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Theaters
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February 26, 2009
US 23 D.I. owner Lou Warrington dies
VAIDEN, MS and GRAND BLANC, MI — Louis M. Warrington Jr., second-generation owner of the US 23 Twin Drive-in Theatre in the Flint, Michigan suburb of Mundy Township, died Wednesday, February 18 at his winter home in Vaiden, Mississippi at age 72.
He devoted a half-century of his life to this drive-in since he started working there at age 18. While he had other business interests, the drive-in was his first and favorite. A resident of Grand Blanc Township near the drive-in, he liked hunting birds during the winter months.
The Warrington family plans to reopen the drive-in for one final season in his memory and put it up for sale. Additional info from the Flint Journal.
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February 25, 2009
Blaze rips Dorchester church
DORCHESTER, MA — The former Franklin Park Theatre witnessed a devastating fire over the weekend.
A five-alarm fire ripped through the sanctuary of a Dorchester church early yesterday morning, charring the altar and displacing worshippers for months to come.
New Fellowship Baptist Church on Blue Hill Avenue was left in shambles after the fire, which destroyed a piano and baptismal pool, melted balcony-level seats and caused the ceilings above the altar and conference room to cave.
Read the full story in the Boston Herald.
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Will the Lebowsky Center get economic stimulus money?
OWOSSO, MI — There is no shortage of organizations in Michigan which are requesting funds from Michigan’s share of the $787-billion economic stimulus package which President Barack Obama signed into law. Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm’s office has compiled a long list comprising 1,301 pages of organizations in Michigan requesting funds from the stimulus package. One of them is the Owosso Community Players requesting $4-million to rebuild the fire-gutted Lebowsky Center.
Additional info from the Argus-Press.
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February 24, 2009
A night at the Mar-Va Theater
POCOMOKE CITY, MD — A traditional projectionist discusses how he keeps the Mar-Va Theater going, the old-fashioned way.
“A commercial single screen movie theater can’t compete with "multiplex” theaters having up to 16 screens showing 16 movies,“ he said. "No one but us has opened a single-screen theater on the Eastern Shore in years. We are bringing back memories and creating memories by bringing viewers in for a $5 ticket and reasonable popcorn and a drink. We want family entertainment, new movies. A couple of weeks ago we showed The Wizard of Oz for free, with help from a sponsor, and the foundation made money on the concession sales,” he said.
Former city mayor Kurt Lippoldt, treasurer for the center’s board of directors, said the committee has worked hard since 2003 to renovate the theater that opened in 1927 and closed in 1993. It was purchased by the center in 1995.
Read the full story in the Delmarva Daily Times.
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February 23, 2009
Washington Theatre reopens
WASHINGTON, NJ — Just wanted to inform everyone that the historic and renovated Washington Theatre is now open! It is a great find and value. The person in charge is Marco. The phone number to the theatre is : 908-689-0899, and the website address is: here.
Please come and support this great theatre. We really need your help!
Thanks,
Joni -
February 19, 2009
Entertainment Agency offers fundraising help nationwide
The Prestige Entertainment Series is a collection of entertainment performances to help old theaters and showhouses raise funds to rehabilitate and eventually assist the theaters in becoming fully self sustaining, at no cost to the theater.
The program is a very simple process. Prestige Entertainment Corp., A Wisconsin Corporation, has access though its affiliate, The Images Agency to literally hundreds of performers and acts, that can be booked for very reasonable fees.
We start out with small acts, and over a period of time, move on to larger shows and eventually headliners.
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February 12, 2009
Historic Ridgewood Theatre may be landmarked & reopen, but still needs your help
RIDGEWOOD, NY — Thomas Lamb’s 1916 [url/theater/4021/] Ridgewood Theatre[/url] (55-27 Myrtle Ave) shuttered in March 2008, and was deemed the longest continuously operating first-run neighborhood theater in NY, and potentially throughout the U.S. Nearly one year later, this is how a gem fared:
- The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission might calendar the facade for a public hearing in the near future to determine its eligibility as a NYC Landmark, but no word is official yet. Please sign an online petition & post a comment, to designate the facade an Individual Landmark, and the lobby an Interior Landmark (by law, only possible once the theater reopens). Please share this link with your colleagues. Your help is extremely significant, only takes moments, and can go a long way:
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February 10, 2009
University of Michigan may make use of the Capitol Theatre
FLINT, MI — The University of Michigan-Flint is exploring utilizing the long closed Capitol Theatre for its music program. It may cost up to $40 million to renovate the theater and make it a community asset.
The C.S. Mott Foundation is paying for a $50,000 feasibility study. Additional details can be found in the Flint Journal
On a side note, the theater’s owner George Farah died Sunday, February 1 at age 73. The Flint Journal obit is here.
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February 9, 2009
Plaza Theater update
I would like to update the info on the Plaza Theater in Humboldt, TN. I, along with two good friends, purchased the theater in January of 2007.
We have remodeled it extensively. We have upgraded the sound and projectors in all three theaters as well as paint and carpet in the lobby and concessions area and paint and lettering on the marquee. It is a triplex. Theater #1 seats 135, Theater #2 seats 125 and Theater #3 seats 90. I’m sure when the theater was built and had just one screen it would seat approx 600. When the theater was transformed into a triplex, lots of seating was lost due to walls and such.
We show first run movies and focus mainly on family oriented films. The website for the theater is www.plazatheater.net
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February 4, 2009
Kew Gardens Cinemas adds sixth screen
KEW GARDENS, NY — It’s almost a year now that Kew Gardens Cinemas added another screen that replaced the dry cleaners located in the same building. It’s stadium seating with nice width and great sightlines. What a great theatre to visit for great films.