Florence Cinemas
7685 Florence Mall Road,
Florence,
KY
41042
7685 Florence Mall Road,
Florence,
KY
41042
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Used to love going to this theater in the 80s and 90s. Used to go to the Ground Round next door either before or after the movie.
December 22nd, 1976 grand opening ad in photo section.
As of April 2013, this theater has been razed to make place for a new Kroger Marketplace.
Mid-States operated Beaver Valley Cinema 6 in Dayton suburb. Complex also had open lobby platform projector systems for the four center theaters. The two end auditoriums were the largest and at least one had 35/70 capability. A re-release of “Sleeping Beauty” was screened there in 70mm. The building still stands today and is in good shape. Has been operated as a discount house unsuccessfully at least twice. Regal and Rave are the dominant first-run operators in the area. DanBarry operates the two discount megaplexes in the area.
really wild, learn something everyday.hope your Projectionist didn’t cuss as much as mine did,guess the kids would hear it!LOL.
Mid-States had a theater in Milford, OH that was called the “275-East.” If I recall correctly, it was a 4-plex and basically a duplicate of the center 4 houses at Florence. All four houses had the projectors in the lobby. Florence also ran a few 70mm on one of the lobby projectors. We had 2 projectors per house at the time but when they put in a platter system for the 70mm it was really tight. Thank God it was only temporary and I was skinny then.
I know they had several more with projectors in the lobby but I’m not sure where they were, though I believe one or two theaters in Louisville had lobby platforms. My cousin worked with me and did projector maintenance for Mid-States. I’ll check with him to see if he can pinpoint an others with lobby platforms.
The projectors in the lobby was sort of a trademark with these Mid-States theatres in the mid-70’s. Smoking was permitted in lobbies then, and those projectors were true dust magnets. (The one in Columbus even ran 70mm from one of these lobby projectors.)I’m wondering how many of these open platform theatres there were? I know for certain of the Continent in Columbus, and I think one of the Dayton places had these, too. I’d love to hear from any ex-Mid-State folks if they are aware of any other open platform theatres.
Sorta sounds cheap and tacky instead of “unique”,but what the heck,by that time theatre chains could have really cared less.
Actual seating was nearly 4500. Had to help scrub them all with scrub brushes every June!
Cinema De Luxe has been sold to Rave Motion Pictures. Don’t know what affect that would have on anyone wanting to purchase the property. It looks as if National Amusements simply walked away from it. Soda dispensers are still in the concession stand. I wouldn’t be surprised if the projection equipment, outdated as it was, is still inside the building.
I used to be a projectionist at this theater in the early 80’s. It was sold to Loews Cinemas prior to being acquired by National Amusements. The theater was built as a 6-plex. Was expanded to 9 screens in 1979. Was never an 8 screen. Large theater; smallest auditorium held about 335, with the largest at nearly 800. Used to have projectors for 4 auditoriums on two platforms in the lobby. They were “walled in” in the mid 80’s. Kinda gave the place a unique atmosphere. Had to fight through Christmas crowds to get from platform to platform for reel changes!
Maybe so, Mike, but trying to run a theater here would be suicide – the Cinema de Lux would kill any competitor that tried. Not a feasible or logical idea.
National Amusements may not be such a stickler on their reuse policy as rumor has it they need to sell off as much of their stuff as quickly as possible.
It would seem this theater was made redundant and obsolete by the new Showcase Cinema De Lux nearby, so National Amusement closed it
I would guess since this is no longer listed by National Amusements, and the odds of them letting a competitor move right next door are slim-to-none, that this theater is closed.
I have submitted an entry for the new Cinema De Lux as well.
Still says Cinema on Florence Square marquis on Mall RD but it does look closed. Playlist on overhang is devoid of any numbers or letters except CINEMAS. No movie posters up outside nor that could be seen on the inside through the whole front glass wall and doors. Candy display cases are empty. Marquis over ticket box inside lobby is completely blank. I did drive around back too. The whole place looks in great shape! National Amusements may not be such a stickler on their reuse policy as rumor has it they need to sell off as much of their stuff as quickly as possible.
That 1986 photo is of the Showcase Erlanger, not the former Mid-States/Loews theater.
Goodbye seventies shoeboxes, most likely.
It would impact this theater if a new deluxe megaplex were to open next door, so certainly it is worth mentioning here.
It looks like a new theater has opened next to the mall:
http://tinyurl.com/5yz7uk
A nice place, Cleanliness is on par with most of the cinemas in the Tri State area but the building does show signs of needed remodeling. Staff was Friendly. The Overhang above the entrance is great and I wish more theatres had something like this. They have carpeted the lobby recently and updated thier bathrooms. The previous post mentioned it being a 8 plex but I believe, as of this writing, that it is a 9 plex.
Actually, the Florence Mall complex was originally built by Mid-States. (National Amusements ultimately bought out all their theatres in the Greater Cincinnati area, which may be the cause of confusion here) It started out as a (for the era) state of the art 6 plex, then expanded to it’s current 8.