I ate at a restaurant today just down the block from this theater’s location, so I went around back to see if anything was left of the auditorium, but it is completely gone, except for a sloping grassy field, certainly the same slope as the original floor.
Drove by yesterday and it looks like it has been stabilized and boarded up. No sign of the condemnation notice I saw a couple of years ago and a big “FOR LEASE” sign on the building. A Smyrna cop was sitting there so I didn’t spend too much time looking the place over, didn’t want to have to answer too many questions since I now have an out of state drivers license and was in a rental car.
I think some are missing the obvious here; it would be nice if they had 35mm print, but at least they still have the beauty of the Lafayette to offer. It will still be better than seeing The Godfather in digital at some 100 seat sticky floor, crackerbox multiplex or at home.
The Plaza was built on the same property as the Starlite Drive In, opposite the drive in’s screen in the late 70’s, after Martin closed the Grand in downtown Cartersville. It was more or less the same as all of the other Martin Twins being built across the southeast at that time, such as Calhoun, Fort Oglethorpe and Athens, Tn. Opened as a twin, the manager covered both the drive in and the twin, and for a time lived in a small trailer behind the twin. Drive in closed in the early 80’s and the 6 small theaters were added in the 90’s. I seem to recall seeing Dumb & Dumber in one of the new theaters just after they opened. I moved away before the new 12 screen was built.
I always wondered if the folks from Cineplex ever saw this location before they agreed to open this location. Horrible traffic along a perpetual construction zone in a plaza anchored by a TGIF? Near the end the TGIF closed and became a strip club, the rest of the plaza fell on hard times as the remaining quality tenants left only to be partially replaced by some marginal operations. At the point this opened Cineplex was building some decent multiplexes in bad locations, the Town Center in Kennesaw was a similar location in both layout and questionable location. I’m guessing many of their decisions were made in Toronto by people who depended on developers.
This did replace Storey’s twin, but I believe it opened prior to 87. Closed and replaced by AMC’s 16 which was built using this locations auditoriums and adjacent retail space. The “new” auditoriums were stadium, the old slopped floor. This may have changed over the years, I haven’t been in the AMC since it first opened.
Yes, Cineplex bought out Septum a few years after this opened. Was in a horrible location, lower level backside of the shopping center along a very heavy traffic area. Operated by Carmike for a short time after they took over Cineplex’s assets in Atlanta.
Sheriff’s sale scheduled for tomorrow, see http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2014/12/bethlehems_boyd_theatre_still.html#incart_river
Troubling news today: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2014/10/washington_theatre_building_in.html
Washington Theatre building in danger of demolition
I ate at a restaurant today just down the block from this theater’s location, so I went around back to see if anything was left of the auditorium, but it is completely gone, except for a sloping grassy field, certainly the same slope as the original floor.
I just drove by the Franklin today and it is now being used as a church. Sorry, didn’t get the name, but some of the sign was in Spanish.
If I recall correctly this was opened by Interstate Theaters before Hoyts bough them out.
Did they tear this down and leave the sign? I could swear I saw the sign the other day driving up the NJTP in Newark.
The Georgia-Pacific Building sits on the site.
Drove by yesterday and it looks like it has been stabilized and boarded up. No sign of the condemnation notice I saw a couple of years ago and a big “FOR LEASE” sign on the building. A Smyrna cop was sitting there so I didn’t spend too much time looking the place over, didn’t want to have to answer too many questions since I now have an out of state drivers license and was in a rental car.
I think some are missing the obvious here; it would be nice if they had 35mm print, but at least they still have the beauty of the Lafayette to offer. It will still be better than seeing The Godfather in digital at some 100 seat sticky floor, crackerbox multiplex or at home.
As best I can recall this was in the plaza that had Richway/Target/Value City and across the street from the Buford Hwy Twin.
The Plaza was built on the same property as the Starlite Drive In, opposite the drive in’s screen in the late 70’s, after Martin closed the Grand in downtown Cartersville. It was more or less the same as all of the other Martin Twins being built across the southeast at that time, such as Calhoun, Fort Oglethorpe and Athens, Tn. Opened as a twin, the manager covered both the drive in and the twin, and for a time lived in a small trailer behind the twin. Drive in closed in the early 80’s and the 6 small theaters were added in the 90’s. I seem to recall seeing Dumb & Dumber in one of the new theaters just after they opened. I moved away before the new 12 screen was built.
I always wondered if the folks from Cineplex ever saw this location before they agreed to open this location. Horrible traffic along a perpetual construction zone in a plaza anchored by a TGIF? Near the end the TGIF closed and became a strip club, the rest of the plaza fell on hard times as the remaining quality tenants left only to be partially replaced by some marginal operations. At the point this opened Cineplex was building some decent multiplexes in bad locations, the Town Center in Kennesaw was a similar location in both layout and questionable location. I’m guessing many of their decisions were made in Toronto by people who depended on developers.
This did replace Storey’s twin, but I believe it opened prior to 87. Closed and replaced by AMC’s 16 which was built using this locations auditoriums and adjacent retail space. The “new” auditoriums were stadium, the old slopped floor. This may have changed over the years, I haven’t been in the AMC since it first opened.
Yes, Cineplex bought out Septum a few years after this opened. Was in a horrible location, lower level backside of the shopping center along a very heavy traffic area. Operated by Carmike for a short time after they took over Cineplex’s assets in Atlanta.