Westgate Cinema Centre
200 Westgate Drive,
Brockton,
MA
02301
200 Westgate Drive,
Brockton,
MA
02301
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 34 of 34 comments
I remember the Westgate Cinema Center being the one place locally to see a big movie in the 70’s and 80’s. However, in the 90’s, the area began to get a bad reputation, and the area seemed to dry up. Tenants abandoned the Westgate Mall left and right. General Cinema sold off the property in the mid-1990’s (I guess with the burgeoning expansion well underway they must not have seen a future for the Westgate, even though I remember reading they did enhance a couple of the auditoriums with digital sound shortly before selling it). For a time it was an Entertainment Cinema, then a Hoyts. I remember Entertainment Cinemas did renovations to the marquee and adjoined the 4-screen and 3-screen areas of the building, which originally had their own separate box-offices and lobbies.
It amazes me that at one point in time, there were no less than 19 screens over 3 complexes that showed movies in the city of Brockton and now there a none…nada…zip…zilch. Even today, ok, Brockton may not be a “paradise†but there have been some improvements. Even the Westgate Mall is filling up with tenants. As dwodeyla put it, where do they go for movies?
I drove by last week and the Westgate Cinema is gone, to be replaced by a Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Many years ago, ( circa 1960’s to early 1980’s) the Westgate Mall Cinema, owned by General Cinema, was one of the busiest in the circuit. At some point, the area lost it’s decency, and movies weren’t the focus of the population. Where did the folks go, for movies? Probably to a discount store for a big screen TV and a Blockbuster to rent films.
A sign advertising this theatre still stands today, next to Route 24. Where the list of seven movies should be, there is just the single word “CLOSED”.
Thanks for the info, MovieMatty. I did some research and found that the Foxy Lady was located behind the former Sack/Sony/Loews/Entertainment Cinemas multiplex. If the theatre site was demolished, I’m guessing the former property currently serves as additional parking for club patrons, employees, and performers.
Brockton-based filmgoers are mostly, according to the message board at View link now patronizing multiplexes in towns such as Braintree and Randolph – a choice some had made prior, due to the state the Westgate Cinema Centre was in towards the end.
So, Brockton over a few years went from having 10+ screens to having none at all? Where do people go to movies now in that area?
Br91975, the theatre you are referring to was the Old Sack Cinema Brockton (a.k.a. Sony Theatres Brockton, Loews Theatres Brockton, and Entertainment Cinemas West Brockton). It closed in 1996 I believe. To the best of my knowledge, the building was demolished and it made way for The Foxy Lady, a gentleman’s nightclub. Hope this helps and if anyone can add/correct anything, please do.
There used to be a second multiplex in Brockton, located near what was then known as – and may still be known as – Cardinal Cushing Hospital, for all I’m aware, on North Pearl Street, which I think closed sometime in the mid-‘90s. Does anyone know what became of that property?
The Westgate Cinema Centre shut its doors this past October 31st and is scheduled to be torn down and replaced by a sporting goods store.