Somerville Circle Triplex
501 NJ-28,
Raritan,
NJ
08869
501 NJ-28,
Raritan,
NJ
08869
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: General Cinema Corp.
Previous Names: Somerville Circle 1 & 2
Nearby Theaters
Opened December 21, 1973, as the Somerville Circle 1 & 2 in the Somerville Circle shopping center. Its opening movies were Al Pacino in “Serpico” and Roy Scheider in “The Seven Ups”. It was operated by General Cinema Corp. for its entire life as a movie theatre. It was eventually converted into a triple-screen cinema.
It was not as fancy as Menlo Park Cinema or as enjoyable as Blue Star 1-4 Cinemas in Watchung, but it was popular enough to be the exclusive Central Jersey theatre for “Grease” in 1978.
It was closed on October 22, 1995.
Contributed by
SG
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
I think the name of the theatre was the Somerville Circle Triplex. It was operated by General Cinema from the 70s to the late 80s. It was near the circle intersection of US Routes 202/206 and 22.
The Somerville Circle Triplex closed in 1995, if I remember correctly. It bore a resemblance in design to the original Rutgers Plaza Cinema. It no doubt was hurt by the fact that people preferred to go to the nearby Bridgewater Commons Cinema, which had opened in the late 1980s.
The Sommerville Circle Twin, Rutgers Plaza Twin, and Brunswick Square Twin, were all built at the same time, around 1973 by General Cinema. The Circle was tripled in 1979, and Rutgers became a sixplex in 1984. Brunswick remained a twin until GCC closed it in the 90’s. I worked as a projectionist at the Circle and the Square, but not the 6.
I was sorry to see this cinema go. I saw STAR TREK II there shortly before I left for Army active duty. Those were the days when the Somerville Circle was actually a circle. In my travels I pass the site several times a month. The old cinema building now houses a hardware store.
The GCC Somerville Circle Theater (Triplex) was completely torn down. A PC Richards electronics store was built in its place and pretty much in the same configuration. Seats and all went to the landfill.
A tribute to Central New Jersey Movie Theaters that brought happiness to thousands of people but have sadly been demolished. The theaters may be gone but the memory lives on and here is a place were we can discuss, reminisce, and remember.
This group can also be open to other thetheaters the surrounding areas such as Somerville, Plainfield, Westfield and other areas of Somerset County. Please feel free to post your stories and in particular any ads, photos or memorabilia you may have. Many Thanks and…enjoy the show!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MenloBlueStarCinemas
This opened on December 21st, 1973. Its grand opening ad can be found in the photo section for this cinema.
Closed on October 22, 1995.
Google maps gives this address for the P.C. Richard & Son appliance store that was apparently built on the same site: 501 NJ-28, Raritan, NJ 08869
Actually, General Cinema operated the Somerville Circle throughout its entire life.