Eastland Mall Cinemas
5471 Central Avenue,
Charlotte,
NC
28212
5471 Central Avenue,
Charlotte,
NC
28212
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Cinema Grill Systems Circuit of Georgia, General Cinema Corp., Red Carpet Cinemas
Functions: Church
Previous Names: GC Eastland Mall Cinemas I, II, III, Cinema Grill, Cinema Grill Eastland, El Cine Eastland
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Nov 5, 2008 — Charlotte multiplex closes after one year
Located in the lower level of the Eastland Mall at the intersection of Central Avenue at Sharon Amity Road. The Eastland Mall Cinemas was part of the General Cinema chain that owned several theatres in the greater Charlotte area, which owned South Park Mall Cinemas and also at the time Charlottetown Cinemas. The GC Eastland Mall Cinemas I, II, III was Charlotte’s newest modern cinema, which opened on September 30, 1975. The opening attractions were Joe Don Baker in “Framed” in Screen 1, Maximilian Schell in “The Man in the Glass Booth” in Screen 2 and Marilyn Hassett in “The Other Side of the Mountain” in Screen 3. It was closed on March 21, 1996.
In 1999 it was reopened by Cinema Grill Systems Circuit of Georgia, but was soon closed. It reopened on April 28, 2000 as the Cinema Grill Eastland. On August 30, 2002 it reopened as El Cine Eastland, screening Hispanic movies (with American sub-titles).
On March 30, 2007, after a refurbishment by new operator, Red Carpet Cinemas, the Eastland Mall Cinemas reopened. In August 2008, the theatre began to cut back its hours of operation and closed completely in late-October 2008. It was then used as a church in 2009-2010. It was demolished in April 2011.
Contributed by
raymond
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Recent comments (view all 32 comments)
Patsy, In regards to your question about the current status of this theatre? The Eastland Mall Cinemas closed in October of 2008. The Eastland Mall itself closed in 2010 and was completely demolished in 2011. The only thing that stands is a vacant deserted lot where Charlotte’s Eastland Mall once stood.
The current status of this theatre is that it is demolished. Eastland Mall is now a faded memory in Charlotte history.
Opened in March of 1975
Closed in June of 2010
Demolished in April of 2011.
I have the original ads from its 1975 grand opening.
THEATER AND MALL BOTH GONE
The history is a bit off for GCC. I’ll also try to add a little more about the theatre’s end. The General Cinema Corporation owned & operated two (not three as implied in the history) theatres in Charlotte when Eastland opened, the Charlottetown Cinemas and the Southpark Cinemas. GCC would not operate a 4th theatre in the Charlotte area until Tower Place opened in Pineville in 1986. The Eastland Mall theatre was last used as a church, Renovatus, in 2009-10 (church left that space in June 2010). GCC closed the Eastland Theatre in 1996 (per Charlotte Observer, June 27, 2010, p8A of 1A article, “Why Eastland went from bustling to bust”, also the source for when the church left the theatre space).
Slight correction: opened on September 30th, 1975.
This reopened as the Cinema Grill on May 12th, 2000 after it was closed by General Cinema in 1996. Another grand opening ad posted.
Last showtimes for the Cinema Grill appeared in the Observer on January 28th, 2001.
Another try as a Spanish-language cinema opening on August 30th, 2002. Otro intento como estreno de cine en español el 30 de agosto de 2002
Reopened again on March 30th, 2007
Eastland Mall cinemas reopen again Fri, Mar 30, 2007 – 35 · The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina) · Newspapers.com
General Cinema closed here on March 21, 1996 with “Hellraiser IV,” “Homeward Bound II,” “Muppet T.I.” and “City Hall.” A new operator came in and wanted to reduce seats. It had a seat give-away and would become a short-lived franchise under Cinema Grill Systems Circuit of Atlanta in 1999 and closed.
It was reopened here on April 28, 2000 as Cinema Grill Eastland once again. It was more successful than the previous incarnation - by a hair - closing after just one year after the first location lasted just months. It then reopened as El Cine Eastland on August 30, 2002 screening Hispanic and subtitled American films.