When it opened, it had an entrance on the west side of the shopping center. Sometime later, the entrance was moved to the east (or back) side. I visited the theater many times as a kid, and for a while, a sports bar opened in its place – no idea if that is still the case.
It was a live music venue just after it closed as a theater called Planet Earth. I was involved in the OKC music scene in the early ‘90’s and attended several shows there. It was quite interesting to explore the backstage area and see the old equipment there. The screen was retained at thus time, and light shows ans such were shown behind the bands. It didn’t last long in that role, though, it was my understanding that it was too expensive to operate.
I remember the restaurant as well, Hong Kong Garden – it was very nice inside and had pretty good food, It was there until at least 2002, when I moved out of the Gatewood area.
What I recall most about the Mayflower were the octagonal windows above the marquee that had etched images of ships and were framed in polished aluminum.
Even though scenes for “dillinger” were shot at the Midwest, the film’s premiere was held at OKC’s Plaza Theater. I have long wondered why that was – anyone know for sure? My guess was that it had closed, but that can’t be right if the theater didn’t close until 1975.
The West Park was located in West Park Mall, which was really a small enclosed part of a strip center and housed a handful of stores a Post Office branch, a cafeteria, and the theater. I could not tell you its exact dates of its operation, but the first movie I saw there was in 1977 and the last a decade later. The theater and “mall” is still extant, but the whole center has fallen into heavy decline. Very few tenants occupy the center, and it appears the Post Office uses most of the mall now. I would imagine its days are numbered.
Interesting…do any of those books say the Skyview was on 66? It was somewhat close, but really on US62 and 277. Nevertheless, a great example of a drive-in of that era. I have no idea when it was expanded, but the screen was widened from what is seen in that old postcard. I remember the large screen and other ruins of it were still there when I went looking for it in the late 1980’s. Must have been an experience to have gone there in its heyday!
Interesting, I had never heard about this theater until now, and I thought I knew a lot about OKC highrises. Learn something new every day… Another bit of trivia about the Colcord is that its odd “L” shape is because it was designed to have a second wing to the west. Obviously, this was never built. I think the 23 floors reference may be because the building had the structural strength to add more floors. I am not sure if they were ever planned, though.
No, it wasn’t where the Hertz IT center is – there is a slight mistake in the description. The IT center was built in the mid-1970’s, I have photos of it in a 1975 OKC Chamer of Commerce brochure. The actual location of the Cinema 70 was immediately east of the Hertz campus, where the Market Place shopping center is today. In fact, the exact address of the Theater – 5501 – is today used by a Hideaway Pizza location (originally a Chili’s) in the SE corner of the shopping center. A simple mistake, since the Hertz address is 5601.
When it opened, it had an entrance on the west side of the shopping center. Sometime later, the entrance was moved to the east (or back) side. I visited the theater many times as a kid, and for a while, a sports bar opened in its place – no idea if that is still the case.
It was a live music venue just after it closed as a theater called Planet Earth. I was involved in the OKC music scene in the early ‘90’s and attended several shows there. It was quite interesting to explore the backstage area and see the old equipment there. The screen was retained at thus time, and light shows ans such were shown behind the bands. It didn’t last long in that role, though, it was my understanding that it was too expensive to operate.
I remember the restaurant as well, Hong Kong Garden – it was very nice inside and had pretty good food, It was there until at least 2002, when I moved out of the Gatewood area.
What I recall most about the Mayflower were the octagonal windows above the marquee that had etched images of ships and were framed in polished aluminum.
Even though scenes for “dillinger” were shot at the Midwest, the film’s premiere was held at OKC’s Plaza Theater. I have long wondered why that was – anyone know for sure? My guess was that it had closed, but that can’t be right if the theater didn’t close until 1975.
The West Park was located in West Park Mall, which was really a small enclosed part of a strip center and housed a handful of stores a Post Office branch, a cafeteria, and the theater. I could not tell you its exact dates of its operation, but the first movie I saw there was in 1977 and the last a decade later. The theater and “mall” is still extant, but the whole center has fallen into heavy decline. Very few tenants occupy the center, and it appears the Post Office uses most of the mall now. I would imagine its days are numbered.
Interesting…do any of those books say the Skyview was on 66? It was somewhat close, but really on US62 and 277. Nevertheless, a great example of a drive-in of that era. I have no idea when it was expanded, but the screen was widened from what is seen in that old postcard. I remember the large screen and other ruins of it were still there when I went looking for it in the late 1980’s. Must have been an experience to have gone there in its heyday!
Interesting, I had never heard about this theater until now, and I thought I knew a lot about OKC highrises. Learn something new every day… Another bit of trivia about the Colcord is that its odd “L” shape is because it was designed to have a second wing to the west. Obviously, this was never built. I think the 23 floors reference may be because the building had the structural strength to add more floors. I am not sure if they were ever planned, though.
No, it wasn’t where the Hertz IT center is – there is a slight mistake in the description. The IT center was built in the mid-1970’s, I have photos of it in a 1975 OKC Chamer of Commerce brochure. The actual location of the Cinema 70 was immediately east of the Hertz campus, where the Market Place shopping center is today. In fact, the exact address of the Theater – 5501 – is today used by a Hideaway Pizza location (originally a Chili’s) in the SE corner of the shopping center. A simple mistake, since the Hertz address is 5601.