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Theaters
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July 22, 2010
Big changes coming for movie-goers in Wenatchee
WENATCHEE, WA — By this time next year, if all goes as planned, the cinema scene here shall be much changed. Sun Basin Theatres plans to open an upscale new cinema, to be called the Gateway Center 14, which will be drastic remodeling of a former closed discount store. At the same time, Sun Basin will have closed both the Columbia Cinema in East Wenatchee and the nearly sixty-year-old Vue Dale Drive-In .
The $8 million renovation project of the old Kmart will reroute many movie fans to the former retail building in the Olds Station shopping center, unofficially called Gateway Center. It will increase the number of movie screens in the Wenatchee area from 15 to 21, add 11 new digital projectors, and expand the number of available seats by the hundreds.
“We see this project as an opportunity to give this old shopping center a new injection of life,” said Sun Basin’s general manager Bryan Cook. “We’ll be offering a top-notch movie experience. But we’ll also be attempting to rebrand and re-energize this development as a vital retail center that serves all of North Central Washington.”
The story, with a drawing of the new megaplex, is in the Wenatchee World.
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Loew’s Pitkin to become a charter school
BROOKLYN, NY — The former Loew’s Pitkin, an atmospheric theater designed by Thomas Lamb that opened in 1929, will be converted to a charter school with stores on the ground floor. The theater, which has an unusual Mayan-style exterior, closed as a movie palace in 1969, later housed a church, but has been vacant for many years.
Poko, he says, bought the old theater (which is almost a dead ringer for the old Loew’s 175th Street Theater in Manhattan, better known to many as the Reverend Ike’s headquarters) in 2007. The company originally planned to develop it into affordable housing, but the real estate crash soon hit.
The new development is being built with financing from Goldman Sachs and a “new market” tax credit. The company, he says, is committed to hiring community residents, both in construction and in the retail stores to come.
The full story is in the Brooklyn Eagle.
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July 20, 2010
Oakland’s Grand Lake owner vows to keep going
OAKLAND, CA — Some thought he was crazy when he bought it, and it doesn’t really make him much money, but Allen Michaan, the owner of the 1926 Grand Lake Theater, still believes his theater is unique and one of the last bastions of the classic movie-going experience. He’s added 3-D and changed the bulbs in the theater’s terrific rooftop sign, but in other ways, going to this theater treasure is like stepping back in time.
But Michaan, who once operated 20 theaters in the Bay Area, has no intention of letting his last one die. He talks about the Art Deco theater as if it’s a living being – an old hunting dog that hasn’t caught a fox in a while, but he can’t bear the thought of putting it down.
“I would feel really, really bad if something happened to this building – if it wasn’t a theater,” Michaan says. “The Grand Lake is special. It’s one of the last of its kind. I sort of feel like I made a lot of money here over the years, and I owe it to the theater, even though it doesn’t make me any money any more.”
The full story, with pictures, is at SFGate.com.
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July 16, 2010
Small but determined group hopes to reopen Portland’s Guild Theatre
PORTLAND, OR — They’re not all that well known, they’re underfunded, they have no history as a theater operator, and they know that times are tough economically, but Opera Theatre Oregon is confident that they can successfully renovate and reopen the Guild Theatre as a mixed use venue for both film and live events. The theater was originally a recital hall; it closed in 2006.
Taylor’s challenges are considerable: raise a minimum of $300,000 (her own estimate) and find another $300,000 worth of pro bono work to make basic renovations. Then, persuade Moyer’s firm that her plan to run the Guild will make money. Taylor may be underestimating costs. Another estimate puts the price tag at at least $1 million to bring wiring, heating and cooling, plumbing and roofing up to code.
Taylor shouldn’t count on much city money in these tight economic times. However, the Portland Development Commission might have money available for such a project, but public affairs manager Shawn Uhlman says the PDC has yet to receive a request from Taylor. Taylor also could face competition from the recent reopening of another former movie house, the Alberta Rose Theatre, with a similar mission.
The story is at Oregon.Live.
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Holiday Square 12 Theater to be come a “movie tavern”
COVINGTON, LA — Closed since 2008, the Holiday Square 12 will be remodeled and reopened by Southern Theatres as a “movie tavern.” Seven of the twelve auditoriums will be used for screenings when the the theater reopens, tentatively set for around Thanksgiving, and one will house kitchen operations. All former projection equipment will be taken out, including that for IMAX, and replaced with digital machines.
Construction gear is already on-site at the theater, along North U.S. 190 just above Interstate 12, as crews remove mold that accumulated as the building sat vacant for nearly two years. “They just basically turned the lights off and left,” Solomon said of the previous operators.
All of the old projection equipment will be junked, including the Holiday 12’s old IMAX equipment, and new gear — probably all-digital — will be installed in its place, as was done at Canal Place, Solomon said.
The full story is at NOLA.com.
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City says Senator Theatre must go dark, Wed. July 21
BALTIMORE, MD — The Baltimore Mayor’s office announced yesterday that the Senator Theatre will go dark on July 21st. The announcement is a partial response to rising concerns of North Baltimore business owners, residents, and the 2100+ member “Friends of The Senator” theatre advocacy group, regarding the uncertain fate of The Senator Theatre, an iconic, nationally renowned landmark showplace that has entertained and served the North Baltimore community continuously since 1939…
“I am sure the theater will go dark until Mr. Cusack is ready to move forward and negotiations have been completed. Mr. Kiefaber [the Senator’s former owner] is to cease all operations on the 21st under any circumstance,” declared the Deputy Mayor in a July 15th email to Friends of The Senator (FOTS) leaders.
The Senator Theatre was acquired in July of 2009 by Baltimore City, through a polarizing auction process, triggered by the city during the administration of former Mayor Sheila Dixon, under recommendation by the BDC.
The FOTS question the reason for the theatre suddenly going dark, well before Mr. Cusack’s specific plans for the National Register of Historic Places landmark have been finalized.
Read more in the PR Newswire.
Tom Harris
Friends of The SENATOR -
July 15, 2010
Mattydale’s Hollywood Theatre: a Syracuse survivor
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.
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July 8, 2010
Orpheum Theatre reopens on its 61st Anniversary
MARSHALLTOWN, IA — After a $3.2 million dollar and 10-year renovation, the Orpheum Theatre re-opened its doors with a four-day celebration.
The theater was the first that RKO built after World War II, back when Hollywood studios built their own facilities.
It seats 152 people in two theatres, includes an outdoor amphitheater, a gallery of photos and artifacts about Iowa film stars, and will play movies over 1 year old.
The good news: The air-conditioning is up and running, along with other features visitors may remember from way back when. The original marquee and neon tower are glowing again, the terrazzo floor in the lobby has been polished, the chandeliers sparkle, and the original coffee shop has been serving customers for the last two weeks.
There are new features, too, including an outdoor amphitheater, a gallery of photos and artifacts about Iowa film stars (including Marshalltown natives Jean Seberg, Mary Beth Hurt and “Wizard of Oz” munchkin Dale Paullin, who still lives in town), a black box theater for live performances, a prep kitchen for special events and three classrooms for the theater department at Marshalltown Community College.
Read the full story in theDes Moines Register.
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July 7, 2010
Skyview Drive-in in Belleville adding third screen
BELLEVILLE, IL — The sixty-one-year-old Skyview Drive-in will be adding a third screen, to be built on the adjacent land currently occupied by the defunct Quad Theatre which closed in 2000. The Skyview is the only surviving drive-in in the greater St. Louis, MO area.
SIEGEL: At one time, across the country, there were thousands of drive-in movie theaters. Now, only a few hundred remain. They became victims of the home video revolution, and those enormous lots for the outdoor theaters became prime targets for real estate speculators who saw an opportunity to build strip malls. But for a variety of reasons, the theater in Belleville was never gobbled up.
Mr. BLOOMER: So as a result, we were kind of forced to continue to operate it, and as a result, we survived the slump in drive-ins in the ‘80s and '90s, and we’ve come back to be a real strong option for families to see a movie.
There’s more at NPR.com.
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July 6, 2010
Warren, OH’s Elm Road Triple Drive-in celebrates sixty years
WARREN, OH — Regular upgrades over the years have enabled the Elm Road Triple Drive-In to accomplish what not very many other drive-ins have been able to do: celebrate a diamond anniversary. The gates to the still family-owned outdoor theater opened in August of 1950.
The drive-in, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, is one of the last of its kind in the Mahoning Valley. There are fewer than 400 drive-ins left in the U.S., according to the United Drive-In Theater Owners Association.
The Elm Road Triple Drive-In has bucked the trend by modernizing its facilities to reflect the changing times, said theater manager Sheri Hocevar, daughter of owner Bob Hreno.
There is more at Vindy.com.