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Mattydale’s Hollywood Theatre: a Syracuse survivor
posted by
CSWalczak
on
July 15, 2010 at 7:39 am
MATTYDALE, NY — The Hollywood Theatre in this Syracuse suburb is not the plushest theater, but the price of admission is unbeatable: $1.75 (except for Tuesdays when it is $1.25). Its owner, Conrad Zurich, even though he owns seventy theaters, probably wouldn’t make it at AMC or Regal, given his rather casual attitude toward profits. It is no matter though, as the Hollywood still delivers the classic big-screen experience as has since at least 1941, unlike so many former Syracuse area theaters of the era in which it was built which are now gone or being used for other purposes than showing films.
A Syracuse native who grew up watching movies at the Palace, Zurich now owns 70 theaters statewide, including venues in Geneva, Elmira, Rome, Oswego and Oneida. But the Hollywood came first. He acquired it at age 23, while finishing law school. His dad, Jack Zurich, sold films to area movie houses. It was a family tradition.
“This is where I started,” Zurich said recently, as patrons wandered in for a Thursday night feature. “I feel that we owe it to the community to keep this theater running, and not just running, but to keep providing a low price, as an appreciation to our customers.”
The full story is at Syracuse.com.
