Hoover Mall Twin Theatres

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Uploaded on: July 13, 2023

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In 1964 the Eastwood Mall Theater in Irondale opened as the first theater outside the downtown area to show first run movies. Over the next four years it was joined by the Roebuck, Midfield, Cinema, Capri, and Bessemer Twin as the theater exodus from downtown to the suburbs gathered steam. All of these locations were along the northern arc since the bulk of the population as well as the steel mills and mines were in that area.

In 1971 Cobb Theaters converted the Homewood Bowling Lanes into a quad, the first modern theater to be built on the south side. It was mostly second run with the occasional lower tier first run attraction. In 1977 ABC, which operated the downtown Alabama and Ritz as well as Roebuck and Bessemer opened this location and first run movies finally arrived on the south side of town.

In 1976 ABC had opened very nicely appointed 500 seat twins in Augusta and Stone Mountain Georgia as well as Montgomery Alabama. (Respectively the Columbia, the Stonemont, and the Eastgate.) This location was not as large but was equally as nice. It didn’t last long as the multi and megaplexes were soon on the way but it did mark the beginning of consistently booked first run movies on the south side of the Birmingham market.