AMC Classic Knoxville 16
200 N. Peters Road,
Knoxville,
TN
37923
200 N. Peters Road,
Knoxville,
TN
37923
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Will, everything that you pointed out is dead-on accurate. Here are some other factors that I believe played in the closing of this theatre.
After Regal opened their FunScape with 9 screens in West Town Mall, Carmike had to answer with a larger theatre. So, they built one of their Windsong theatres in an area that was supposed to become more developed than it did. With the Turkey Creek upscale retail development coming alone a short time later, Regal seized the opportunity to build the Pinnacle 18 megaplex with Imax.
I think that Carmike was willing to compete with Regal in their own backyard, but after the AMC buyout, I’m not sure that AMC had the same level of interest in the Knoxville market. After the pandemic, the decision for AMC to pull out of Knoxville became much easier.
It’s interesting how history often repeats itself. In the early twentieth century, Publix had complete control of the Knoxville market. Loews decides to try to break into the market in 1920 by leasing the Staub’s Theatre, extensively remodeling, and reopening it as the Loews Theatre. That lasted 18 months and they pulled out leaving Publix, and later Wilby/Kincy, as the only movie chain in Knoxville until the 1960’s. Today, Regal is the only national chain in Knoxville.
At the end of the last century, Carmike was running the Commons 6 as their main hall in one of the busiest shopping centers smack in the middle of prosperous, prestigious west Knoxville. This is a prime market. Land there goes for a premium. They had a good location: the Commons 6 was highly visible. It was at the end of a very popular strip center and in full sight of the equally busy strip center directly opposite North Peters Road. It isn’t surprising they wanted to expand from 6 screens to something bigger, but that site was built out. The other tenants were also prospering so the chance that they’d be able to take over adjacent space was all-but nil.
Undeterred, Carmike found land about a third of mile to the north east, literally adjacent to I-40/75 where 10s of thousands of cars would see the new theatre every day. Technically (if not actually, legally) the new site is part of the same retail development.
Except visually, it’s in a different world.
Right after the Commons 6 closed, a picture I wanted to see was showing at the new Wynnsong, AND I COULDN’T FIND THE THEATRE.
The Wynnsong was built on fallow ground on a dead-end, past a big-box home improvement store, over the crest of hill, the other side of a vast, unkempt, stormwater detention basin, and was completely hidden by trees on 3 sides. There was no “catching a glimpse” of the hall, no casually noticing the hot new picture was showing right over there. Heaven knows, there was no walking past and catching the smell of popcorn. There was no sign saying “theatre this way ->.” There wasn’t even a sign facing I-40/75. From the freeway, you only saw a roof and within a couple of years the trees in the untended border between the freeway and the theatre’s back parking lot grew up and you couldn’t even see the roof.
You had to know exactly where it was or have faith that the asphalt was going to keep going - past the row of trash dumpsters and loading docks - around that next corner - over the hill - there might be a movie theatre over there, or there might be someone with a banjo. This is East Tennessee afterall.
I don’t know what the box office numbers were like over the 23 years that it operated, but I never saw the hall busy. At that, I rarely saw it at all.
Apparently neither did anyone else.
It’s gone now and really, does anyone care?
AMC sucks
Grand opening ad posted.
Theater opened 3/31/2000. Last day of business was 7/9/2023.
As of July 11, 2023, AMC has listed this theatre as close on their website. With the exception of a couple of independents, Knoxville is now an exclusive Regal city.
I’m guessing the Artech Design Group had a hand in this, considering a similar-looking Wynnsong had opened in Mobile, Alabama the year before.
Now called AMC Classic Knoxville 16.
Carmike named numerous theatres Wynnsong throughout the 90’s and 00’s. It’s equivalent to Cinemark calling it Tinseltown or UA having called it “The Movies!”
Although the theater is nothing more than a box it’s nice to see a traditional marquee and the actual theater name rather than just the chain name.
These theaters have become so impersonal albeit grand.
Does anyone know who the architect was and in what style it was designed? Please share!
Seating capacities at this theater:
Theaters 1, 4, 13, & 16 – 63 seats
Theaters 2, 3, 6, 11, 14, & 15 – 108 seats
Theaters 5 & 12 – 66 seats
Theater 7 – 201 seats
Theaters 8 & 9 – 241 seats
Theater 10 – 208 seats
Theaters 1, 7, 8, 10, & 11 are equipped to show 3D. Theater 9 used to show 3D for a brief time before its 3D filter moved to Theater 1.