Cinemo: I don’t know if the Quartet showed The Never Ending Story - but I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Paramount Theater in the Eastgate Shopping Center did. It was only a short drive from the Quartet, so perhaps you saw it there.
In the mid 1980’s, this building became a Christian-themed music entertainment venue called, “The Highland Crossover.” In the late 1980’s, this building became the comedy club, “Sir Lafs-A-Lot.” Comedy clubs were booming nationwide at the time, and Sir Lafs-A-Lot did tremendous business for a few years, until the fad declined and they closed in the early 1990s. Many, many future big names in comedy and TV appeared on stage there. Newby’s restaurant (to the left) later acquired the theater building and used it as a showcase for live bands, building a short connecting hall across the sliver of an alley that separated the buildings. A recent news article indicated plans to reopen the closed Newby’s restaurant and demolish the theater building, creating a parking lot in its place.
I remember seeing the movie, “Orca” here in the 1970s. I also recall a showing of “Grand Theft Auto” (Ron Howard’s first directorial feature, I think). Fond memories. Here is some information I found elsewhere: Steger Theater, 16 East 34th Street, William Bales, proprietor. Fern Bales, his wife, helped him run the theater. She also worked at Steger Furniture Manufacturing Company in the 1960’s to 1970’s.
Observing the construction progress on this building, I do think they did a fine job with the rebuild. As Gary noted they did good work of incorporating the old neon signage, along with replicating historic elements. It is all quite visually appealing. Once they iron out the programming and find their niche, I have no doubt the theatre will see plenty of business.
Those who have referred to the current work on this property as a “remodel” are incorrect. There was no remodel. The original theater was DEMOLISHED. As a previous commenter said: the ONLY original thing remaining of this theater is the marquee. That’s it. They COMPLETELY GUTTED the original property, down to the walls; I witnessed this by peering through a hole in the construction barrier at the front. A bit sad. So for all practical purposes, whatever you eventually see on the site (save for the marquee) is simply a new theater. Better than no theater at all of course, but no significant preservation took place.
Cinemo: I don’t know if the Quartet showed The Never Ending Story - but I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Paramount Theater in the Eastgate Shopping Center did. It was only a short drive from the Quartet, so perhaps you saw it there.
In the mid 1980’s, this building became a Christian-themed music entertainment venue called, “The Highland Crossover.” In the late 1980’s, this building became the comedy club, “Sir Lafs-A-Lot.” Comedy clubs were booming nationwide at the time, and Sir Lafs-A-Lot did tremendous business for a few years, until the fad declined and they closed in the early 1990s. Many, many future big names in comedy and TV appeared on stage there. Newby’s restaurant (to the left) later acquired the theater building and used it as a showcase for live bands, building a short connecting hall across the sliver of an alley that separated the buildings. A recent news article indicated plans to reopen the closed Newby’s restaurant and demolish the theater building, creating a parking lot in its place.
CORRECTION: This was actually built somewhere around 1984-1985. I saw a movie here in 1985. Operated by General Cinema.
I remember seeing the movie, “Orca” here in the 1970s. I also recall a showing of “Grand Theft Auto” (Ron Howard’s first directorial feature, I think). Fond memories. Here is some information I found elsewhere: Steger Theater, 16 East 34th Street, William Bales, proprietor. Fern Bales, his wife, helped him run the theater. She also worked at Steger Furniture Manufacturing Company in the 1960’s to 1970’s.
Observing the construction progress on this building, I do think they did a fine job with the rebuild. As Gary noted they did good work of incorporating the old neon signage, along with replicating historic elements. It is all quite visually appealing. Once they iron out the programming and find their niche, I have no doubt the theatre will see plenty of business.
Those who have referred to the current work on this property as a “remodel” are incorrect. There was no remodel. The original theater was DEMOLISHED. As a previous commenter said: the ONLY original thing remaining of this theater is the marquee. That’s it. They COMPLETELY GUTTED the original property, down to the walls; I witnessed this by peering through a hole in the construction barrier at the front. A bit sad. So for all practical purposes, whatever you eventually see on the site (save for the marquee) is simply a new theater. Better than no theater at all of course, but no significant preservation took place.