I recently moved down to this area, and went out driving to go visit a historical site. My GPS took me right by this theater and it was such a stunning site I pulled over and took a pic. They still have save the edna theater on the marquee so I don’t know its status but it looks too good to let go. I’ll add the current pic.
I went here a few times, even took my nephew to an anniversary screening of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The megaplexes were slowly killing these but me and my Dad liked going to less crowded theaters so we’d head over to that area on occasion and watch a movie here or at Glen Lakes 8.
I remember going here a few times in the early 2000s along with visits to the Plaza as well. Pretty sure I saw 54, Vanilla Sky, and Alexander here. Would visit the Toys-R-Us/Best Buy down the hill from here too if I had time to kill before or after a movie.
I saw so many movies here as a kid with my family. I am honestly surprised that with the Cinemark ownership they haven’t built a slightly bigger one and abandoned this one. Surely Athens could handle an 8 screen theater these days? Develop that loop!
Haven’t been on this site in a long time but I was pretty bummed when I heard they tore this down, even saw some of the demolition when I was on 635 one day. :( I really hope someone got all those great old Hollywood stars posters out of there. I used to want the Sinatra one at the top right of the ramp so bad. Farewell you 90s whimsical, colorful fun theater. Summer of 94 was such a great movie year, I spent my summer going here a ton.
Great Picture, it was nice to see the theater again. I remember you could make a night of it in this shopping center by going to a movie here and a Bonanza to eat (Its the Post Office now).
An independent called Lone Star Theater tried to keep this one going, then they moved to the old AMC 8 across the highway and was out of business by 2003. Interestingly enough when Lone Star was here it was the first time I recall any theater giving you a refill on the large drink, something that all the big chains do now.
I hate that I missed being able to see a movie here but I didn’t move to town till the end of 1998 and before that I never ventured much past Mesquite.I do enjoy the movies at the Northpark 15 now though.
Seen a couple of movies here, both in 3D. Wasn’t impressed by 3D but the renovation is fairly nice. One thing I really liked, especially since I saw 2 movies in one day, is that on their digital screens that have which movie is in which theater they have countdown clocks that say when the movie is going to start even telling you how many minutes to go during previews, etc. Very helpful. Since I am across town from this theater though I probably will only go a couple times a year at most.
This only one of 2 Starplex Cinemas I’ve ever been to and the other is the Dollar show in Mesquite. Well this one far out does that one for sure. The seats are comfortable(stadium seating) and the prices are more reasonable because of being in a smaller town. And the business must be good there since they added those 4 new screens to the right side of the building. I’ve only been out there on occasion but I’ve never had a bad experience.
I thought it was cool that each theater had a celebrity picture at the entrance like such and such was this theater. The only ones I remember off hand were of the 2 biggest screens. Theater 4 was the John Wayne theater, and theater 12 was the Humphrey Bogart theater. And the halls are lined with lots of posters of old movie stars. My favorite is still the Sinatra one at the top of the ramp and to the right, first one on the left. Always said if that one ever closes I’m gonna go wheeling and dealing for it.
I go to this one on occasion, the whole Firewheel area is like being in an old small town. The theater is nice and comfortable not too big like the 30 screen one in Mesquite. I like that they recently put in drink machines that you serve yourself and it has so many different choices than the standard lineup in a theater. I hope the other AMC theaters do that as well. I also do enjoy the decor here of all the older Hollywood icons and over sized classic movie posters throughout. If I lived closer to it I would go there a lot more than I do. In terms of cleanliness and style and presentation of the movies this one and the AMC Northpark location are fairly even.
I sorry I can’t add much more but I do know it was definitely not in operation of any kind in 94 since my father lived right across the street. I never even realized there used to be a theater there. It was however a Furr’s next door, they finally moved to a new location right off 635 down the street a couple of years back.
Yeah it is not there anymore it was in the shopping center at Bruton and Prairie Creek not near Masters Drive as the map suggests. I remember it because my aunt and uncle lived just off of Prairie Creek although I don’t remember going to this one though since we usually went to the Big Town Theater or the ones at Town East. I did eat at that El Chico a few times though.
I remember going to it a few times when it opened and it was always packed. Hard to believe its already gone. I went there to watch the Empire Strikes Back Special Edition, the sound was always top notch. I still to this day tease my sister because she talked me out of seeing Heat in favor of Father of the Bride 2 at this theater, what could I do I wasn’t paying, but I never did see Heat in a theater. :(
I remember my mom and dad letting me and my sister sit on the roof of our old LTD to watch a movie here but I was so young and it closed not long after that I’m not sure what I watched I think it was Arthur. But I had to be 1 or 2 at the time and all I remember was getting to sit on the roof of the car.
That theater closed in the early 80s along with the Trail drive-in when they built the Cinema 4 (Now owned by Cinemark) behind the old Bealls & Walmart shopping center. It has always been just “there” as if the city doesn’t know what they want to do with it. I only ever saw one movie there “Savannah Smiles” although I was 2 or 3 so I don’t remember it fully.
I remember when this theater opened. It was, I think, around 1993 sometime. I spent the summer of ‘94 riding my bike down to it to watch every movie they’d let me into. I ended up seeing Forrest Gump 6 times that year. They were a pretty good theater but like most built in the early 90s they didn’t look ahead to stadium seating which I think ultimately cost this place since now it is a Dollar show. The Galaxy 10 (9 when they opened in 95) across the highway had the stadium seats. Still on occasion I’ll go watch a movie here and I am impressed that they have digital projector or 2, show 3D, and for the most part have kept it up. But nothing will ever be like that summer in '94.
I remember going to this theater when we visited my aunt back in the 80s. I especially remember seeing the Little Mermaid there. I would like to point out though that the picture on the page is the marquee from the Town East General Cinema 5 which was out side Town East Mall (the building is still there). That sign is now used by the mall itself.
I recently moved down to this area, and went out driving to go visit a historical site. My GPS took me right by this theater and it was such a stunning site I pulled over and took a pic. They still have save the edna theater on the marquee so I don’t know its status but it looks too good to let go. I’ll add the current pic.
Cool that its been given new life, my friends went to a comic convention there. Just nice that it isn’t an empty shell anymore.
This photo makes me sad.
I went here a few times, even took my nephew to an anniversary screening of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The megaplexes were slowly killing these but me and my Dad liked going to less crowded theaters so we’d head over to that area on occasion and watch a movie here or at Glen Lakes 8.
I remember going here a few times in the early 2000s along with visits to the Plaza as well. Pretty sure I saw 54, Vanilla Sky, and Alexander here. Would visit the Toys-R-Us/Best Buy down the hill from here too if I had time to kill before or after a movie.
I saw so many movies here as a kid with my family. I am honestly surprised that with the Cinemark ownership they haven’t built a slightly bigger one and abandoned this one. Surely Athens could handle an 8 screen theater these days? Develop that loop!
Haven’t been on this site in a long time but I was pretty bummed when I heard they tore this down, even saw some of the demolition when I was on 635 one day. :( I really hope someone got all those great old Hollywood stars posters out of there. I used to want the Sinatra one at the top right of the ramp so bad. Farewell you 90s whimsical, colorful fun theater. Summer of 94 was such a great movie year, I spent my summer going here a ton.
Great Picture, it was nice to see the theater again. I remember you could make a night of it in this shopping center by going to a movie here and a Bonanza to eat (Its the Post Office now).
An independent called Lone Star Theater tried to keep this one going, then they moved to the old AMC 8 across the highway and was out of business by 2003. Interestingly enough when Lone Star was here it was the first time I recall any theater giving you a refill on the large drink, something that all the big chains do now.
I miss this theater. Enjoyed quite a few movies here. I remember especially seeing Who Framed Roger Rabbit at this theater when I was 8.
I hate that I missed being able to see a movie here but I didn’t move to town till the end of 1998 and before that I never ventured much past Mesquite.I do enjoy the movies at the Northpark 15 now though.
Seen a couple of movies here, both in 3D. Wasn’t impressed by 3D but the renovation is fairly nice. One thing I really liked, especially since I saw 2 movies in one day, is that on their digital screens that have which movie is in which theater they have countdown clocks that say when the movie is going to start even telling you how many minutes to go during previews, etc. Very helpful. Since I am across town from this theater though I probably will only go a couple times a year at most.
This only one of 2 Starplex Cinemas I’ve ever been to and the other is the Dollar show in Mesquite. Well this one far out does that one for sure. The seats are comfortable(stadium seating) and the prices are more reasonable because of being in a smaller town. And the business must be good there since they added those 4 new screens to the right side of the building. I’ve only been out there on occasion but I’ve never had a bad experience.
I thought it was cool that each theater had a celebrity picture at the entrance like such and such was this theater. The only ones I remember off hand were of the 2 biggest screens. Theater 4 was the John Wayne theater, and theater 12 was the Humphrey Bogart theater. And the halls are lined with lots of posters of old movie stars. My favorite is still the Sinatra one at the top of the ramp and to the right, first one on the left. Always said if that one ever closes I’m gonna go wheeling and dealing for it.
I go to this one on occasion, the whole Firewheel area is like being in an old small town. The theater is nice and comfortable not too big like the 30 screen one in Mesquite. I like that they recently put in drink machines that you serve yourself and it has so many different choices than the standard lineup in a theater. I hope the other AMC theaters do that as well. I also do enjoy the decor here of all the older Hollywood icons and over sized classic movie posters throughout. If I lived closer to it I would go there a lot more than I do. In terms of cleanliness and style and presentation of the movies this one and the AMC Northpark location are fairly even.
I sorry I can’t add much more but I do know it was definitely not in operation of any kind in 94 since my father lived right across the street. I never even realized there used to be a theater there. It was however a Furr’s next door, they finally moved to a new location right off 635 down the street a couple of years back.
Yeah it is not there anymore it was in the shopping center at Bruton and Prairie Creek not near Masters Drive as the map suggests. I remember it because my aunt and uncle lived just off of Prairie Creek although I don’t remember going to this one though since we usually went to the Big Town Theater or the ones at Town East. I did eat at that El Chico a few times though.
I remember going to it a few times when it opened and it was always packed. Hard to believe its already gone. I went there to watch the Empire Strikes Back Special Edition, the sound was always top notch. I still to this day tease my sister because she talked me out of seeing Heat in favor of Father of the Bride 2 at this theater, what could I do I wasn’t paying, but I never did see Heat in a theater. :(
I gotta hand it to them this one is one of the nicest AMC theaters I’ve been to. The only downside is it is inside the mall.
I remember my mom and dad letting me and my sister sit on the roof of our old LTD to watch a movie here but I was so young and it closed not long after that I’m not sure what I watched I think it was Arthur. But I had to be 1 or 2 at the time and all I remember was getting to sit on the roof of the car.
That theater closed in the early 80s along with the Trail drive-in when they built the Cinema 4 (Now owned by Cinemark) behind the old Bealls & Walmart shopping center. It has always been just “there” as if the city doesn’t know what they want to do with it. I only ever saw one movie there “Savannah Smiles” although I was 2 or 3 so I don’t remember it fully.
I only ever went to this theater once and saw Halloween H2O. I remember the theater seemed on its last legs. There is a Kohl’s in that spot now.
I remember when this theater opened. It was, I think, around 1993 sometime. I spent the summer of ‘94 riding my bike down to it to watch every movie they’d let me into. I ended up seeing Forrest Gump 6 times that year. They were a pretty good theater but like most built in the early 90s they didn’t look ahead to stadium seating which I think ultimately cost this place since now it is a Dollar show. The Galaxy 10 (9 when they opened in 95) across the highway had the stadium seats. Still on occasion I’ll go watch a movie here and I am impressed that they have digital projector or 2, show 3D, and for the most part have kept it up. But nothing will ever be like that summer in '94.
I remember going to this theater when we visited my aunt back in the 80s. I especially remember seeing the Little Mermaid there. I would like to point out though that the picture on the page is the marquee from the Town East General Cinema 5 which was out side Town East Mall (the building is still there). That sign is now used by the mall itself.