I have pictures of that street from 1905 and the building looks exactly like it does as the Slovakian restaurant in your pictures. The Slovakian restaurant’s website says that the space was the old Legion Theater and an A&P prior to being a restaurant. It must have been retrofitted into a theatre in the 1930s and couldn’t have survived very long, because the A&P in Marietta was located on the other side of the square by the 1950s.
I’ll try and pop into the Marietta library in the next couple of weeks to see if the phone directories of the age are of any help.
The last movie that played at the Miracle was “My Little Pony,” which dates the closing to around 1986. I don’t know what was on the other screen, but the “My Little Pony” poser stayed up for years. I remember seeing MLP there, and the theatre closed a few days later.
There was a fire in 1990, but it wasn’t severe and the Miracle stood for at least a few more years. When it was torn down no one exactly knew why, because it’s not like the rest of the shopping center was in better shape and it still stands. Nothing has been built in its place, and you can still see the slope of the auditorium floor.
This was the movie theatre at Loehmann’s Plaza? I only have the vaguest memories of there being a theatre at the shopping center. Does anyone know when, exactly, it was an open and operating theatre? Did the old theatre make way for Best Buy, because I thought that’s where Loehmann’s was located?
It’s a shame that such a theatre rich area (this, Galleria, Akers Mill, Cobb, et cetera) now only has one functioning theatre (Parkway).
I saw my fair share of movies here in the 1980s, mostly because its location next to Rich’s made it easy to convince my grandmother to take us to the movies after shopping. Reading these comments helps to explain some of the weirdness of Cobb Center, like why you could hear the movie playing next door in most of the auditoriums.
Does anyone know why the movie theatre was built to look just like Rich’s, and not like the rest of the mall? It’s harder to see now, because someone painted it a particularly bad shade of blue in the 1990s, but it was built of the same white brick. It was really pretty, actually, from the outside. The last movie I saw there was “Clueless” and the movie theatre was a wreck. Smelly and dirty, and the print of the movie looked like it had been rolled in dirt before being played. That was 1995, and I think it closed soon after. I seem to remember it opening and closing many times during my childhood, was this because of changes in ownership?
I’ve often thought that because of changing demographics of the surrounding neighborhood a theatre playing Spanish language films would do well, but if its condemned I guess it is a moot point. I have a feeling that Rich’s, the theatre, and Rich’s auto are going to fall soon because of Smyrna’s redevelopment plan.
I don’t think they are running it as a Cinema/drafthouse. It’s just a dollar movie place, although a beautifully ran, clean dollar movie. It really is a nice place to see a movie, and although I’ve only been twice it’s been busy both times.
When was it gutted the first time? I went to lots of movies there in the nineties when it was a dollar movie theatre, but it was always gross and sort of smelled bad. Broken seats, sticky floors, that sort of thing. I always thought that walking down the arcade to the theatre was the best part of going-well, that, and stopping at Rocco’s for chili after the movie.
I don’t think that I ever saw a movie here, but the marquee stayed up for years proclaiming that Devil In A Blue Dress was playing. Years, without wind or vandals causing any letter loss.
It was definately a Litchfield theatre before Regal bought it, and it was almost identical to the Litchfield Austell Road Cinema. Like Austell, it shared a truly weird box office set up. The concession stand was a floating square, and one side was the box office. You would enter the lobby and turn right to buy tickets. It was a mess when a popular movie opened, with people everywhere, including going out the door. However, the lobby was bigger than Austell’s and Jack Coursey’s picture shows that it had a covered area outside for the line to form.
Directly across from the entrance doors was the entrance to the hallway where all the auditoriums were located. So you would come in, buy your ticket, get your popcorn, and then get in line to have your ticket ripped. This was highly annoying if you needed to go back out for the restrooms, because you had to show your ticket stub. This was done so that middle school kids would come in and play the video games in the lobby. The larger lobby at Powder Springs made this bearable, but a Friday night at Austell Road was often a nightmare of lines everywhere, and kids running around the video machines.
It’s been converted to the amusement/paintball/laser tag place. Delk Road was a beautiful theatre, and it always seemed busy. If I remember correctly, after Regal took over from Storey they stopped operating the screen curtains.
Does anyone remember when the Belmont theatre closed? I was born in the late 1970s and I clearly remember all the other Smyrna theatres, but I never even knew that Belmont Hills had a theatre until I read this. Also, does anyone know where, exactly, in the shopping center the Belmont was located? I drove through the center to see if I could spot it, but I couldn’t place anything that looked likely. I’d be happy to take and post pictures before the demolition begins.
Randomly, I also think I’m one of the few residents who isn’t thrilled that Belmont Hills is coming down. Ten years or so it was largely deserted, but now there is a vibrant Hispanic community that I hate to see displaced so that the FOURTH live/work/play community can be built on Atlanta Road. Well, at least we stopped Wal-Mart.
Akers Mill was a functioning theatre at least until 1996 when I left for college, and I think right up until the time Parkway was finished in 1998/99. Thinking back, Akers Mill might not have been perfect but I loved going to the movies there. There was always a calm feeling about the place, probably because the lack of video games and lobby space eliminated it as a place to hang out. The people that worked there were always super nice. And there was always an excellent chance that if you went to a matinee you would have the theatre virtually to yourself. They also seemed to book art-y films that weren’t playing anywhere else in the area. Of course, I also remember taking my little brother to see one of Hulk Hogan’s movies there, so they obviously were playing a wide range of features.
I agree that the building that houses the theatre probably isn’t long for this world.
I have pictures of that street from 1905 and the building looks exactly like it does as the Slovakian restaurant in your pictures. The Slovakian restaurant’s website says that the space was the old Legion Theater and an A&P prior to being a restaurant. It must have been retrofitted into a theatre in the 1930s and couldn’t have survived very long, because the A&P in Marietta was located on the other side of the square by the 1950s.
I’ll try and pop into the Marietta library in the next couple of weeks to see if the phone directories of the age are of any help.
The last movie that played at the Miracle was “My Little Pony,” which dates the closing to around 1986. I don’t know what was on the other screen, but the “My Little Pony” poser stayed up for years. I remember seeing MLP there, and the theatre closed a few days later.
There was a fire in 1990, but it wasn’t severe and the Miracle stood for at least a few more years. When it was torn down no one exactly knew why, because it’s not like the rest of the shopping center was in better shape and it still stands. Nothing has been built in its place, and you can still see the slope of the auditorium floor.
This was the movie theatre at Loehmann’s Plaza? I only have the vaguest memories of there being a theatre at the shopping center. Does anyone know when, exactly, it was an open and operating theatre? Did the old theatre make way for Best Buy, because I thought that’s where Loehmann’s was located?
It’s a shame that such a theatre rich area (this, Galleria, Akers Mill, Cobb, et cetera) now only has one functioning theatre (Parkway).
I saw my fair share of movies here in the 1980s, mostly because its location next to Rich’s made it easy to convince my grandmother to take us to the movies after shopping. Reading these comments helps to explain some of the weirdness of Cobb Center, like why you could hear the movie playing next door in most of the auditoriums.
Does anyone know why the movie theatre was built to look just like Rich’s, and not like the rest of the mall? It’s harder to see now, because someone painted it a particularly bad shade of blue in the 1990s, but it was built of the same white brick. It was really pretty, actually, from the outside. The last movie I saw there was “Clueless” and the movie theatre was a wreck. Smelly and dirty, and the print of the movie looked like it had been rolled in dirt before being played. That was 1995, and I think it closed soon after. I seem to remember it opening and closing many times during my childhood, was this because of changes in ownership?
I’ve often thought that because of changing demographics of the surrounding neighborhood a theatre playing Spanish language films would do well, but if its condemned I guess it is a moot point. I have a feeling that Rich’s, the theatre, and Rich’s auto are going to fall soon because of Smyrna’s redevelopment plan.
I don’t think they are running it as a Cinema/drafthouse. It’s just a dollar movie place, although a beautifully ran, clean dollar movie. It really is a nice place to see a movie, and although I’ve only been twice it’s been busy both times.
When was it gutted the first time? I went to lots of movies there in the nineties when it was a dollar movie theatre, but it was always gross and sort of smelled bad. Broken seats, sticky floors, that sort of thing. I always thought that walking down the arcade to the theatre was the best part of going-well, that, and stopping at Rocco’s for chili after the movie.
I don’t think that I ever saw a movie here, but the marquee stayed up for years proclaiming that Devil In A Blue Dress was playing. Years, without wind or vandals causing any letter loss.
It was definately a Litchfield theatre before Regal bought it, and it was almost identical to the Litchfield Austell Road Cinema. Like Austell, it shared a truly weird box office set up. The concession stand was a floating square, and one side was the box office. You would enter the lobby and turn right to buy tickets. It was a mess when a popular movie opened, with people everywhere, including going out the door. However, the lobby was bigger than Austell’s and Jack Coursey’s picture shows that it had a covered area outside for the line to form.
Directly across from the entrance doors was the entrance to the hallway where all the auditoriums were located. So you would come in, buy your ticket, get your popcorn, and then get in line to have your ticket ripped. This was highly annoying if you needed to go back out for the restrooms, because you had to show your ticket stub. This was done so that middle school kids would come in and play the video games in the lobby. The larger lobby at Powder Springs made this bearable, but a Friday night at Austell Road was often a nightmare of lines everywhere, and kids running around the video machines.
It’s been converted to the amusement/paintball/laser tag place. Delk Road was a beautiful theatre, and it always seemed busy. If I remember correctly, after Regal took over from Storey they stopped operating the screen curtains.
Does anyone remember when the Belmont theatre closed? I was born in the late 1970s and I clearly remember all the other Smyrna theatres, but I never even knew that Belmont Hills had a theatre until I read this. Also, does anyone know where, exactly, in the shopping center the Belmont was located? I drove through the center to see if I could spot it, but I couldn’t place anything that looked likely. I’d be happy to take and post pictures before the demolition begins.
Randomly, I also think I’m one of the few residents who isn’t thrilled that Belmont Hills is coming down. Ten years or so it was largely deserted, but now there is a vibrant Hispanic community that I hate to see displaced so that the FOURTH live/work/play community can be built on Atlanta Road. Well, at least we stopped Wal-Mart.
Akers Mill was a functioning theatre at least until 1996 when I left for college, and I think right up until the time Parkway was finished in 1998/99. Thinking back, Akers Mill might not have been perfect but I loved going to the movies there. There was always a calm feeling about the place, probably because the lack of video games and lobby space eliminated it as a place to hang out. The people that worked there were always super nice. And there was always an excellent chance that if you went to a matinee you would have the theatre virtually to yourself. They also seemed to book art-y films that weren’t playing anywhere else in the area. Of course, I also remember taking my little brother to see one of Hulk Hogan’s movies there, so they obviously were playing a wide range of features.
I agree that the building that houses the theatre probably isn’t long for this world.