Ballou Park 4
150 Tunstall Road,
Danville,
VA
24541
150 Tunstall Road,
Danville,
VA
24541
1 person
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This theater opened as a single screen theatre on May 16, 1969, with “My Side of the Mountain”. It later became a twin, and then a quad during the 1980’s. In its last years, it operated as a second-run house, owing to competition from a newer multiplex close by. It closed in 2008 and became home to a church in 2011.
Contributed by
Christopher Walczak
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
This article about the theater’s use as a church has a picture of one of the auditoriums; apparently the church plans to use at least some of the screens and keep the box office: View link
<<< “This theater opened as a twin” >>>
No, it didn’t! It opened as a single.
<<< Ballou Park 4 (Also known as Ballou Park Twin) >>>
Actually, its original name was, simply, Park. (The “Ballou Park” name may have been what was used in recent years or perhaps what locals called it in conversation since it was located in the Ballou Park section of town.)
<<< “This theater opened…around 1970” >>>
A more precise opening date is May 16, 1969. And, for those who care about such details, the debut feature was “My Side of the Mountain.”
Source: The Danville Register, various issues.
I saw “MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN”.A great film for a kid.Would have thought they might have booked something rated “M”.Thanks Michael.
SEATS: 600
2 screens early 1980’s.
4 screens by 1998.
Closed March 2008.
More info and more photos always welcome.
Wait a minute….MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN was rated M?
I thought it was a family film so the MPAA rating on this was G for General Audiences. It was a kids movie.
M was for Mature Audiences-Parental Guidance Suggested
OR Parental Discretion is Strongly Advised
I guess you misunderstood.“My Side” is G rated,I meant for more business you think they would have booked a more adult film,but in those days I guess the “G” rating did not carry the kiss of death.
The Park was next to the Ballou Park Shopping Center, though not actually attached to it. I think most patrons just entered through the shopping center entrance and turned between two blocks of building into the theater’s adjacent lot, rather than use the theater’s actual entrance.
As a result, a lot of Danvillians tended to call it the “Ballou Park” rather than the “Park”.
It was definitely a twin by the ‘80s, but I don’t think it became a quad until the mid-'90s. The last film I recall seeing there was “Silence of the Lambs,” and I’m pretty sure that it was still only a twin at that point.
By this point, they actually had a video rental club set up in the lobby of the theater, indicative of the hard times theaters were facing in town after the onslaught of VCRs and cable.