Margate Twin

Opened by K-B Theaters on the verge of West Broward’s 1970s population boom, the Margate Twin originally ran first-run features, before a longer tenure as a second-run dollar (or dollar and change) bargain house. Tiny auditorums and screens, but occasional limited release fare (“Hester Street,” “Lies My Father Told Me”) and midnight movies were a draw.

Competition arrived in the late 1980s, when a former lawn/garden center a few blocks south became a six-screen Value Cinemas location.

Facing U.S. 441, the Margate Twin was once among numerous choices for local moviegoing, with the Lake Shore Drive In and Movies of Margate to the north, and Value Cinemas to the south. All are gone now. Last time I checked, a furniture store took over the Margate Twin space.

K-B established one other twin theater in the area, Holiday Springs near the Margate/Coral Springs line. A low-price second-run house most of its life, it now hosts live performances as the Stage Door Theatre.