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Theaters
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November 29, 2010
Fire damages century-old State Theatre in Washington
WASHINGTON, IA — An fire on November 17 allegedly started by a carelessly discarded cigarette caused smoke and water damage to the State Theatre The theater opened as the Grand Opera House in 1897, was renamed the State Theatre in 1930, and is said to be one of the oldest operating cinemas in the world.
During the various visits through town, many, many people were saddened to hear of this news, and how it changes their holiday plans for the season. In fact, by the following day, news of the event was on the lips of just about everyone. Quips included “Well, here come the building huggers,” as well as another group, presumably of that aforementioned sub-culture, who hoped the resurrected new theater, once repaired, might be ready for more adornment on the exterior. It is, in fact, especially considering the guilded age during which it was built, a rather stoic structure.
There is more at Examiner.com.
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November 24, 2010
Update on former Odeon Cinema Hartlepool
HARTLEPOOL, CLEVELAND, ENGLAND — Hartlepool Borough Council have now started compulsory purchase proceedings after running out of patience with the Odeon’s current owners. An advertisement in the Hartlepool Mail on 17th November refers to prospective partners approaching the council with regards to potential re-use of the Grade II listed building.
He said: “Trying to get any kind of agreement out of them is very difficult. Their valuation of the building is also extremely unrealistic.
“They are talking about £1m for the building, but we have had the building and the adjacent land valued at £60,000. That is a big difference.”
More on this can be found in the following link from the Hartlepool Mail.
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November 23, 2010
Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights turns 85 on Dec.1
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — On December 1, the Cedar Lee Theatre will celebrate its eighty-fifth birthday by showing the famous Charlie Chaplin film “The Gold Rush” which played at the theater when it opened in 1925. Although now operating as a six-plex, the lobby retains many of the original features. It is one of the last operating neighborhood theaters in the greater Cleveland area, and now presents primarily art and foreign films.
There is more at NewsNet5.
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November 22, 2010
AMC Pine Square 16 in Long Beach eyed for housing
LONG BEACH, CA — With its lease expiring in 2012 and no new retail tenants offering to occupy the space as it is now, the AMC Pine Square 16 may be converted to housing and retail after renovations. Heralded as a magnet for renewed economic life for Pine Avenue when opened in 1992, the theater’s patronage has since declined with the opening of other theaters.
The developer also wants to eliminate the escalator leading to the theater, convert the ground-floor, 543-square-foot box office into potential commercial space and improve the courtyard area.
The remaining retail would continue to operate in the space surrounding the theater.
There is more in the Press-Telegram.
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November 19, 2010
Egyptian Theatre celebrates 85 years
COOS BAY, OR — The 1925 Egyptian Theatre here will celebrate eighty-five years of entertaining folks in this south coast town. Now operated as a city-owned, not-for-profit, the theater will host celebration events on November 19 & 20.
Rick Shearer says he and his fellow board members hope for a big turnout for the weekend birthday bash.
“There are very few historic theaters left, and for this town to have a 1925 movie theater is pretty incredible,” Shearer says.
The story, with a short video, is at KNTR.com.
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November 16, 2010
Reserved seating at Frank Theatres
JUPITER, FL — Frank Theatres has introduced reserved seating at its Queensgate 10 in York, PA. Customers can choose their seats online and then pickup the tickets at the theater at their convenience. They are the only theater in town that does this.
Read the full press release at the company website.
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November 15, 2010
Cinema Grill coming to Hartford
HARTFORD, CT — A new Cinema Grill has signed on as the first tenant in the new Front Street development. It will be the first Cinema Grill in the New England area and is expected to open in mid-2011.
“This is a major step forward for our ongoing efforts to bring new vitality and new economic development to downtown Hartford,” Rell said. “I am tremendously pleased to have the first tenant in place for Front Street – and to have that tenant be such an exciting attraction.”
Cinema Grill, which operates a number of locations in the Southeast and Midwest, offers patrons a chance to dine as well as watch a movie. The theater will occupy 22,500 square feet of the total 65,000 square feet available at Front Street, and will offer a state-of-the-art, multi-screen cinema, pub-style food and a full-service bar.
There is more in the Hartford Business Journal.
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November 12, 2010
Rave to operate former Magic Johnson Theater in Baldwin Hills after renovations
BALDWIN HILLS, CA — When $10 million in renovations are completed, Dallas-based Rave Motion Pictures will be the operator of the former Magic Johnson Crenshaw 15 which was closed by AMC in June. The renovated theatre is expected to open in time for next summer’s crop of films.
“Anytime we stand in front of the theater we have a number of community folks that drive by asking questions as to when it’s going to open,” Lombard said. “The community is extremely vested in this theater. This is their theater. So we fully anticipate the same if not higher levels of support then what we saw in the beginning.”
There is more at SCPR.
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November 11, 2010
Temple Theatre given to the newly formed Temple Foundation
SAGINAW, MI — The beautifully restored Temple Theatre has been donated by the Shaheen family, which owned the theater since 2002 and restored it, to the newly formed Temple Foundation. The foundation has already secured about $3.5 million and hopes to raise another $1.5 million from the general public. The Temple Theatre is a thriving venue for both concerts and films.
“To literally give the facility valued at over $9 million, they put over $7 million of the family’s own money into it and gifted the foundation another $700,000 on top of that. It’s just off the charts,” Garber said.
“It’s just an incredible and it’s an awesome responsibility for the Great Lakes Bay Region to accept and make sure we continue to operate the theatre and provide the quality venue that the Shaheen family has done for the last 10 years.”
Additional details with video from WJRT.
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Movie Theater coming to Front Street in Hartford
HARTFORD, CT — A new movie theater is coming to Hartford as part of the “Riverfront Recapture effort. It’s not official, but looks to be a movie theater with food. This is great news for the people of Hartford, giving us a reason to come downtown and a "hopefully” better movie experience than what we currently endure.
More at theCourant Blog Link.