Westgate Mall Cinemas
3200 Linden Road,
Rocky River,
OH
44116
3200 Linden Road,
Rocky River,
OH
44116
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The original 1971 twin theater was a conversion of a Kroger supermarket, which was done when the shopping center was enclosed.
1971 and 1986 grand opening ads are in photo section.
This is part of an article dated 1/20/06 in the Elyria Chronicle Telegram:
For nearly 20 years, residents of western Cuyahoga County suburbs and eastern Lorain County were entertained by movies at a six-screen multiplex adjacent to Westgate Mall in Fairview Park. The theater’s screens went dark for the last time earlier this week. Although the closing may have appeared abrupt to some, it was tied to the long-range major redevelopment of the former Westgate Mall property into an upscale open-air shopping center.
Opened in the late 1980s and operated by the Boston-based General Cinema Corporation, the six-screen, 1,700-seat theater was located next to the former Higbee’s home store. It was acquired by the Kansas City-based AMC Theater Corporation in the late 1990s when that firm purchased the majority of operations from the financially-troubled General Cinema Corp. The theater officially closed after the final screenings of movies Monday night, according to Melanie Bell, AMC’s director of public communications. While she was unable to provide details relating to the Westgate closing, Bell said the company has a “long-term business strategy of continuously upgrading theaters, which includes closure of different theaters.”
When asked if the Westgate theater had done good business in recent years, Bell said she had no specifics about the location, but indicated that older theaters in general would not fare as well as newer, much larger theaters sporting amenities including stadium seats, cup holders, digital sound systems and high-tech ticket booths. AMC owns and operates approximately 3,475 screens in 220 theaters located in 28 states.
The cinema is gone, just a pile of bricks. Heard AMC is planning to build a much bigger all stadium seating multiplex. If true, they’re sure to close the Westwood which is ¼ mile west on Center Ridge.
The Westgate sixplex is to be demolished to make way for a Lowe’s home improvement warehouse…part of the redevelopment of the “new” Westgate, which will be a “lifestyle center”, somewhat like Crocker Park several miles west.
Westgate Cinema will close on January 16, 2006 with the city’s effort to revitalize the land. It’s a shame because the theatre itself is still quite popular and profitable.
The mall closed earlier this year, and is now being demolished. I don’t know what, if anything, this means for the freestanding cinemas.