Jack Pierce launched the Meadow Drive-In in May 7, 1953 with the film, “Sky Full of Moon.” Pierce also operated the Lyric, Place, and the Time. And, yes, there were meadows that inspired the naming of the ozoner.
Cliff L. Lance took the El Rancho widescreen on April 2, 1954 with “The Robe” in CinemaScope. It appears to have closed at the end of lease on August 30, 1964 with “Muscle Beach Party.”
According to the trade press, Mr. and Mrs. Jack “Eddie” Holt of the New Theatre refreshed the New Theatre renaming it as the Holt Theatre. Mr. Holt owned both the Wigwam and the Holt when he testified in 1952 before a committee trying to slap a 20% entertainment tax on the movie theater industry. Holt suggested that the tax could cause 70% of all theatres to close if such a tax were instituted partially due to both the onset of television and the fact that all theaters would lose money if not for concessions. Holt would first close the Holt Theatre that decade and then the Wigwam in 1959.
In 1913, Coalgate was served by its newly-opened O.B.O. Theatre in the O.B.O. building, the existing Majestic Theatre, and in its first of two or three homes, the Wigwam Theatre which opened in August of 1913. The Wigwam would add Western Electric sound in 1931 to remain viable. However, it closed for a period during the Depression. It likely moved to new digs and continued all the way until closing on June 29, 1959 with “The Ten Commandments” at the end of a leasing period. It did not reopen.
The Grand Opera House of Cherokee was designed by prolific Enid architect Roy W. Shaw. It opened as the Cherokee Opera House on November 16, 1908 to commemorate the First Anniversary of Oklahoma’s admittance into the United States. In 1910, it was called the Grand Opera House of Cherokee / Grand Opera House. It had a very brief run as the Grand Theater before Charley B. Titus took on the venue renaming it as the Majestic Theatre on June 14, 1920 with Priscilla Dean in “The Virgin of Stamboul.” The Majestic competed with the Crystal Theatre until both were taken on by the Hawk Brothers.
The trade press suggests that the Majestic was closed under a new operator and that the Crystal was wired for sound becoming the Ritz Theatre. We’ll assume for ease that they had it backwards and the Majestic became the Ritz as written here. The Ritz left at the end of lease on August 28, 1955 with Fred MacMurray in “Pushover.”
The Royal Theatre launched on July 10, 1922 with Helene Chadwick in “The Old Nest.” It replaced the Odeon Theatre elsewhere. Operator Roy Anthony switched the venue to sound films in 1929 with Vutaphone and Movietone films on May 15th with “The Home Towners.” The theatre was still open heading to its 100th Anniversary.
The New Theatre opened namelessly with a naming contest on by June 11, 1921 by J.S. White in the existing Medcalf-Percival building. A confectioner was there at the launch as the de facto concession stand. Six different folks sent in the name Whiteway Theatre and each received passes for a full year of movies with the name going into effect July 8, 1921.
Frank Miller of the competing Pastime Theatre would take over the venue. On November 21, 1929, Miller switched to talkies with the playing of “The Jazz Singer.” When the new-build Alamo was opened in February of 1936, the Whiteway was downgraded to twice a week operation. The Whiteway became the Mar Theatre after the War. It closed in the mid-1950s but was taken on by a local church for some live events and additional religious film screenings through 1959. In 1962, it was converted for use as a Ben Franklin retail store.
The Alamo opened February 9, 1936 by Frank Miller on a 30-year lease. Dual Simplex projectors, four speakers with Western Electric sound, Silver King screen, cry room, smoking room, and an opening film of Ann Harding in “The Lady Consents” were all a part of opening day. Meanwhile, Miller’s existing Whiteway Theatre was demoted to twice-a-week operation.
It was Miller’s latest theater in town. He had started with the Pastime Theatre on August 28, 1913 - its first of three locations. He also bought the Whiteway in 1922 and operated the Rex from 1927 to 1929.
The new Drive-In of Ava launched with widescreen projection and individual, in-car speakers on June 26, 1959 with “I Bury the Living.” It appears to be in roughly the same place / or the exact place as the original drive-in that operated five seasons from 1952-1956. The Avalon hardtop closed for the season while the ozoner was in operation. The name of the venue was changed from the Drive-In of Ava to the Ava Drive-In Theatre in the 1960s and appears to have closed under that name following the June 19, 1978 showing of “The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West.” There is a single reference to the drive-in operating in 1982 but no additional coverage or ads so difficult to pin down much after 1978.
Correction: Owen’s Open Air Theatre was a drive-in opened by George Owen on June, 1950 with Chief Thundercloud in “Call of the Forest” supported by the Looney Tunes' cartoon, “Frigid Hare.”
Wesley Shean opened the new Seymour Theatre on April 2, 1934 with Lee Tracy in “Washington’s Merry-Go-Round.” George W. Owen, whose movie and vaudeville career started in 1907, later took on that theatre and decided to build an entirely new theatre due to weaknesses of the existing building. Ground was broken in December of 1940 for Owen’s new building. People were encouraged to send small stones and he would incorporate them in the construction. (The Seymour Theatre completed its run on June 3, 1941 with “The Great Dictator.”)
The new theatre opened under the banner of the new Owen Theatre at Seymour launching June 6, 1941 seating 400 with 150 of the seats in the balcony. The first film was Jane Withers' “Golden Hooves” supported by the Three Stooges short, “From Nurse to Worse,” the Pete Smith short, “Third Dimensional Murder, and Allan Lane in the first episode of the “King of the Royal Mounted” serial. (Originally announced by scratched was Jimmy Stewart in “Pot o' Gold” and “Boobs in Arms.”) That was the warm-up for the Jun 8-10th showings of “Gone with the Wind.”
Grocer Charley W. Thrasher took on the Meeker building at 105 South Jefferson owned by Wilson Theatre owner H.S. Wilson converting the Brown Tavern to Thrasher’s Theatre. Thrasher’s Theatre launched on May 21, 1937 with “Ranger Courage.” The theatre became the Thrasher Theatre and closed on December 9, 1943 with a double feature of “Father is a Prince” and “Taxi, Mister?”
Mr. and Mrs. H.S. Wilson’s Wilson Theatre opened on the square on August 10, 1925. It reopened as the New Wilson Theatre on March 16, 1939 with “Jesse James.” On May 26, 1939, it was renamed the Avalon Theatre starting with the film, “Ghost Town Riders” supported by the Oswald cartoon, “Nellie - Indian Chief’s Daughter” and an episode of the “Lone Ranger” serial.
The Avalon then closed permanently on October 18, 1954 with “Secret of the Incas.” Shows were moved to the Star while the New Avalon was readied. The original Avalon building was razed in November of 1954 to make way for a modern theatre capable of showing widescreen CinemaScope films.
Petit’s Star Theatre launched on August 22, 1943 with “Andy Hardy’s Double Life.” It closed October 25, 1955 with “You’re Never Too Young.” That was followed by the opening of the New Avalon Theatre on October 26, 1955.
Petit’s Star Theatre launched on August 22, 1943 with “Andy Hardy’s Double Life.” It closed October 25, 1955 which was followed by the opening of the Avalon Theatre on October 26, 1955 to present widescreen film in CinemaScope. First film at the New Avalon - The River of No Return."
The Charwood Theatre opened under operation by Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. Phelps on April 18, 1928 with “Say it With Flowers.” An opening address by the city’s mayor, Louis V. Stigall, was followed by a violin solo from Mrs. Paney Phelps Collins. The African American theater also had a tea room in the balcony for daily tea service. The very complete article about the theater said the capacity at opening was 500 (not 185).
The photo above is actually from the reopening of the Plaza Theatre after a refresh in 1960. A picture of the concession stand from the same day is also in photos.
The Village Drive-In opened July 3, 1952 by Robert Rogers. Rogers would sell the drive-in prior to season’s end. This and the hardtop theater in downtown Ennis later became one of the earlier venues for future Cinemark owner’s Lee Roy Mitchell and his long cinema exhibition career. It appears to have closed as a result of local protests about showing X-rated films in November/December of 1984.
Dallas' Valley View Center Mall had a twin-screen theater in its basement from August 17, 1973 to January 5, 1992 (I was off by six days on an earlier post - very sorry) with the General Cinema Valley View I & II. But the mall would be theater-less for more than ten years until the 2004 entry of the AMC Valley View 16. The genesis of the AMC Valley View Center theater dates back to a failed attempt in 1994 by AMC and its EDG affiliated branch to build a $94 million, 24-screen entertainment and dining mall complex between Valley View and the nearby Galleria shopping mall just west of Valley View. But the AMC project lost traction as did a previous 18-screen Cinemark theater plan for that same general area that was vetoed by the Dallas City Council.
AMC soon thereafter announced a 24-screen theater to be built in 1996 at the Prestonwood Mall just North of the Valley View and the Galleria in a $125 million facelift. Its five-screen external Prestonwood theater would be replaced inside the mall. But Prestonwood would belly flop as it shedded its anchors in 1997/8 and the mall was torn down altogether. With AMC dying with its aged 5-screen Prestonwood theater not far from the flattened mall, it announced in 1999 that it would build a 20-screen theater above Sears in the Valley View Center. The AMC Prestonwood shuttered that year.
With Valley View at 93% occupancy and nearby Prestonwood and NorthTown malls both eliminated, AMC and mall specialist Macerich, the relatively new owner of Valley View, felt the1973-built mall was a winner. When the plans to build above Sears became entangled, those plans were scrapped and the project was delayed. Macerich solved the problem by opening the middle of the mall and creating a space for AMC as the focal center of the mall two floors above above the food court. The film industry trade publication Variety warned of building theaters into aged malls as the mall shakeout was in full force entering the 21st Century.
The now 16-theater concept by Omniplan Architects — the same group responsible for the nearby Northpark Mall — finally opened May 14, 2004 with two Dallas Cowboy players and the mayor in attendance. Auditoriums all with stadium seating capacities ranged from 92 to 299 seats. Optimism abounded. But within three years – as the Variety article had predicted – Valley View would begin a gradual decent to greyfield status, an industry term akin to a “dead mall”. Macy’s – which had been in the mall just over one year – had seen enough of Valley View and quickly bailed. Then Dillards. Then JC Penney. Even the mall’s carousel in the center of the complex’s lower floor departed. The mall had just a once-free standing Sears opened in 1964 as its only retail anchor. AMC had a ghost town theater sometimes with more screens than actual customers.
In 2010, Macerich didn’t make the mall payments and it was in the hands of Bank of America. Never a good sign. AMC would change its pricing structure to a low-cost first run pricing policy ($4/$6 shows) to bring in anybody as theaters within striking distance including the Look Cinema, Alamo Drafthouse, and Studio Movie Grill “Keystone” opened to the north and east. Thanks to social media from customers and certainly not due to any AMC advertising – there was none – audiences actually began gravitating to the dying mall to watch current movies. Ten years into its life, the theater had finally found its audience.
The theater was further encouraged by a new mall owner in Beck Ventures who in 2012 planned to have AMC at the heart of a $3.5 billion transformation of Valley View that would be completed by 2017. AMC hedged its bets by announcing its AMC Village on the Parkway, a 12-screen then reduced to 9-screen luxury cinema just yards away from the former General Cinema Prestonwood / Montfort theater and 2.5 miles north of Valley View. As of 2014, it was unclear if the ambitious Valley View project would be completed by 2017 or, say, 2027, so the theater soldiered on with its low price concept and its luxury cousin Village on the Parkway opening in November of 2014. 2015 and 2016 saw Beck Ventures do nothing with the Valley View Midtown project. The lack of activity was discussed at a Dallas city council meeting in June of 2016 with Beck Ventures announcing demolition at the end of 2016 with a new, smaller 10-screen theatre proposed for the former Valley View Center spot. (Rendering of the proposed and highly unlikely AMC Midtown project, is in photos.)
Then 2017 – the year when the Midtown project was supposed to have been completed – came and went taking with the lightly-trafficked Sears store, the final remaining anchor, with it. The only action at the AMC Valley View was a downgrade – the theatre was designated as an AMC “Classic” generally associated with inherited properties from Carmike or Starplex or any other circuit that were never going to see recliners or Coca-Cola Freestyle machines. Classics were also the most likely candidates for closures at end of leases.
Then 2018 passed with Valley View demolition in progress - then stalled. But, finally, the eviction notes came for the remainder of the Valley View Center tenants who had to scram by March of 2019… except the AMC 16. The mall was further razed in 2019 with the former Valley View I & II being bulldozed along with the wing containing the former Penny’s anchor, the wing containing the Dillard’s, and the wing containing the Sears. (An earlier version of this post had those directions a bit skewed - apologies to all.) The West wing anchor (Saenger-Harris / Foley’s / Macy’s) was also removed but the adjacent southwest entry remained as a fairly creepy passageway through the ghost mall that didn’t exist. That dimly-lit passage that was without HVAC – seriously cold on frosty days and balmy on hot days, and wet on rainy days - brought cinema patrons a floor above the boarded-off food court, the dead-ended center main floor of the former mall, and – most importantly - the escalators, stairway, and elevator that offered an upward climb to the AMC facility. Fortunately, the AMC theatres retained its HVAC system allowing for comfortable auditoriums and unpredictable lobby and box office conditions.
The AMC Classic Valley View 16 closed along with the rest of the chain on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 was a challenging 100th Anniversary for the circuit with AMC shuttering numerous “Classic” name-plated and inherited locations during the Summer of 2020 as well as some of its larger AMC branded properties as it plotted its COVID-19 pandemic business strategy with reduced locations. The circuit removed its “Classic” designation from this location during the pandemic and it reopened on August 27, 2020 under its original AMC Valley View 16 moniker. Heading into a three-day 2021 Valentine’s Day and President’s Day weekend, the Valley View was ready for big business. Unfortunately, the temperatures plummeted and a rare and punishing snow storm changed the weekend from money-maker to near catastrophic. The theatre closed during that weekend and was on the ropes unable to reopen following the storm. The roof over the entry way proved to be porous and there were challenges to be found on AMC"s upper level, as well. This had to be the end of the line. Yet, somehow - and for reasons that aren’t really clear - the theatre came back to life one more time reopening on June 25, 2021.
The going wasn’t smooth in what would be the final stage of operation for the AMC Valley View 16. HVAC costs, already high due to COVID, were becoming an issue. The pathway to the parking lot became a challenge with the construction occurring and the theatre was downgraded to weekend-only operation. Parking illumination was another issue so the theatre reduced showtimes often to just two shows per day and often eliminating late shows. Cars had returned to the Valley View but mostly for the free COVID testing station just outside of the mall. That snake of cars often blocked the path to the theatre parking area. Inside the mall, the writing was on the wall on January 2, 2022. Employees – some dressed like Eskimos – braved the chilly lobby as temperatures dipped into the 20s in Dallas. Employees did not let on that the last day was occurring and conducted business as usual as the AMC Valley View and the carcass of the Valley View Center Mall passed into the night.
Speaking as someone who was there on opening day and closing day as well as way, way too many days in between, if remembered at all, the AMC Valley View 16 should be labeled as a fighter in a league with the Forum 6 Cinema at Arlington, the Nova 6 Cinemas in Moline, the Fox Theatre in Toledo’s Woodville Mall, and many, many others like it. These are the theaters that locals would have contended had gone out of business years earlier but the operator and employees fought on against shifting populations in ghost-town retail strips and malls in virtually impossible working environments yet delivering on their goals of providing cinematic moments to a cadre of patrons. We salute you, AMC Valley View 16.
Bonus - it’s the precursor to the Thompson in Wilson - the Empress Theatre circa 1924
Jack Pierce launched the Meadow Drive-In in May 7, 1953 with the film, “Sky Full of Moon.” Pierce also operated the Lyric, Place, and the Time. And, yes, there were meadows that inspired the naming of the ozoner.
Cliff L. Lance took the El Rancho widescreen on April 2, 1954 with “The Robe” in CinemaScope. It appears to have closed at the end of lease on August 30, 1964 with “Muscle Beach Party.”
Way to go finding it - and that corresponds with the information about the location of the 1958 fire that decimated the former d-i
According to the trade press, Mr. and Mrs. Jack “Eddie” Holt of the New Theatre refreshed the New Theatre renaming it as the Holt Theatre. Mr. Holt owned both the Wigwam and the Holt when he testified in 1952 before a committee trying to slap a 20% entertainment tax on the movie theater industry. Holt suggested that the tax could cause 70% of all theatres to close if such a tax were instituted partially due to both the onset of television and the fact that all theaters would lose money if not for concessions. Holt would first close the Holt Theatre that decade and then the Wigwam in 1959.
In 1913, Coalgate was served by its newly-opened O.B.O. Theatre in the O.B.O. building, the existing Majestic Theatre, and in its first of two or three homes, the Wigwam Theatre which opened in August of 1913. The Wigwam would add Western Electric sound in 1931 to remain viable. However, it closed for a period during the Depression. It likely moved to new digs and continued all the way until closing on June 29, 1959 with “The Ten Commandments” at the end of a leasing period. It did not reopen.
The Grand Opera House of Cherokee was designed by prolific Enid architect Roy W. Shaw. It opened as the Cherokee Opera House on November 16, 1908 to commemorate the First Anniversary of Oklahoma’s admittance into the United States. In 1910, it was called the Grand Opera House of Cherokee / Grand Opera House. It had a very brief run as the Grand Theater before Charley B. Titus took on the venue renaming it as the Majestic Theatre on June 14, 1920 with Priscilla Dean in “The Virgin of Stamboul.” The Majestic competed with the Crystal Theatre until both were taken on by the Hawk Brothers.
The trade press suggests that the Majestic was closed under a new operator and that the Crystal was wired for sound becoming the Ritz Theatre. We’ll assume for ease that they had it backwards and the Majestic became the Ritz as written here. The Ritz left at the end of lease on August 28, 1955 with Fred MacMurray in “Pushover.”
The Royal Theatre launched on July 10, 1922 with Helene Chadwick in “The Old Nest.” It replaced the Odeon Theatre elsewhere. Operator Roy Anthony switched the venue to sound films in 1929 with Vutaphone and Movietone films on May 15th with “The Home Towners.” The theatre was still open heading to its 100th Anniversary.
The New Theatre opened namelessly with a naming contest on by June 11, 1921 by J.S. White in the existing Medcalf-Percival building. A confectioner was there at the launch as the de facto concession stand. Six different folks sent in the name Whiteway Theatre and each received passes for a full year of movies with the name going into effect July 8, 1921.
Frank Miller of the competing Pastime Theatre would take over the venue. On November 21, 1929, Miller switched to talkies with the playing of “The Jazz Singer.” When the new-build Alamo was opened in February of 1936, the Whiteway was downgraded to twice a week operation. The Whiteway became the Mar Theatre after the War. It closed in the mid-1950s but was taken on by a local church for some live events and additional religious film screenings through 1959. In 1962, it was converted for use as a Ben Franklin retail store.
The Alamo opened February 9, 1936 by Frank Miller on a 30-year lease. Dual Simplex projectors, four speakers with Western Electric sound, Silver King screen, cry room, smoking room, and an opening film of Ann Harding in “The Lady Consents” were all a part of opening day. Meanwhile, Miller’s existing Whiteway Theatre was demoted to twice-a-week operation.
It was Miller’s latest theater in town. He had started with the Pastime Theatre on August 28, 1913 - its first of three locations. He also bought the Whiteway in 1922 and operated the Rex from 1927 to 1929.
The new Drive-In of Ava launched with widescreen projection and individual, in-car speakers on June 26, 1959 with “I Bury the Living.” It appears to be in roughly the same place / or the exact place as the original drive-in that operated five seasons from 1952-1956. The Avalon hardtop closed for the season while the ozoner was in operation. The name of the venue was changed from the Drive-In of Ava to the Ava Drive-In Theatre in the 1960s and appears to have closed under that name following the June 19, 1978 showing of “The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West.” There is a single reference to the drive-in operating in 1982 but no additional coverage or ads so difficult to pin down much after 1978.
The LOOK Cinemas is currently being renovated and will be known as EVO Cinemas | Prestonwood later in 2022.
Correction: Owen’s Open Air Theatre was a drive-in opened by George Owen on June, 1950 with Chief Thundercloud in “Call of the Forest” supported by the Looney Tunes' cartoon, “Frigid Hare.”
Wesley Shean opened the new Seymour Theatre on April 2, 1934 with Lee Tracy in “Washington’s Merry-Go-Round.” George W. Owen, whose movie and vaudeville career started in 1907, later took on that theatre and decided to build an entirely new theatre due to weaknesses of the existing building. Ground was broken in December of 1940 for Owen’s new building. People were encouraged to send small stones and he would incorporate them in the construction. (The Seymour Theatre completed its run on June 3, 1941 with “The Great Dictator.”)
The new theatre opened under the banner of the new Owen Theatre at Seymour launching June 6, 1941 seating 400 with 150 of the seats in the balcony. The first film was Jane Withers' “Golden Hooves” supported by the Three Stooges short, “From Nurse to Worse,” the Pete Smith short, “Third Dimensional Murder, and Allan Lane in the first episode of the “King of the Royal Mounted” serial. (Originally announced by scratched was Jimmy Stewart in “Pot o' Gold” and “Boobs in Arms.”) That was the warm-up for the Jun 8-10th showings of “Gone with the Wind.”
The theatre was still operating in the 2020s.
Grocer Charley W. Thrasher took on the Meeker building at 105 South Jefferson owned by Wilson Theatre owner H.S. Wilson converting the Brown Tavern to Thrasher’s Theatre. Thrasher’s Theatre launched on May 21, 1937 with “Ranger Courage.” The theatre became the Thrasher Theatre and closed on December 9, 1943 with a double feature of “Father is a Prince” and “Taxi, Mister?”
Mr. and Mrs. H.S. Wilson’s Wilson Theatre opened on the square on August 10, 1925. It reopened as the New Wilson Theatre on March 16, 1939 with “Jesse James.” On May 26, 1939, it was renamed the Avalon Theatre starting with the film, “Ghost Town Riders” supported by the Oswald cartoon, “Nellie - Indian Chief’s Daughter” and an episode of the “Lone Ranger” serial.
The Avalon then closed permanently on October 18, 1954 with “Secret of the Incas.” Shows were moved to the Star while the New Avalon was readied. The original Avalon building was razed in November of 1954 to make way for a modern theatre capable of showing widescreen CinemaScope films.
Petit’s Star Theatre launched on August 22, 1943 with “Andy Hardy’s Double Life.” It closed October 25, 1955 with “You’re Never Too Young.” That was followed by the opening of the New Avalon Theatre on October 26, 1955.
Petit’s Star Theatre launched on August 22, 1943 with “Andy Hardy’s Double Life.” It closed October 25, 1955 which was followed by the opening of the Avalon Theatre on October 26, 1955 to present widescreen film in CinemaScope. First film at the New Avalon - The River of No Return."
Appears to have gone out of business January 5, 1958 with “The Ten Commandments”
The Charwood Theatre opened under operation by Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. Phelps on April 18, 1928 with “Say it With Flowers.” An opening address by the city’s mayor, Louis V. Stigall, was followed by a violin solo from Mrs. Paney Phelps Collins. The African American theater also had a tea room in the balcony for daily tea service. The very complete article about the theater said the capacity at opening was 500 (not 185).
Architect of the January 3, 1918 “New” Ideal was Harry O. Blanding.
The photo above is actually from the reopening of the Plaza Theatre after a refresh in 1960. A picture of the concession stand from the same day is also in photos.
The Village Drive-In opened July 3, 1952 by Robert Rogers. Rogers would sell the drive-in prior to season’s end. This and the hardtop theater in downtown Ennis later became one of the earlier venues for future Cinemark owner’s Lee Roy Mitchell and his long cinema exhibition career. It appears to have closed as a result of local protests about showing X-rated films in November/December of 1984.
Waxahachie is the country seat for Ellis County so it’s more for that.
Dallas' Valley View Center Mall had a twin-screen theater in its basement from August 17, 1973 to January 5, 1992 (I was off by six days on an earlier post - very sorry) with the General Cinema Valley View I & II. But the mall would be theater-less for more than ten years until the 2004 entry of the AMC Valley View 16. The genesis of the AMC Valley View Center theater dates back to a failed attempt in 1994 by AMC and its EDG affiliated branch to build a $94 million, 24-screen entertainment and dining mall complex between Valley View and the nearby Galleria shopping mall just west of Valley View. But the AMC project lost traction as did a previous 18-screen Cinemark theater plan for that same general area that was vetoed by the Dallas City Council.
AMC soon thereafter announced a 24-screen theater to be built in 1996 at the Prestonwood Mall just North of the Valley View and the Galleria in a $125 million facelift. Its five-screen external Prestonwood theater would be replaced inside the mall. But Prestonwood would belly flop as it shedded its anchors in 1997/8 and the mall was torn down altogether. With AMC dying with its aged 5-screen Prestonwood theater not far from the flattened mall, it announced in 1999 that it would build a 20-screen theater above Sears in the Valley View Center. The AMC Prestonwood shuttered that year.
With Valley View at 93% occupancy and nearby Prestonwood and NorthTown malls both eliminated, AMC and mall specialist Macerich, the relatively new owner of Valley View, felt the1973-built mall was a winner. When the plans to build above Sears became entangled, those plans were scrapped and the project was delayed. Macerich solved the problem by opening the middle of the mall and creating a space for AMC as the focal center of the mall two floors above above the food court. The film industry trade publication Variety warned of building theaters into aged malls as the mall shakeout was in full force entering the 21st Century.
The now 16-theater concept by Omniplan Architects — the same group responsible for the nearby Northpark Mall — finally opened May 14, 2004 with two Dallas Cowboy players and the mayor in attendance. Auditoriums all with stadium seating capacities ranged from 92 to 299 seats. Optimism abounded. But within three years – as the Variety article had predicted – Valley View would begin a gradual decent to greyfield status, an industry term akin to a “dead mall”. Macy’s – which had been in the mall just over one year – had seen enough of Valley View and quickly bailed. Then Dillards. Then JC Penney. Even the mall’s carousel in the center of the complex’s lower floor departed. The mall had just a once-free standing Sears opened in 1964 as its only retail anchor. AMC had a ghost town theater sometimes with more screens than actual customers.
In 2010, Macerich didn’t make the mall payments and it was in the hands of Bank of America. Never a good sign. AMC would change its pricing structure to a low-cost first run pricing policy ($4/$6 shows) to bring in anybody as theaters within striking distance including the Look Cinema, Alamo Drafthouse, and Studio Movie Grill “Keystone” opened to the north and east. Thanks to social media from customers and certainly not due to any AMC advertising – there was none – audiences actually began gravitating to the dying mall to watch current movies. Ten years into its life, the theater had finally found its audience.
The theater was further encouraged by a new mall owner in Beck Ventures who in 2012 planned to have AMC at the heart of a $3.5 billion transformation of Valley View that would be completed by 2017. AMC hedged its bets by announcing its AMC Village on the Parkway, a 12-screen then reduced to 9-screen luxury cinema just yards away from the former General Cinema Prestonwood / Montfort theater and 2.5 miles north of Valley View. As of 2014, it was unclear if the ambitious Valley View project would be completed by 2017 or, say, 2027, so the theater soldiered on with its low price concept and its luxury cousin Village on the Parkway opening in November of 2014. 2015 and 2016 saw Beck Ventures do nothing with the Valley View Midtown project. The lack of activity was discussed at a Dallas city council meeting in June of 2016 with Beck Ventures announcing demolition at the end of 2016 with a new, smaller 10-screen theatre proposed for the former Valley View Center spot. (Rendering of the proposed and highly unlikely AMC Midtown project, is in photos.)
Then 2017 – the year when the Midtown project was supposed to have been completed – came and went taking with the lightly-trafficked Sears store, the final remaining anchor, with it. The only action at the AMC Valley View was a downgrade – the theatre was designated as an AMC “Classic” generally associated with inherited properties from Carmike or Starplex or any other circuit that were never going to see recliners or Coca-Cola Freestyle machines. Classics were also the most likely candidates for closures at end of leases.
Then 2018 passed with Valley View demolition in progress - then stalled. But, finally, the eviction notes came for the remainder of the Valley View Center tenants who had to scram by March of 2019… except the AMC 16. The mall was further razed in 2019 with the former Valley View I & II being bulldozed along with the wing containing the former Penny’s anchor, the wing containing the Dillard’s, and the wing containing the Sears. (An earlier version of this post had those directions a bit skewed - apologies to all.) The West wing anchor (Saenger-Harris / Foley’s / Macy’s) was also removed but the adjacent southwest entry remained as a fairly creepy passageway through the ghost mall that didn’t exist. That dimly-lit passage that was without HVAC – seriously cold on frosty days and balmy on hot days, and wet on rainy days - brought cinema patrons a floor above the boarded-off food court, the dead-ended center main floor of the former mall, and – most importantly - the escalators, stairway, and elevator that offered an upward climb to the AMC facility. Fortunately, the AMC theatres retained its HVAC system allowing for comfortable auditoriums and unpredictable lobby and box office conditions.
The AMC Classic Valley View 16 closed along with the rest of the chain on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 was a challenging 100th Anniversary for the circuit with AMC shuttering numerous “Classic” name-plated and inherited locations during the Summer of 2020 as well as some of its larger AMC branded properties as it plotted its COVID-19 pandemic business strategy with reduced locations. The circuit removed its “Classic” designation from this location during the pandemic and it reopened on August 27, 2020 under its original AMC Valley View 16 moniker. Heading into a three-day 2021 Valentine’s Day and President’s Day weekend, the Valley View was ready for big business. Unfortunately, the temperatures plummeted and a rare and punishing snow storm changed the weekend from money-maker to near catastrophic. The theatre closed during that weekend and was on the ropes unable to reopen following the storm. The roof over the entry way proved to be porous and there were challenges to be found on AMC"s upper level, as well. This had to be the end of the line. Yet, somehow - and for reasons that aren’t really clear - the theatre came back to life one more time reopening on June 25, 2021.
The going wasn’t smooth in what would be the final stage of operation for the AMC Valley View 16. HVAC costs, already high due to COVID, were becoming an issue. The pathway to the parking lot became a challenge with the construction occurring and the theatre was downgraded to weekend-only operation. Parking illumination was another issue so the theatre reduced showtimes often to just two shows per day and often eliminating late shows. Cars had returned to the Valley View but mostly for the free COVID testing station just outside of the mall. That snake of cars often blocked the path to the theatre parking area. Inside the mall, the writing was on the wall on January 2, 2022. Employees – some dressed like Eskimos – braved the chilly lobby as temperatures dipped into the 20s in Dallas. Employees did not let on that the last day was occurring and conducted business as usual as the AMC Valley View and the carcass of the Valley View Center Mall passed into the night.
Speaking as someone who was there on opening day and closing day as well as way, way too many days in between, if remembered at all, the AMC Valley View 16 should be labeled as a fighter in a league with the Forum 6 Cinema at Arlington, the Nova 6 Cinemas in Moline, the Fox Theatre in Toledo’s Woodville Mall, and many, many others like it. These are the theaters that locals would have contended had gone out of business years earlier but the operator and employees fought on against shifting populations in ghost-town retail strips and malls in virtually impossible working environments yet delivering on their goals of providing cinematic moments to a cadre of patrons. We salute you, AMC Valley View 16.