Bison Twin Theatre

Strange time to open a twin theatre.Wonder if this was an old downtown theatre converted into a twin.

I just saw Jamestown and figured it too small for a mall even though now i see Buffalo Mall.

Correction: Bison Twin opened in 1980 and was one of the first theaters in the region to have Dolby Surround Sound (I was there in 1980 when they were testing and calibrating the sound system with a bad print of the Rebel Base fighter bay scene from “Star Wars”). Architecturally, it is basically concrete a box with, if I remember correctly, a 300 seat screen and a 150 seat screen. It was constructed as a stand-alone theater with a shallow enclosed box office and concessions area that opened onto the parking lot with a secondary connector hallway attached to a mall side entrance. The original projection setup was a common projection booth that connected both theaters with a single 35mm projector for each screen fed from a central film reel system that combined all reels together and automatically respooled the film for the next showing. The system was entirely automated and did not require a projectionist in the booth.

The Jamestown Mall Cinemas I & II is open, has two screens, and opened around 1977. Both theaters (Bison Twin and Jamestown Cinemas) are slated to close spring 2011. They are being merged into a single complex integrated within the Buffalo Mall, and is planned to have 6 screens, digital projection, and seating from 70 to 250. The mall is a classic dog bone design, and as such the theaters will consume approx. 25% of the non-anchor retail frontage space into the mall itself.