Cinedome Theatres
3001 W. Chapman Avenue,
Orange,
CA
92868
3001 W. Chapman Avenue,
Orange,
CA
92868
9 people
favorited this theater
One of Orange County’s premiere theatres, particularly for 70mm presentations, during the 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s. It was originally owned and operated by Syufy Enterprises, which later changed its name to Century Theaters, Inc.
I recall seeing <em>Close Encounters of the Third Kind</em>, <em>Hot Stuff</em>, <em>The Black Hole</em>, <em>TRON</em>, <em>Back to the Future</em>, <em>Total Recall</em>, and other films there.
A terrific theatre that never should have been closed or demolished, but it was, in favor of a modern multiplex built not far on the site of the former Stadium Drive-In. The link has a ton of info on the Cinedome.
Contributed by
papibear
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Recent comments (view all 34 comments)
Scott Neff, I’d love to get an actual blow-up print of that 1993 exterior shot. Do you still have negatives or know who does? Also, do you have any pictures by chance that show the entire front—with both of the original 1969 domes, the ‘77 domes, and the three newest domes that were added in '92 (which is when I worked there). All of the pictures that I’ve seen online omit those additions or only show this once great 11-plex in varying stages of decline and demolition.
Sadly these have been the only pictures I could scare up of this place. I don’t have any of the negatives of any of the photos online jut the original prints we scanned for Cinematour.
Having worked at Century’s corporate office I’ve always been fascinated with the evolution of all the dome theatres, especially those that started as singles and were added onto with additional domes throughout the years (Century Oakland, Century Reno, Cinedome Orange, Century Complex Sacramento, Century Salt Lake). Sadly there really isn’t much documentation or photos available on these locations.
More photos of the domes can be found here:
View link
Sad photos of the demo.Nice theatre.
Always loved the Cinedome. Saw some great shows there as a kid: Airport ‘77 and Raiders of the Lost Ark to name a few. Returned in my twenties for Wild at Heart, Wyatt Earp and Independence Day.
I worked there in 77' it was a great job, I really liked a girl that worked there with me, I will always remember Sherry.
I saw “Yentl” here on a Sunday afternoon, and there were a lot of people in the theater. I was the only man in the audience. I felt like a sophisticated New Yorker who was ‘from’ and ‘cirmcuized.’
I would like to add a very strange experience that happened to me when I worked briefly at this theater that still haunts me to this day when I think about it. When the Century 25 opened up I was about 17 and I applied for a job there. Circumstances happened where I had to be transferred briefly to the Cinedome while the situation died down. The Cinedome was in it’s last days when I was working there and business was very slow. During my break I went to watch part of some stupid movie called “I got the hook up with Master P”. While sitting there I kept hearing a little girl laughing and running around in the the back, the top part of the dome which is really dark. I ignored it but something about it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. She sounded like she was running closer. I turned around and squinted and thought I briefly saw her blond hair. Something about this wasn’t right so left the theater and asked the concessionist how many tickets we sold for that movie. He told me we had sold none. I explained there was a girl in there and asked if maybe her parents were in another theater and she had switched movies or something. He gave me the strangest look and said that they only sold a couple tickets to adults, then he added, “Did you know that a little girl died in there before?” I did not believe him so I confirmed this with the general manager and some other employees. Needless to say I rarely cleaned theaters alone there again, only when I HAD to and I was ready to run out at a moments notice. I just came across this forum and wanted to share my story. I should point out that I had no prior knowledge of anybody dying there so I have already ruled out the possibility of it being a mental projection of some sort. That’s my story. It feels good to finally get it off my chest somewhere.
I’m fairly certain that a triple homicide occurred recently at the apartment complex built on the former site of this theater.
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=8648723&pid=8648138