North Dekalb Twin Theater

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Uploaded on: December 9, 2022

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Storey’s answer to the Lenox Square Theater opened by Georgia Theater Company two years earlier was this plush, living room style 850 seat rocking chair theater located in the new North DeKalb Mall. This was Atlanta’s first enclosed mall since Lenox Square which opened in 1959 was an open air plaza until it was enclosed in 1971. Located in what was then the very eastern edge of the metro area it did not play as many first run offerings as the more centrally located Lenox but it did get a few. It mostly ran movies on the “intermediate” break which consisted of four or so theaters located around the city which picked up movies directly from their first run engagements. At this time Storey also opened the almost identical Lakewood in the Stewart Lakewood Shopping Center in the southeast quadrant of Atlanta.

While part of the mall structure it used an outside entrance next to a mall entrance but did not have direct access to the inside of the mall. This allowed the retail area to be secured at the close of the shopping day without needing to worry about theater patrons exiting after the last show. This picture looks west and the theater wing can be clearly seen in the upper left hand corner with the auditorium ceiling rising above the rest of the roof. Look closely and you can see the triangular shaped marquee sticking out over the sidewalk.

In the spring of 1976, this nice looking theater with its big auditorium and fine wide screen fell victim to the twinning plague that swept Atlanta during the mid to late ‘70’s. The resulting shoebox twins with slightly less than 400 seats each were perfect examples of the bland, long narrow house, tiny screen theaters twinned and even built new in the 1975-85 era. Presentation wise these were grim times indeed. With the end of exclusive run engagements in this market North DeKalb Theater became a full time first run operation opening new movie as one of the six to eight theaters that usually constituted a first run opening.

Before long, slick new multiplexes with more screens, better auditoriums, stereo sound, and in some cases 70MM projection were built and the days were numbered. In 1985 this once proud location was put out of its misery and demolished when the mall was renovated. A Cineplex four screen complex very much like their later Jewel Box locations was built in a new part of the mall which was later taken over by AMC and expanded to eight and eventually sixteen screens.