AMC Springfield 11 with IMAX
3200 East Montclair Street,
Springfield,
MO
65804
3200 East Montclair Street,
Springfield,
MO
65804
5 people
favorited this theater
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Springfield 8 cinemas bought back by Dickinson theatres on August 16th, 2008
Found on Newspapers.com
This opened on November 22nd, 1991 as the Dickinson 8 theatre. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
The Springfield architectural firm Butler Rosenbury & Partners designed the 2011 renovation and expansion project for this theater. A thumbnail link to six photos of the Springfield 11 Cinemas can be found on the entertainment projects page of the firm’s web site.
Aerial before the 2011 renovention is in the photo section for this cinema.
I really wish that the old photos, before the remodel, were still on here. This is a great theater.
The theatre will officially be renamed the Springfield 11 on November 18th. Happy Feet Two is the premiere IMAX engagement with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (in a one week exclusive) and The Adventures of Tintin planned as future engagements.
Correction to the above post. Go to facebook and keyword Showplex Cinemas and then click on photo, the picture of the future theatre is on their profile album. Sorry for the mistake! —jw
Construction is currently underway. Article at the following url:http://www.boxofficemagazine.com/news/2011-04-08-showplex-cinemas-to-bring-the-imax-experience-to-springfield-missouri Also pictures of construction are at Showplex facebook site, and if you keyword in “Springfield 8” doing a google search and then click on images you will see an drawing of the conversion.
Read today that they intend to build the IMAX and two additional audtoriums by next summer. Assume the IMAX will be a digital setup.
The theatre is now owned by Showplex Cinemas.
Re-new link. Thanks.
Have they actually broken ground yet on the expansion? As of 2/15, they hadn’t.
Meh, thats what I figured…
I haven’t heard anything but I imagine that it has been delayed for budget reasons from the parent company. I’m figuring this since Dickinson chose not to buy new DLP projectors for the recent installation but simply removed them from their Little Rock theatre and put them in the other theatres. That is a sign of economic cutbacks.
Any word on the remodeling and/or the status of the IMAX construction?
Great theater! Sometimes after going to many new aged stadium seating, it’s nice to see a theater that doesn’t have those kinds. I always loved coming here. Very very clean, and the seats that lean back are extremely comfortable. Plenty of leg room too, especially if you sit near the back. Definitely one of my favorite places to go see a show in Springfield.
Make that October of 1998.
Oh, the theater opened in November 1991, not 1993. Goodrich took over control in October of 1999, not 1996.
Dickinson Theatres of Kansas City to return to Springfield 8 Theatre with GIANT IMAX® SCREEN
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 â€"Overland Park, KS- John W. Hartley Jr., President and CEO of Dickinson
Theatres, Inc. proudly announced today their intention to buy back the Springfield 8 Cinema located at
3200 E. Montclair in Springfield, MO from Goodrich Quality Theatres.The former Goodrich 8 Cinemas
was originally built by Dickinson Theatres, Inc. in 1990.
Hartley commented, “We are very excited to re-acquire this location and we have plans for extensive
remodeling of the existing theatre and the addition of the giant IMAX auditorium.â€
Dickinson Theatres, Inc. is the proprietary owner of IMAX film rights in the Springfield metropolitan
area. IMAX movies such as, “Speed Racerâ€, “Kung Fu Pandaâ€, “The Dark Knight†and “Harry Potterâ€,
tend to gross two to three times per picture what an ordinary 35 mm film does in a typical theatre
auditorium. The IMAX auditorium will feature a 6 story high, 90’ wide screen and 12,000 watts of
digital sound. You will hear more, see more, and feel more. It is a whole new way to see movies,
“The Ultimate Movie Experienceâ€.
“Even as excited as we are to bring the IMAX brand of Hollywood Motion Pictures to the Springfield
area, we are equally proud to announce that we will be converting all auditoriums to all digital
projection technology, some with 3-D capabilitiesâ€, Hartley said. The digital Christie model CP2000ZX
projection equipment will provide crystal clear film presentation over and over eliminating the
scratching, weaving and discoloration of normal film product after continual use. The digital equipment
will also allow us to provide alternative content into the market such as sporting events, live concerts,
digital film product and alternative forms of entertainment not available to the market place at this
time.
We do plan to expand the parking lot to approximately two acres of land east of the building to
accommodate expected additional traffic with the IMAX addition. Included in the remodeling plans are
conversion of the two largest auditoriums to stadium seating with new deluxe leather rocker seating
with cup holders. Hartley said that Dickinson Theatres intends to continue the former operators’
policies on additional multi-film selections and free kid shows.
Restoration of the existing theatre structure is to begin in the Fall with the addition of the giant IMAX
auditorium containing 475 seats to begin immediately. The IMAX will be the largest Hollywood Themed
Auditorium built in the United States at the current time.
Construction Acquisition Financing will be provided by Hawthorne Bank in Springfield, MO.
“When the remodeling is completed, the addition of the Giant IMAX theatre, and the 3-D technology,
this will be the place to see movies in the Springfield marketplace. We are proud to return to the
Springfield market and missed the loyal customer base that we enjoyed for so many decades.†Hartley
concluded.
I also will add that I snuck into a showing of Mean Girls here (walked out after fifteen minutes because it was that bad) and recently saw Iron Man at an advance screening and Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay here.
Meanwhile, the theatre is back to Dickinson branding but haven’t seen if anything’s changed yet. Goodrich kept it almost as is, even the carpet is still Dickinson branded.
IMAX is going to be added to this theatre and possibly DLP/REAL-D as well. It was purchased mainly after plans for a new theatre were canceled due to lack of space.
I remember when the Dickie 8 was built and have very fond memories of attending, by now, hundreds of movies there over the years. I do not recall there being a second hall to the theaters as the description states.
It was rumored long ago that the vacant lot next door would be used to expand the theater, but that never occurred. When Goodrich purchased the theater, it felt very different. The atmosphere just felt more tense and combative (probably because the Campbell 16 was slowly draining away business).
However, the theater has remained popular with an elite cadre of people in Springfield who value limited crowds, great and comfortable seats, the best projection in town and a better sound system than any of the renovated Campbell 16 theaters.
It was announced this past week that Dickinson Theaters had re-purchased the theater. I don’t know when it went/is going into effect and I don’t know if they’ll change the theater name back to Dickinson 8 as it was when it originally opened, but to me it sounds like good news. Maybe Dickinson will revitalize it, do a bit of touch ups (some parts of the place have gotten rundown) and maybe work on that expansion they had long ago promised.
Films I’ve Seen Here:
Beauty and The Beast
Thumbelina
Matilda
A Very Brady Sequel
Doctor Dolittle (the remake)
A Bug’s Life
Star Wars Episode I
The Rugrats Movie (free show)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
The Truth About Charlie
Rugrats Go Wild
Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas
Agent Cody Banks 2
Laws Of Attraction
Envy
Catch That Kid (free show)
House Of Flying Daggers
Sahara
Monster-In-Law
A Sound Of Thunder
The Black Dahlia
Fracture
Transformers (advance screening)
Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix
Superbad
The Invasion
Halloween (the remake)
Dragon Wars
The Final Season
August Rush
Juno
88 Minutes
The 70mm titles:
The Only First-Run 70mm Title:
5/22/1992 Far and Away (5/16 sneak as well)
Special Series in 1993:
5/7/1993 Patriot Games
5/14/1993 Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
5/21/1993 Die Hard 2: Die Harder
5/28/1993 Batman
The theatre opened on November 22nd, 1991 as the Dickinson 8 with The Addams Family on 2 screens, Beauty and The Beast on 2 screens, Cape Fear on 2 screens, Rambling Rose and Barton Fink. The theatre has (or at least had) 70mm capability so I will post the 70mm titles shown a little later.