The address Cinematour gives is not accurate. That address is indeed for PetSmart, but that’s not where the theater used to be. PetSmart is in the Cortez Plaza, an entirely different shopping center. The correct address for the Cortez Twin is 3633 Cortez Rd.
This theater was located on the North Tamiami Trail/US 41 going south toward Sarasota, so it’s possible that it might be listed as Sarasota. And the 1960 opening date sounds right because it was an older theater, even in the 1970s. Someone once told me they saw “Earthquake” there while it was still one large single screen, before it was split into two auditoriums. The first thing I remember seeing there was “The Rescuers” in 1977 (which I saw there again when it was re-released in the 80s), but I can’t remember if it was still only one screen or if it had already been “twinned” by that time. The last thing I saw there was “Honey, I shrunk the Kids”, by which time it was operating as a discount theater. It was torn down shortly after that, so 1991 seems accurate as the year it closed. The location of the theater was just to the right of where the Target store on US 41 stands today, about where TJMaxx is.
The address Cinematour gives is not accurate. That address is indeed for PetSmart, but that’s not where the theater used to be. PetSmart is in the Cortez Plaza, an entirely different shopping center. The correct address for the Cortez Twin is 3633 Cortez Rd.
Was this theater located on the corner prior to where the old Kmart was?
This theater was located on the North Tamiami Trail/US 41 going south toward Sarasota, so it’s possible that it might be listed as Sarasota. And the 1960 opening date sounds right because it was an older theater, even in the 1970s. Someone once told me they saw “Earthquake” there while it was still one large single screen, before it was split into two auditoriums. The first thing I remember seeing there was “The Rescuers” in 1977 (which I saw there again when it was re-released in the 80s), but I can’t remember if it was still only one screen or if it had already been “twinned” by that time. The last thing I saw there was “Honey, I shrunk the Kids”, by which time it was operating as a discount theater. It was torn down shortly after that, so 1991 seems accurate as the year it closed. The location of the theater was just to the right of where the Target store on US 41 stands today, about where TJMaxx is.