Charlottetown Mall Cinemas
418 Independence Boulevard,
Charlotte,
NC
28204
418 Independence Boulevard,
Charlotte,
NC
28204
3 people
favorited this theater
Opened on November 6, 1963 as Cinema I & II. The Charlottetown Mall Cinemas was located off of Queens Road near the main older CPCC campus and across the Midtown Square Mall. A hospital had sectioned off a good bit of her parking to accomidate for the overflow. The marquee stood as a shell of a sign yet still retains the word “CINEMAS”. The box office and the front doors were covered over with wooden planks and then the whole front area was fenced off.
Demolished in November 2005, the last time I personally knew of someone going to inspect her the roof in the lobby had severe water damage from the air condition being left on. There was also signs that her bathrooms and lobby had been pillaged and there were several homeless residents living in her hallways. Raccoons and rats have made Charlottetown their home as well.
Rumor has it that she and the former Shoney’s building in front of her will make way for a Home Depot.
Contributed by
Tammy Conner
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 36 comments)
fondling a theatre girl….these days that would be sexual harassment and statutory rape of a minor. serious charges here.
this sorry bastard of a manager deserved to be arrested too!!!
this also happened to a theatre manager in Durham too who was arrested for fondling an underage girl(statutory rape)after the young girl(who was an employee at the theatre) told police what happened to her on the job,and the next day when the manager show up for work,he was surrounded by local police and the district manager of Carmike Cinemas(which operated the cinema)and was arrested on serious charges of rape and incest of a minor.
These days if anyone did that on the job….towards any young girl,you will not only lose your job…you’ll be arrested too….its not worth it. During working hours,keep your hands to yourself,focus on your job and leave this young people alone during your shift at work.
Charlottetown Mall became one of the first indoor shopping centers to be built in the Southeast between Washington,DC and Atlanta,GA. Charlottetowne Mall was North Carolina’s first ever indoor shopping center and became Charlotte’s most popular destination center that opened to the public on October 28, 1959.
The mall had two levels that included a Bon Marche' Department Store(later Ivey’s),a Roses Five and Ten,
Eckerd Drugs,another department store,and on the lower level on the opposite end was a huge Colonial/Big Stat grocer.
The Charlottetowne Mall cinemas opened in 1963 as it was the first twin theatres to be established in North Carolina. A third screen was added in the mid-1970’s(By taking the original auditoriums and splitting it down the middle and it was also done in the 1980’s).
A fourth screen came during the 1980’s until its closing in the 1990’s. It has since been demolished.
I have found the original ads for the Grand Opening of the Charlottetown Mall Cinemas,also known as the Cinema I & II from 1963. I wish someone would put this information out there,but I have the original ad from the Charlotte Observer newspaper.
The Charlottetown Mall Cinemas was also known as the CINEMA I & II. The theatre originally opened on November 6, 1963 with Debbie Reynolds in “Mary,Mary” that played on two screens. I have the original ads from it’s Grand Opening from the Charlotte Observer newspaper as the 1st twin theatres to be established in North Carolina.
Francis Ford Coppula’s THE GODFATHER played here on March 22,1972.[when it was still a twin cinema]
STAR WARS played at the Charlottetown Cinema for an impressive 46 weeks from June 17,1977 until it ended in December of 1977.[aka The Charlottetown I-II-III]
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK played here to capacity crowds in 1981.
Opened on November 6,1963 with Debbie Reynolds in “MARY,MARY”(playing on two screens for it’s grand opening). Also known as the Cinema I & II. This was North Carolina’s first-ever twin theatres under General Cinema Corporation.
Seating capacity for Screen 1: 700 seats
Seating capacity for Screen 2: 650 seats
Total of 1,350 seats when this was a twin cinema in 1963.
By 1975,Screen 1 was split down the middle into two auditoriums for its grand opening of the Charlottetown Mall Cinemas I-II-III,adding an additional 670 seats.
By 1980,Screen 2 was split down the middle to make way for a multiplex(Charlottetown Mall 4).
BTW: This theatre was NEVER under Carmike Cinemas. General Cinema control operations until its closing in 1994.
Posted a pic of Opening Day STAR WARS ad at Charlottetown in July of 1977. Look at the photos for this theater.
thanks raysson and Jay.
Raymond, Stanley Kramer’s IT’S A MAD,MAD,MAD WORLD was NEVER presented as a roadshow at the Charlottetown. It was a general release in 1964. It was given two showings daily with reduced admission.
John Huston’s THE BIBLE was a reserved seat engagement at the Charlottetown around January, 1967.(aka The Cinema I & II)
“HAWAII” was a reserved seat engagement showing at the Carolina. It did not play at the Charlottetown.
“THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD”(which was presented in Cinerama) was a general release showing at Charlottetown. It was not a roadshow presentation NOR it was not presented in Cinerama neither. Same with “KHARTOUM” that also played here as a general release. Due to the length of both films,it was given two showings daily.
The re-release of BEN HUR and EXODUS played here too as general releases.
BTW….All of the James Bond-007 pictures played at Charlottetown with the exception of “HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE”-which played first run at the Center.
The Bond Movies that played at Charlottetown(aka Cinema I & II): “FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE”, “THUNDERBALL”, “YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE”, “DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER”, “LIVE AND LET DIE”, “THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN”,all the way with “THE SPY WHO LOVED ME”, “MOONRAKER”, “FOR YOUR EYES ONLY”,“OCTOPUSSY”, “A VIEW TO A KILL”, to ‘THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS" and “LICENSE TO KILL”….
**The original PLANET OF THE APES played the Charlottetown first-run in June of 1968 as a general release.