerland was gutted and eight screens were placed in the existing shell. Although not too bad of a make over, the auditoriums were very small and lacked the magnificent of the original two-screen complex. It was closed on January 15, 1995.
Contributed by
Jack Coursey
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Here is another photo of the new meyerland general cinema 8 plex that opened in 1997 and closed on dec 31,2003 as nova theaters to view photo go to
View link
I work at the Meyerland Cinema staring in May 1970 with the opening of MAS*H. It was one of the best jobs even though it did pay much. I startes out at $1.00/hr. I worked as usher, doorman, cashier and concessions.It was a great place to meet people.
We had a World Premier of Catlow.You Brenner came and was a great guy
The concession prices were
Cokes Small .25 Medium .35 Large .50
Popcorn Smallbox .25 Cup .50 Bucket 1.00
The Meyerland Cinema has since been torned down and replaced with a strip center
The AMC 14 in Meyer Park, the nearest competitor – about 5 minutes drive from Meyerland Plaza, closed in 2007.
The Meyerland Cinema I and II was being designed by Boston architects William Riseman & Associates, with local architect Thompson McCleary associated, according to a Boxoffice Magazine item of July 20, 1964.
William Riseman designed many multi-screen theaters for General Cinema and other companies during this period. It’s likely that all the “butterfly” style twins GC built at the time were Riseman’s work.
I was at the last showing of the meyerland general cinema 3 . the film was interview with the vampire sunday evening sunday jan 15,1995. after the film I went over to talk to the manager mr potter to thank him for providing a great film that night. Being the last night of the cinema I gave mr potter some newspaper clippings from the houston post showing the opening days ads for april 1965 -marry poppings and mister moses. also a couple of dec 1968 ads for planet of the apes. I spent my childhood in that theatre. Enjoyed a lot of films there like the bible, wait until dark, the war wagon,the jungle book ,skyjaced. It was great place to see a film because the screens had a shadowbox effect with light blue lighting and soft music. Before each film they would show the company logo with blue background with a white projector turning then stopped to spell the letters comming attractions then after that they showed a loney tune cartoon then the movie would start.most Most movies back in 1966 cost 60 cents. All i can say is this was my favorite theatre. I am sad that it no longer exist. Just wonderful memories of this great general cinema theatre.
If you want to see the general cinema corporation-feature presentation-1977 film go to you tube.com and under search punch in the above company name the film runs 28 seconds and has the henry mancini drum sound from 1962. also to view the two film versons from the late 1980s general cinema candy band trailer -one runs from 1.14 seconds and the other 58 seconds. these general cinema films brings back good memories as a kid growing up.
Great memories here. Last film I saw there was “Yentl.”
When I moved to Houston in 1999, this was the very first movie theater I went to (for a showing of the remake of THE HAUNTING), since it was not far from where I lived. I also recall seeing the 2000 release of the restored version of THE EXORCIST there, and also MONSTER’S BALL (2001). Although the auditoriums were not especially impressive, they were decent, and I enjoyed going to this theater. I was actually rather shocked and saddened when I learned it was closing and would be demolished. Although I hadn’t been able to see movies there in its heyday, it was still a nice little multiplex, and did not deserve to be torn down.
April 14th, 1965 grand opening ad posted.
The 8 screen was actually a complete new build, it was not built inside the shell of the 3 screen. You can verify this by looking at old satellite images on google earth.