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Theaters
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September 24, 2010
Smithsonian receives $5 million grant from Warner Brothers
WASHINGTON, DC – A five million dollar grant from Warner Brothers will enable the Smithsonian Institution to convert its nearly fifty-year-old Carmichael Auditorium into a theater which will present the history of American film. It will be equipped for both 35mm and digital projection.
The full story is in the Washington Post.
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September 21, 2010
Mounties raid marijuana operation in closed cinema
GRENFELL, SASKATCHAWAN, CANADA — Law enforcement discovered and shut down a sophisticated marijuana growing enterprise in this small town’s long-closed movie theater (probably the former Windsor). Two people were arrested.
Around 416 marijuana plants and about 4.5 kilograms of harvested marijuana were found in the theater in the town of Grenfell, in the Western Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they raided the theater on Wednesday after a man was arrested trying to enter Canada from North Dakota with a small amount of what was suspected to be hashish in his car.
Read more in Reuters.
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September 20, 2010
Cinema West to build new theater in Hesperia
HESPERIA, CA — Groundbreaking is slated for next year for a new twelve-screen cinema that will be a major addition to this city’s civic center area. To be operated by Cinema West, which currently operates most of its theaters much further north in California, the theater will feature digital projection and stadium seating. The city has approved a ten-year exclusivity agreement for the theater.
The 36,000-square-foot theater complex will be built on city-owned land just west of Civic Center Park at the southeast corner Smoketree Street and Ninth Avenue. The complex will feature state-of-the-art, digital technology with stadium-style seating.
Construction for the project will begin in 2011 with completion set for the summer of 2012, according to Steven Lantsberger, deputy director of economic development.
There is more detail in the Victorville Daily Press.
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September 17, 2010
Charging ahead in Lowville
LOWVILLE, NY — Two decades in and the Lowville Town Hall Theater is still owned and operated by the same hard-working family.
Mr. O'Brien purchased the theater 20 years ago from Nick and Rena Giannocous, who owned it for 33 years. Mr. O'Brien is hoping that with the temporary closure of the theaters at Salmon Run Mall to make room for an expanded operation, movie buffs will discover, or rediscover, this theater.
“Maybe we’ve got a new lease on life,” Mr. O'Brien said.
Read more in the Watertown Daily Times.
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September 16, 2010
A family’s dedication keeps the Denver area’s last drive-in going
COMMERCE CITY, CO – The 88 Drive-in is the last of its kind in the the greater Denver area, and its survival is due to the dedication of the Kochevar family that has owned it since 1976. They worry, though, that the crushing cost of converting to digital projection may be fatal to the theater’s future.
Patrons say they enjoy the 88 because it’s cheap, family-friendly entertainment.
“I think a lot of people come here looking for something they lost a long time ago,” said Kyleen Kochevar, 16, who operates the ticket booth on the thin dirt road leading to the 88. “It’s a back-to-the-future thing.”
There is more in the Denver Post.
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September 15, 2010
Film offerings, seating options, set the Our Town Cinemas apart
DAVIDSON, NC — Most new theaters these days tend to be big box megaplexes that show primarily newly-released films with perhaps an HD telecast or, occasionally, a highly-successful art house film on one of their screens. The Our Town Cinemas is a bit of a departure; this quad opened last December in the college town of Davidson. In addition to the latest Hollywood releases, it also regularly screens classic films. Some of its seats swivel and can be adjusted for height.
Yet it’s the atmosphere that makes the big difference here. When I visit Davidson, I’m reminded of my youth: My farm town was too small to have a movie theater, so we drove in to the county seat to see whatever the single-screen Mount Holly Cinema was showing.
The Davidson College campus sits within a five-minute walk from Our Town.
An amble down Main Street takes you past people sipping coffee outside tiny restaurants, until you reach the welcoming old public library. This is the kind of town where volunteers are being trained to allow that beleaguered institution to stay open five days a week instead of four, starting in October.
The full story is in the Charlotte Observer.
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September 14, 2010
Theater chain to operate new theater on Ft. Bliss military base
EL PASO, TX — Southern Theatres LLC will be opening one of their Grand Theatre multiplexes in November near here, but you probably won’t see it listed on their website and, unless you have the right credentials, you probably won’t be able to see a film there. The new theater is planned to open in November on the Fort Bliss military base as part of the Freedom Crossing shopping center, a private/public development that is a definite departure from the traditional post exchange centers, as it will be a modern outdoor shopping plaza with many well-known national brand stores and restaurants, operating in cooperation with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), the traditional operator of PXs. According to a recent press release:
“The Grand Theatre at Freedom Crossing will include 10 screens, 35,453 square feet, and over 1,700 seats with plans for future expansion. Featuring high back stadium seating, the latest in digital projection including 3D capabilities, wall-to-wall screens, and expanded concessions, the theatre will offer an unrivaled movie going experience.
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September 13, 2010
Ritz Theater may become a dinner theater and events showplace
ESCONDIDO, CA — Closed for a decade, the Ritz Theater may have another life as a cabaret dinner theater and special events venue if a proposal in front of the City Council is adopted and parking concerns resolved. The theater opened in 1938 and has had several names over the years.
The Boroughs also had planned to remodel and re-open the cinema when they bought it in 2003, but those plans never materialized.
Maguire said Monday that the key to reviving the cinema, which opened in 1937, is coming up with a more ambitious approach to operating it.
“The place has been unprofitable for so long that you don’t really know what will work,” Maguire said. “So our plan is to blend the old with the new.”
There is more detail in the North County Times.
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September 10, 2010
Historic Texas Theatre goes high tech!
DALLAS, TX — The Oak Cliff Foundation has officially handed the keys to the historic Texas Theatre over to Aviation Cinemas, Inc., a newly formed movie theatre company with the expressed goal of renovating the theatre by installing a 35mm changeover system, tweaking the existing digital projection system to meet I-Cinema compliance, and installing a new adjustable 40 foot screen. This will allow the theatre to screen movies of various exhibition formats, utilizing state of the art equipment. The large screen will be moveable to allow for other kinds of entertainment including plays and concerts. The old school style film changeover system will allow the Texas to screen repertory film prints that would not normally be allowed to be spliced together on a platter. Additional exhibition for small format films and filmmaking will be supported by the addition of 16mm and Super 8mm projection. Plans also include constructing a concession stand and a separate full-service bar in the main lobby and soundproofing the area between the theatre and the bar.
“Phase one is to get the theatre in good working condition in order to exhibit films in traditional and digital formats,” said Barak Epstein, President and CEO of Aviation Cinemas. “Long term goals to restore the theatre to its original condition still exist; but in order to realize those goals we’ve got to be on par with competing theaters. Attracting audiences is the only way this theatre will survive.”
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September 8, 2010
New theater planned for Ozark
OZARK, MO — B&B Theatres is hoping that its new theater anticipated to be built here will be open by next Memorial Day weekend. It is estimated that the cost will be seven million. Initially, the theater will have ten screens, with the capacity to add two more, and is currently to be named the Ozark-Nixa Cinema.
The theater would be the only one in Christian County and the first located in Ozark in several decades. The Ozark Theater on the square closed in the late 1960s.
Thursday was the first time the company, based in Liberty, had publicly discussed the theater plans since word first spread in March 2009 that it was interested in building a theater in Ozark.
There is more in the News-Leader.