Carmike Mall Cinema Twin
834 Hardee Road,
Kinston,
NC
28504
834 Hardee Road,
Kinston,
NC
28504
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I wanted to correct some of the information on here. After the Mall Cinema was twined each auditorium had a seating capacity of 225 not 265. Also it was twined in 1985 not 1981. I worked at the Mall Cinema from 1985 when I was in High School and when I graduated I was the Manager until 1990. Even when Stewart and Everett owned it, the name was always Mall Cinema Twin, after the one auditorium was split into two. The theater also closed in 95 or 96 not 99. Last week I was in Kinston and stopped by the theater. The side door was open and I went in. The roof has a bad leak, the lobby has multiple places. Auditorium 1 was still in decent shape, but auditorium 2 was in terrible shape. Not even one ceiling tile was still up. I took a lot of pictures if anyone would like to see.
I have the grand opening ads for its March 19,1970 opening of the Mall Cinema.
Not very likely that Vernon Park Mall will go high-end; all of Kinston’s upscale retail is downtown on the west side of Queen Street (the Paramount Theatre is apparently on the wrong [east] side of Queen Street). A reuse of the Mall Cinema is even more unlikely; there are plenty of empty cinemas laying around Eastern North Carolina and three vacant cinemas in Kinston alone (Mall Cinema, Park Theatre and Paramount Theatre). None of them will likely ever be used as theaters (live or film) again; the Mall Cinema seems to be too far gone for conversion to retail/office space. Redevelopment would most likely push retail space closer to Vernon Avenue with the cinema and plaza being demolished and replaced with office buildings (or sold separately from the main mall).
I passed through Kinston’s Vernon Park Mall not too long ago and it seems to me that it has become a ghost mall now that JCPenney(formerly Penney’s)is gone and the only two stores that have remained are anchors Belk and Goody’s,not to mention the Sears Hometown store. At one time,Vernon Park Mall was one of the most popular indoor shopping centers in Eastern North Carolina,and today it is totally dying. I would love to see this popular mall get a total remodeling as it desperately needs one. They can do a fabulous reconstruction of this mall(just like they did with Raleigh’s North Hills)where they demolished half the sections while leaving one anchor store there(like they’re about to do with Belk). I would love to see the vast improvements on its plaza side too. Let’s make sure that greedy corporates in management don’t turn Vernon Park Mall into some high class clientele establishment like they did with Chapel Hill’s University Mall.
NightHawk1: I found the information on this cinema and I took the time to update this onto the Cinema Treasures site. I have the original ads from the grand opening of this theatre and if you like to see them please inform me whenever possible and you can e-mail me at From there I can sent you the ads.
It was known as the Mall Cinema that opened on March 19,1970 under Charlotte-based Stewart and Everett Theatres. The grand opening attraction for the Mall Cinema’s official Kinston premiere was……….
Goldie Hawn and Walter Matthau in “CACTUS FLOWER”…. It’s that “Laugh In” Girl and the “Odd Couple” guy!!!
The coming attractions for the Mall Cinema(03-19-70)..
Barbra Streisand in “FUNNY GIRL”
Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh in “GONE WITH THE WIND”
Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson in “DARLING LILI”
Robert Mitchum in David Lean’s “RYAN’S DAUGHTER”
The Mall Cinema Twin has not been demolished – yet. Vernon Park Mall is essentially a dead mall now, as anchor JCPenney has just closed their store here. Aside from Belk and junior anchors Goody’s (THEY still exist?) and Sears Hometown Store (hardlines only), Vernon Park Mall is empty. The Mall Cinema building and the former Winn-Dixie strip next to it are vacant as well; only a drycleaning shop between the cinema and the old Winn-Dixie strip remains in business. This mall is ripe for redevelopment as a strip mall; most likely everything except Belk will be torn down. Aerial views of the Mall Cinema show a deteriorated roof that looks ready to fall in; it will probably be demolished when redevelopment of the Vernon Park Mall takes place.