Rapids Plaza Cinema 1 & 2

LouRugani on January 13, 2025 at 2:01 pm

Curtain will close on Rapids Plaza Cinema

PAUL J. MOLLEY

Racine’s North Side is losing its two movie Screens

The final shows at Rapids Plaza Cinema I and II, 2200 Mount Pleasant St., will be presented Sunday, said Mark Gramz, Marcus Theatres vice president of operations.

“We just find that operating 13 screens in three buildings isn’t as efficient as 11 screens in two buildings,” he said.

Milwaukee-based Marcus Theatres also operates the six-screen Regency Mall Cinemas, 5230 Durand Ave., and the five-screen Westgate Cinemas, 5101 Washington Ave.

Gramz said the two-screen Rapids Plaza operation doesn’t encourage the kind of movie patron traffic that Marcus gets from complexes with more film offerings. Marcus added thrée screens to Westgate last year and remodeled the lobby and concessions area at Regency Mall.

“We feel 11-screens is a sufficient number for the Racine market, but we’ll monitor the situation,” he said. “We would possibly add screens at Westgate or Regency or both if it becomes necessary.”

The manager at Rapids Plaza will transfer to Marcus South Shore Cinemas in Oak Creek and the company will try to find jobs for other employees at its remaining Racine outlets.

Marcus opened the Rapids Plaza Cinema in 1976. The twin-screen complex has about 900 seats. Gramz said Marcus will keep the seating and equipment for other ventures and put the building up for sale. (9/25/1992)