Alexandria Area Arts Association Theatre

The Andria Theatre has been operating since at least 1941 as it is listed with 750 seats in Film Daily Yearbook of that year.

Gentlemen, The Andria was originally a 1 screen house; in the photo; it was the storefront where the marquee extends over the sidewalk. it was adjacient on the south ( “ left ” in the photo )to a Gamble’s Hardware store which was remodeled to be a 2nd screen around 1974-75. The “ Andria 3 ” was an additional 1 screen theatre built in the Viking Plaza shopping center a couple of miles to the south around 1982. The Andria Twin Cinema & the Andria 3 did close around 1990-91 & were replaced by the Midway Mall Cinema.

From the 1940s a photo that captured a view of Main Street along with the Andria in Alexandria.

The caption of a photo on page 97 of Alexandria, by Barbara Grover, gives February 7, 1936, as the opening date of the Andria Theatre (Google Books preview.)

Tentelino Theatres was its operator ever since 1958, and it was a twin ever since 1974 when the second screen was added on site of an old Gamble store. Screen 1 housed 700 seats while Screen 2 housed 220 seats. Tentelino was also the chain that opened up the nearby Midway Mall Cinema V and the Cinema III at Viking Mall.

The Andria Theatre closed as a movie theater on January 24, 1991, alongside the nearby Cinema III at Viking Plaza Mall (also operated by Tentelino), because of Tentelino’s nearby Midway Mall Cinema V (which opened in 1990 as the Midway Mall Cinema III on site of the old Algon Ballroom) expanded from three screens to five screens, which happened the following day. Nowadays, CEC Theatres now operates that theater as the Midway 9 Theatre. As for the Andria’s final day as a motion picture house, “Misery” was one of its final films played at the Andria on one screen, but for the other screen I cannot find any info.

Both the Midway 9 Theatre (first known as Midway Mall Cinema III, later Midway Mall Cinema V, later Midway Mall Cinema VII, and finally Midway 9 Theatre) and the Cinema III (first known as Andria 3) will have their own CT pages soon.

• NOTE: I accidentally added multiple upcoming duplicate pages for the Midway 9 Theatre to update more history information about that theater.