Ivy Twin Cinema
1001 South University Parks Drive,
Waco,
TX
76706
1001 South University Parks Drive,
Waco,
TX
76706
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The Ivy Twin Theatre was opened by CSW Theatres on October 16, 1974. I used to see movies as a kid all the time here. It was closed in 1986 and today it has been converted into a retail/ loft apartments.
Contributed by
Jake Vanek
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
I was one of the last people to operate the Ivy Twin in 1978. It was under the name RG Theatres. I also at the same time operated the Orpheum in downtonwn Waco. I probably was the last to have the Orpheum open. The Ivy had about 220 seats in each auditorium. We played the Rocky Horror Picture Show there every Friday and Saturday midnight for months.
I was the city manager for Cinemas Southwest Theatres and opened the Ivy Twin in late October, 1974. We opened with “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein” in 3D in Cinema I and “2001: A Space Odyssey” in Cinema II. Cinema I’s feature was rated X, and the Baylor University police parked in front of the theatre on opening night watching who was going to that show! The auditorioms were done in red soundfold, and had red American Seating chairs. A small stage was in front of each screen. There were separate rest room facilities for each theatre, and the snack bar divided the lobby, so changing screens was not very easy. The projection rooms sported Ballantyne projectors and soundheads and Christie console Xenon lamps.
I managed the Ivy Twin Cinema from May 1980 until it was sold in about 1986. Mike & Fran Riggs were the owners. It was bought by the Schulman family when they built a new 6 screen theater off Valley Mills Drive and the Ivy Twin became a $1 theater. The Ivy Twin and the Diamond Point theater in Waco were both part of the Jerry Lewis Cinema concept, arranged so that 2 people could run them. The Ivy Twin was torn down in the early 90’s. It was attached to the end of a strip mall with apartments above the stores. The mall remained for a few years after the theater was gone, but I think Baylor now owns the property and the mall has been torn down. Lots of great memories from the Ivy Twin. If I could go back in time, that would be the part of my life I would love to re-live.
My father was a manager at the Ivy Twin around the summer and fall of 1979 when they ran STAR WARS in re-release. I was 3 or 4 but I remember him running it for me before the matinee started. He ran MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL on both screens(with one print) for the midnight movie. I remember watching MEATBALLS there too. He said that when he showed ROCKY II there that the film got chewed up in the projector and he had to splice back together the last reel himself.
Old Greenbelt Theatrescifi Who is your father? My husband and I moved to Waco to run the Ivy Twin for the Riggs family in 1980. Their son was running the theater at the time. His name was Travis and they were a great family that we remained close to for several years until we left Waco. Would love to re-connect with them.
My father is Jim Bolinger. I don’t think he worked there by 1980 because we ended up moving away from Waco by then. I do remember a guy named Lee that worked there at the time. He must’ve been 18 or so. He used to make me laugh. I have many fond memories of the Ivy Twin from that time period. :)
The Ivy Twin Cinema was the second twin-screen theater to open in Waco, with the first being the Diamond Point Theatre.
The Ivy Twin Cinema was opened by CSW Theatres on October 16, 1974 with “Frankenstein” at Screen 1 and “2001: A Space Odyssey” at Screen 2. It was last operated by Plitt and closed for the final time in 1986.
The Ivy Twin Cinema probably closed its doors around the same time Plitt opened the Waco Square 6 in the southern portion of the city, 4½ miles away.