Hi,
Thank you for your pictures. When I was in high school I worked in the Maplewood Theatre behind the concession stand from about 1980-1984. It was probably one of the best jobs I ever had and will ever have. I used to look up at the ceiling and wonder about its past. It was so cold, lonely and empty and I remember thinking that it was not long before someone hacked it up and destroyed it. Like so many other old theatres it is a local tragedy.
The concession stand was the old school kind—located at the end of the aisle where one could view the movies while serving or purchasing. I went to college in the city and was stunned when I came back to visit Maplewood one day and discovered it had been carelessly chopped up into a painful eyesore. I now have family who have returned to Maplewood and the demographics have drastically changed. For the last 5 years i have been feeling that the current movie theatre will eventual fade and the Maplewood Theatre will be restored and turned into a community theatre featuring: revival movie festivals, live theatre and big scale commercial family “event” pictures all rolled into one. I think that this use mirrors what the current community needs. I also think it might be a part of trend that happens in many other communities around the country. I believe this might happen in the next 5 or 10 years possibly sooner. People do not watch movies in theatres as much and wide screen HD TV’s will become very inexpensive. People do not want to spend their money to see a movie which will go straight to DVD in less than 3 months. The only thing that will motivate them to go to the theatres again are large high quality event pictures—an animated family picture, an excellent horror picture, a restored classic which baby boomers want to see and share with a house full of other boomers. This is what I predict will happen to the Maplewood Theatre. I’m hoping that it will happen faster than we think.
Thanks again for the pictures.
Shirley
s h u a n g 8500 at yahoo………com
Feel free to email me as I think I might know a person who might have some interesting memorabilia from the theatre.
Hi,
Thank you for your pictures. When I was in high school I worked in the Maplewood Theatre behind the concession stand from about 1980-1984. It was probably one of the best jobs I ever had and will ever have. I used to look up at the ceiling and wonder about its past. It was so cold, lonely and empty and I remember thinking that it was not long before someone hacked it up and destroyed it. Like so many other old theatres it is a local tragedy.
The concession stand was the old school kind—located at the end of the aisle where one could view the movies while serving or purchasing. I went to college in the city and was stunned when I came back to visit Maplewood one day and discovered it had been carelessly chopped up into a painful eyesore. I now have family who have returned to Maplewood and the demographics have drastically changed. For the last 5 years i have been feeling that the current movie theatre will eventual fade and the Maplewood Theatre will be restored and turned into a community theatre featuring: revival movie festivals, live theatre and big scale commercial family “event” pictures all rolled into one. I think that this use mirrors what the current community needs. I also think it might be a part of trend that happens in many other communities around the country. I believe this might happen in the next 5 or 10 years possibly sooner. People do not watch movies in theatres as much and wide screen HD TV’s will become very inexpensive. People do not want to spend their money to see a movie which will go straight to DVD in less than 3 months. The only thing that will motivate them to go to the theatres again are large high quality event pictures—an animated family picture, an excellent horror picture, a restored classic which baby boomers want to see and share with a house full of other boomers. This is what I predict will happen to the Maplewood Theatre. I’m hoping that it will happen faster than we think.
Thanks again for the pictures.
Shirley
s h u a n g 8500 at yahoo………com
Feel free to email me as I think I might know a person who might have some interesting memorabilia from the theatre.