Richland Park Cinema
260 16th Avenue,
Dayton,
TN
37321
260 16th Avenue,
Dayton,
TN
37321
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Jerry Lewis Cinemas
Previous Names: Jerry Lewis Cinema
Nearby Theaters
Located in the Richland Park Shopping Center. The Jerry Lewis Cinema opened in February 1973 with Kurt Russell in “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t”. It was renamed Richland Park Cinema in June 1973. It was a classic 1970’s showplace, with state of the art equipment and a great screen. It was closed in March 2001.
Contributed by
Jack Coursey
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
Website has been disconnected and showtimes websites does not show this cinema.
An article in the March 18, 2001 edition of the Herald-News in Dayton, TN said the theatre would be closing that week. The theatre’s owner at the time was Delbert Crowe, who told the newspaper he couldn’t find a buyer and business had gone down to a trickle of people each night. The article said the original owner was Bill Matherly who had been operating the drive-in but also bought a Jerry Lewis franchise “in February 1973.” The opening attraction of the Jerry Lewis Cinema was “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t”, which the newspaper’s 2001 article said “was sold out for weeks.”
Most contemporary writers do a poor job of explaining the Lewis franchising story and get it all screwed up. This article was no exception. Suffice it to say the theatre changed its name probably soon after it was opened. The franchising company, Network Cinema Corporation, filed for bankruptcy in June 1973. The article infers that the name change occurred around this time, but there is also a murky aside made that the theatre closed and then reopened again, with nothing said about the length of time it may have been closed.
The name Richland Park was the name of the shopping center it was in.