Halls Ferry 14 Cine'
2845 Target Drive,
Ferguson,
MO
63140
2845 Target Drive,
Ferguson,
MO
63140
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing all 16 comments
Oops. I’ll have to be careful not to put 1913 on my checks.
Joe, I think that was published on April 29, 2011 not 1911. LOL
In this interview published in the April 29, 1911, issue of the St. Louis Business Journal, architect Don Rataj said that the late-1980s remodeling of the Halls Ferry Cine was his first project for the Wehrenberg Theatres circuit. His firm has been designing Wehrenberg’s theaters since 1987.
Kurt Krueger became a partner in 2000 and the firm was renamed Rataj-Krueger Architects, Inc. at that time. Rataj retired at the end of 2012. Geoffrey Crowley is now a principal of the firm, but I don’t know if there are any plans to rename it or not.
Just wanted to add my memories of the Halls Ferry 14…
I was only 10 when Something About Mary came out, but I remember getting the free hair gel if you purchased tickets to this movie. We still have a pack, too! And yes, it’s real hair gel, not like the “gel” used in the movie.
My dad and I went to see Star Trek:First Contact in 1996 and the theater, though it was smaller compared to the ones of today, was packed. It was raining outside and the storm got so bad that during one of the key scenes in the movie, the electric went out. Everyone just sat there waiting for the power to come back on but only the emergency lighting lit the room. A lot of people left because it took so long, but for those of us that waited, we all got free movie passes.
There also used to be a large candy cart in the lobby. It was very expensive but we would try it out every now and then.
I have to say though, most of the movies I saw as a kid, I saw here. It wasn’t a glamorous spot, but it was close to home. I didn’t need all the extras that they have in theaters now. It was all about the movies, not the lobby or food counter. You’re in there all of five seconds and just to get your popcorn. Too bad the neighborhood got run down.
According to the company’s president in a 1989 mention of the theatre in Boxoffice magazine, Child’s Play made more money at this theatre than any other theatre that played it.
Another theatre with info that needs to be corrected. See JAlex’s various comments for accurate info.
Can’t believe I missed that racist statement above! As a card carrying member of “the blacks,” I can assure you that me and my fellow “blacks” (who patronized this theatre since opening weekend) ARE DECENT and always behaved like well mannered individuals and respected both the facilities AND our fellow audience members. You are singling out a whole group based on the actions of a few. That is not right.
Answering Needy’s question, nothing’s in its place. Not a trace of the theatre is to be found.
This is sad news… when i was a young kid in the 80’s me and my family when there quite often. It was my favorite show and they had a great arcade. Then I remember going in 90 or 91 the blacks began to over run the show and it appeared run down. That was the last time I ever went there.
Every time the blacks move in decent people go else where and busineses die out…. Riverroads Mall, Northwest Plaza, James Town Mall, Crestwood Plaza, even whole cities.. East St Louis, Washington Park, Belleville IL..just to name a few… all of these were nice places.
It’s demolished now? What’s in its place?
Just got word that the theatre is currently being demolished.
The transition from an 8-plex to a 14-plex occurred on April 7, 1989. In its publicity, Wehrenberg claimed “The Largest Theatre in the Midwest.”
Verifiable historical facts: The original six-plex opened in March 1978. Published capacity of each was 360…making a total of 2160.
Two auditoria were added in April 1982 making it an eight-plex. Capacity of these additions was 185 each…now making a total of 2530.
All of this before the opening date in the description section!
During Wehrenberg’s bankruptcy they had no where left to store equipment from the closed theatres. They took one of the auditoriums and put everything in there. Then the theatre became a 13 plex.
The old Hals Ferry 14 Cine' building is used as a storage facility by Wehrenberg and R & H Distributing (owned by Wehrenberg). It is full of old projecters, carpet, popcorn poppers, cabinets, and lots of other old equipment that the Wehrenberg theatres don’t use anymore. When a theatre gets new equipment, the old goes into the Halls Ferry location. They’ve been clearing it out to make it more desirable to a potential buyer.
In just random reading of various theaters all over this site, one trend becomes clear: this Charles Van Bibber fellow often has his facts wrong, sometimes embarrassingly so. Dates, location, etc. seem to always need correction by other posters (including myself). I guess the truth is eventually arrived at, but it’s a little disconcerting that almost nothing he posts is 100% correct.
Some of the historical facts are inaccurate. The Halls Ferry started out as a 6-screen and was built around 1978 or so (I was there opening weekend-a bunch of moms took a bunch of us kids to Disney’s “Return From Witch Mountain” there). A couple of years later, they upgraded from “6” to “8”. The 6 newer screens which made it a 14-plex were built adjacent to the original building.