Patrick Henry 7
12300 Jefferson Avenue,
#600,
Newport News,
VA
23602
12300 Jefferson Avenue,
#600,
Newport News,
VA
23602
1 person
favorited this theater
The Patrick Henry 7 was opened November 4, 1988 and closed August 31, 2000. It was in the Patrick Henry Mall, which includes a Macy’s, Dillard’s and J C Penny, it was next to the J C Penny. As of 2006 it is now an Old Navy Store. I think some new theatres are going to be built at the mall.
Contributed by
U.S.N. Chief Jensen
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
This theatre used to be part of the AMC Chain.
Patrick Henry was using the old movie marquee as the mall’s welcome/announcement sign until it was replaced by a nicer sign sometime in 2005. Here is a photo of the old sign during the mall’s renovation:
View link
The Patrick Henry 7 opened sometime in 1989 (I can remember seeing Batman there during the summer of 1989, shortly after it opened). It was, for a time, the largest cinema in terms of screens in the Hampton/Newport News area – which, at the time, was dominated by many 2-4 screen theatres. The heyday for the theatre began to end in the 1994 timeframe, when Regal Kiln Creek 14 (now expanded to Regal Kiln Creek 20) opened. Because the theatres were so close to each other, they competed for the same movies – and, because the Regal was newer, larger, and offered more screens, Patrick Henry often lost the biggest releases. The deathknell was the opening of the new AMC 24 off of Big Bethel Road in Hampton. The theatre survived for several years, but with the competition of the Regal and ability for AMC to consolidate its operations at its megaplex in Hampton, the theatre was closed.
The City Directory is WRONG. This theater opened in 1988/1989, about a year after the mall itself opened. Look in the news archives of Google on “AMC Patrick Henry 7”. The first result is a new article from Oct 1990 referencing a 1988 opening.
City Directory is also WRONG about the closing date. The theatre closed by 2001 – an article from the Daily Press from Oct 2001 discusses the impending opening of Old Navy in the mall (which opened in the space vacated by the theater):
http://articles.dailypress.com/2001-08-01/business/0108010035_1_navy-patrick-henry-mall-crown-american-realty-trust
I found the grand opening ad and a story on the closing.
The Theater actually opened on Friday, Nov 4, 1988.
A story appeared in the Aug. 26, 2000 Daily Press announcing the closing after Thursday night’s showing which would have been on Aug 31, 2000. This ended a 12 year run.
Better quality grand opening ad in the photo section.