Bedford Cinemas
931 15th Street,
Bedford,
IN
47421
931 15th Street,
Bedford,
IN
47421
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Co-Operative Theaters
Previous Names: Downtown Cinema I & II, Downtown Cinema III
Nearby Theaters
The Downtown Cinema I & II located inside the former J.C. Penney store opened its doors on July 1, 1981 with “Superman II”, while the other screen opened a few weeks later.
It originally has a capacity of 445 seats (with 280 seats including 35 in a balcony in Screen 1 and 130 seats in Screen 2). Later in 1981, a third screen was added a few months later and became known as the Downtown Cinema I-II-III.
During a short repair closure in July 1987, one of its three screens closed and was reverted back to a twin-screen theater. It reopened as a second-run discount theater under the name “Bedford Cinemas” later that year.
The Bedford Cinemas closed for the final time on May 29, 1990 after a four-week run of “Cadillac Man” in Screen 1 and “Spaced Invaders” in Screen 2 for unknown reasons, but loaning payments may’ve caused the closure. The closure left Bedford without a movie theater until the February 1997 opening of the Premiere Theatres on the south side of Bedford.
The building sat abandoned until the husband-and-wife team of Steve and Jackie Hayes opened their own family entertainment arcade/gaming center known as “Players” in December 1993.
Contributed by
50sSNIPES
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
The former downtown J.C. Penney’s turned movie house opened on July 1, 1981. Renamed as the Bedford Cinemas I & II, it added a popular video arcade. But the venue closed on May 30, 1990 with showings of “Spaced Invaders” and “Cadillac Man.” The operators walked away with those features on the marquee for a very long time. In fact, the theatre was auctioned off in May of 1992 with those very features still on the marquee. In 1994, the venue was converted to an arcade / gaming center and the local newspaper was there to document the removal of “Cadil—c Man” and “Spaced Invaders” that had remained for some four years on the marquee.