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Theaters
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December 20, 2010
Plans revived for Kenner movie theater
KENNER, LA — The ball is finally rolling again on the plans for a new theater at the Esplanade mall.
Revised plans for a 49,014-square-foot, free-standing building are scheduled to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday then to the City Council in late January, said Al LeBlanc, attorney for mall owner Simon Properties.
Read more in the Times-Pacayune.
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New theaters in the works for Williamsburg and Kenner
WILLIAMSBURG, NY — A real estate developer has announced plans to build a six-screen multiplex in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn the corner of Driggs Avenue and Grand Street. No operator has been identified, but the news is welcome to residents who miss having easy access to new releases since the Commodore closed in 2002.
There is more in the Brooklyn Paper.KENNER, LA — Plans are back on course for the construction of a fourteen-screen theater at the Esplanade Mall in Kenner. The opening is now anticipated for 2012. The brief story appeared at NOLA.com.
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December 17, 2010
Dixie Theater in Staunton gets upgrades; bigger changes coming in five years
STAUNTON, VA — Born in 1913 as the New Theater, the Dixie Theater was given an Art Moderne makeover by John Eberson in 1936 after a fire. Currently operating as a quad, it recently received some upgrades: a new sound system, new seats, and a paint job. However, the clock is ticking on its life exclusively as a cinema, because the Staunton Performing Arts Center, which owns the theater and an adjacent building, plans to restore and renovate the theater in five years to serve as the main stage of a mixed-use venue.
“People still believe in the project,” said Mosedale. “They’re just not giving as fast and as big a check as they might. But a lot of people have said, ‘Come back to me.’”
The performing arts center hopes to open the Arcadia in 2012; the Dixie in 2015. That gives Greenbaum just five years to recover all he has invested to revitalize the Dixie.
The full story is at NBC 29.
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December 16, 2010
New cinemas on the drawing board for Miami and Green Oaks
GREEN OAKS, IL — Milwaukee-based Marcus Theatres has announced that it will acquire the land required to build a theater with as many as fifteen screens just off I-94 in Green Oaks, IL which is east of Libertyville. One of the screening rooms will be home to one of the company’s large format UltraScreens. An opening in early 2012 is anticipated. There is more in the Libertyville Review.
MIAMI, FL — For quite some time, residents of downtown Miami have had to travel quite some distance to see the latest releases at a modern cinema. But this is expected to change late in late 2012 early in 2013. Silverspot Theaters has agreed to build a luxury twelve-plex in the Metropolitan Miami Complex at Biscayne Boulevard and Southeast Third Avenue where it will join a luxury hotel and a Whole Foods as part of an emerging upscale urban center. Silverspot currently operates an upscale multiplex in Naples, FL. The story appeared in the Miami Herald.
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December 15, 2010
New owners of the Senator Theatre get preliminary approval for second screen, other changes
BALTIMORE, MD — James “Buzz” Cusack and his daughter, Kathleen, who took over the operation of the historic Senator Theatre in October, have received intial zoning board approval to proceed with plans to add a second auditorium that will seat 130, a tapas restaurant, and a creperie. The Cusacks must also get approval from the city’s historic preservation board.
Parking on a Staples lot across the street would be available to moviegoers, she said.
The single-screen Senator has been an anomaly in a world of multiplex theaters, and Cusack told the zoning board that not adding a second screen would create an economic hardship for the project.
The Cusacks are leasing the theater for $1 under a profit-sharing agreement with the city and are applying for historic tax credits.
There is more to read here in the Baltimore Messenger.
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December 8, 2010
Seventy-year-old Morris theater to add screens
MORRIS, MN – Currently run by a theater cooperative, the Morris Theater, which opened in 1940, will soon acquire two more screens and get some much needed structural improvements.
The theater only has one screen, and movie contracts require the theater to reserve that screen for up to three weeks for one movie making airing multiple new movies impossible. By adding the two other screens, Morris Theater will be able to air a new movie every week.
According to Cooperative members the theater struggles to bring in customers after the first week of a movie. The cooperative plans to spend roughly $900,000 to not only add the two other theaters and repair the current one.
The story was reported by KSAX/KRWF.
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December 7, 2010
Landmark spruces up the Piedmont Theatre
OAKLAND, CA — Landmark Theatres, which has been closing a number of theaters over the past year, has apparently decided that the ninety-three-year-old Piedmont Theatre/ is a keeper. The chain has installed new carpet and wall treatment and has improved the seating.
Landmark Theaters Vice President of Development Michael Fant, who oversaw the project, says the improvements were not aimed at boosting revenues, but were meant primarily to reward the loyal patrons who have been coming to the theater for decades. Landmark therefore tried to balance the old and new in making the design decisions.
“If we had changed the auditorium and made it a modern theater … the patrons that had been going there for years wouldn’t feel like it was the same place,” Fant said.
The full story is in the Piedmont Patch.
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December 2, 2010
Ridgewood Theater in Brooklyn to Become Supermarket
RIDGEWOOD, NY — According to theNew York Daily News, the Ridgewood Theatre in Brooklyn which closed in 2008 is slated to become an Associated supermarket.
The movie house earned city landmark status this year, protecting its ornate facade from alterations or demolition. Insiders insist its stage and grand staircase are beyond repair.
Still, the sale raises questions about the site’s future.
Associated can’t change the exterior without city approval, but it can wreck the largely intact lobby and other interior attributes of the two-story venue.
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December 1, 2010
Former Center Theater in Fremont to become Afghan cultural center
FREMONT, CA — The former Center Theater, also known as the Park, will soon become a center for Afghan culture and a broadcast studio targeting the Afghan community. The theater, opened in 1946, has been periodically closed over the last decade, and was also used to show Spanish and then Bollywood films. A preservationist group is disappointed at the new use, as they had hoped for something more “inclusive,” but the new operator says the programming will not be political.
While the television station will broadcast to viewers with special satellite hookups across North America, the theater also hopes to forge bonds with Afghan students in Fremont.
“We have a lot of talented people, but we don’t have anyone to guide them,” said Qader Eshpari, a 37-year-old Fremont singer, who will be in charge of sound and video production at the theater.
There is more at InsideBayArea.com
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November 30, 2010
Meserole could return
BROOKLYN, NY — After 20 years as a pharmacy, the former Meserole Theatre is up for sale and could be transformed back to into a cinema or performance space.
The pharmacy has occupied the Manhattan Avenue site for 20 years, but its lease is up in January, 2014. Rite Aid could choose to remain for another five years due to an option in its lease — but broker Geoffrey Bailey of TerraCRG believes that the site is ready for a dramatic transformation.
“I’d love to be a part of bringing something like to the neighborhood. It’s definitely not an out-of-the-box use, considering it was a theater,” said Bailey. “It would be a great spot for it, there’s an indie feel in Greenpoint, but I never try to pigeon-hole a property.”
Read more in the Brooklyn Paper.