University Place 8
1370 E. Main Street,
Carbondale,
IL
62901
1370 E. Main Street,
Carbondale,
IL
62901
1 person
favorited this theater
Originally opened as a four screen theatre in 1980 by the AMC theatre chain. Expanded to eight screens in 1989. Next ownership was acquired by the Kearasotes chain sometime in the mid 1990’s.
Contributed by
Chris Bodkin
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
the University Place 8 opened as a 8 screen theater on August 7, 1987. It previously had 4 screens and was known as the Univerity 4. That theater opened sometime in 1979-1980. the University 4 was previously located in the University Mall before moving to the University Place location.
I think I am a bit confused. Is the current eight-screen house a new building? If it is, even if it is a “replacement” of a previous operation, I think it should have its own separate entry with perhaps a note that it replaced a theater of the same name in a different location.
I retract my previous statements. The University Place 8 (nee 4) has been at the University Place location ever since being built as a 4 screen.
Where I got the idea it was originally at the University Mall and then moved to it’s current location I have absolutely no clue as to how I got that info…
Now as to when the University Place 4 opened I would guess 1977-1978 was the opening date.
I need to hit Morris Library at SIU when I have some free time and check the Southern Illinoisan microfilm archives to confirm.
My husband and I stopped in here yesterday to see “Up”. We had a little time to kill. This place is okay—not much to get excited about.
This afternoon a out of control Saluki Express bus crashed into the east wall of the theater. Tore up the wall pretty good. Bricks from pretty much roof height to the ground (about 25 feet) fell, and a pretty good sized hole in the wall. According to WSIL a structural engineer has been called in to observe the building.
As of right now, according to the Kerasotes site, the University Place 8 is temporarily closed.
Story, with picture on thesouthern.com:
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AMC will soon have it back! Found this image of the theater regarding the merger:
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vintage 1980’s AMC. The only vintage AMC that they are still running is the weird last theater of theirs standing in Amherst (Buffalo, NY) – the Maple Ridge 8.
Became an AMC theater yet again in June 2010. Only theater to my knowledge that was owned by one chain, given to another, and reclaimed by the first chain.
This theater did start out as a four screen theater inside the mall across the road from where it is now. It closed in the mall and opened across the road as an 8 screen theater around 1987. I attended movies in both locations 1980-1990 before moving away from the area.