Santa Maria Towne Center 3
218 Towne Center Mall East,
Santa Maria,
CA
93454
218 Towne Center Mall East,
Santa Maria,
CA
93454
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: United Artists Theater Circuit Inc., Wallace Theaters
Previous Names: UA Movies 3
Nearby Theaters
This three screener opened inside the Santa Maria Towne Center Mall on September 10, 1976 on the upper level near Gottschalk’s Department Store. United Artists ran this theatre for many years showing first-run films. (I saw “Dawn of the Dead” here in May 1979 for the first time–seeing a movie set in a mall and watching it at a theatre in a shopping mall.) In 1987 it was renamed Santa Maria Towne Center 3. It was operated as a discount theatre by Wallace Theaters in 1996 and was closed in 2001. The space became a “family entertainment center” and not a theater.
Contributed by
scottfavareille
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
The address of this theatre was 218 Town Center Mall East.
Occasionally I have a dream about this theatre and it’s very 80’s design. The concession stand was all angles and recesses. Anyone remember the down-sloping exit pathway? The upstairs bathrooms? The back exit? Or the Roundtable Pizza next door?
The Gottschalk’s department store that was an anchor at this mall has been demolished; a new fourteen-screen theater is set to be built in the area formerly occupied by the store.
It opened in the summer of 77. The first picture was star wars, I was there. The line was long but, well worth it. It was a double feature actually…the other movie was the shootist w/John Wayne, Ron Howard, Lauren becall. Would walk over to Sears and get my gummy bears….they had a candy kiosks..west side doors.
According an article in the 9/11/1976 edition of the Santa Maria Times, the theatre opened the previous day at 1pm.
This opened on September 10th, 1976 as UA Movies 3. Grand opening ad in the photo section
Became Santa Maria Town Center cinemas in 1987 and closed in 2001. Taken over by Wallace Theatres Corp. as a discount cinema in 1996.
A good portion of the 1991 movie ”The Rocketeer" was filmed in the Santa Maria area. According to a 6/20/91 article in the Santa Maria Times, some of the 600 Santa Maria movie extras watched a sneak preview of ”The Rocketeer" on Tuesday June 11, 1991 at the United Artists theater in Santa Maria Town Center.