Lakeside Cinemas
3301 Veterans Memorial Boulevard,
Metairie,
LA
70002
3301 Veterans Memorial Boulevard,
Metairie,
LA
70002
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The pics above are correct of Cinemas 1 and 2 - I remember seeing the original Star Wars many times at this very place (at #1 of course). Lakeside Theatres 1-4 were four self-standing structures across Veterans Blvd. #1 was the big one, #2 and #3 were originally one but got divided into 2 separate smaller cinemas sometime in the late 70’s I think - #4 was the “Church”, with its high steeple-like roof. I always preferred the atmosphere of the Theatres to the Cinemas, honestly.
The Lakeside theatre opened on August 5th, 1965. the Cinema 3 & 4 for this location opened on April 15th, 1976. Ad posted.
When did Lakeside Theater open? I know Lakeside Cinema right at the mall opened in August 1967 (the same day Oakwood Cinema in Gretna opened).
There seems to be some confusion here regarding the difference between Lakeside Theatre and Lakeside Cinema… The pics above are from Lakeside Theatre, which as others have mentioned, was located on Vets near where Whole Foods is now.. I saw more movies than i can count there, but among the ones that stand out are ET, Poltergeist, Terms of Endearment, Some Kind of Wonderful and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (which i sat through twice in a row).. Lakeside Cinema was located at the mall, and I can remember seeing Airplane there, as well as The Rescuers, Modern Problems, Star Wars and the first movie i can ever remember seeing in a theater — Grease. Haven’t been to a movie in years,and not even sure where one would go to see one these days, besides maybe Canal Place downtown.
Actually there were two Lakeside Theatres the other is across the street from the mall owned Cobb Theatres each screen housed in four different buildings while the General Cinema version was in between Winn Dixie now demolished and the JCPenney parking garage Cinemas 1-3 which was built first while other two screens 4&5 building came later around 1970’s in 1986 my brother , mother , and I saw Howard the duck in the first building a couple of weeks later in the other building we saw the animated Transformers the Movie .serval other movies afterwards and I myself used to go there on Mondays when I worked a split shift at Red Lobster from 1998-2000 a saw multiple movies there two theatres closed the one by the mall along with the Winn Dixie were demolished to add more space for the mall the other theatre and the car dealership next door was also demolished to make way for Whole Foods Market then the AMC Palace Theatre 12 screen stadium seating theatre on top of the food court in 2002.
I used to work at this theater back in 1975-76. I was a parking lot attendant with a friend of mine. The films I saw…a LOT. Sound of Music, Westworld and many others. Sad this one is gone!
Hey, ya’ll. I came upon this site b/c I was remeniscing about the good ole days growing up in Kenner/Metairie way back in the 70’s and 80’s. I posted a couple of pics for ya’ll to enjoy. I saw so many movies back then, my most memorable was Rocky I and Carrie at Lakeside theater #1.
Amazing that there is no picture of this theater.
I started going there a lot in the early-mid 80’s. I lived in Gretna, but like partying in Fat City, so I’d get loaded before the 7 or 7:30 movie and afterwards just walk across the street and start a tour of the Fat City bars. I first went to the theater in August of 1982 to watch Rocky 3.
In ‘82 I was 26.
Ok, I made a mistake..it wasn’t the Joys 8..it was the Cinema City 6 :)
Man, the memories I have from the old Lakeside Cinema..spent a lot of time there back in the 70’s! Also, the lakeside theater across the street on Vets..the Joys Panarama 6 on Airline, an the Joys 8 on Vets in Kenner….boy, do I miss those day! Who remembers the old drive in on Vets??
“Star Wars” during its original 1977 release played a 26-week engagement at this theater.
When I was in Metairie in 1999 there were several theatres still open in the Metairie/Kenner area. The Lakeside 5 was still operating as was the AMC Galleria 8, The Eslplanade 9 (now open as the Hollywood 9), the UA Pavillion 8 and Cinema City 8. I believe the only theatres now operating in the area are the AMC Clearview Palace 12 and the Hollywood 9.
The 2 Lakeside locations were open at least through 1999, and I believe until mid 2000. Esplanade was open until the GC bankruptcy in October 2000. Esplanade was one of the few dozen theatres that helped bring about the bankruptcy of General Cinema. Despite having very good presentation, one of the only THX auditoriums in Louisiana, and being a popular location during the late 1980’s and into the 1990’s, due to it’s obscenely high lease costs, it never made a profit in it’s entire existence.
“GCC operated the theatres until the mid/late 90’s, and they sat empty for several years. I saw a wrecking ball doing the last of the dirty work on Cinema 4 & 5 during a visit around 2002.
posted by DonS on Feb 11, 2005 at 8:21pm”
I left the area in January of 1999 (returned a year ago-March 2007) and the theater was still active, so I’m not sure when it “sat empty” but I heard that it was operating into the 2000’s. I realized our posts are just over 3 YEARS apart.
Wasn’t the development of the “Super Theaters” such as nearby Clearview Palace at the Clearview Mall what really sealed the fate of Lakeside and other obsolete theaters? Most every theater not the size of a small city has succumbed to these giants. One of the few still around in the Jefferson Parish area is Hollywood 9 (formerly Esplanade Theater or Cinema) in Kenner and given how small the crowds have been it’s a wonder that it’s still open.
The Lakeside Cinemas were first built as a “Twin†cinema. This comprised Cinema 1 and Cinema 2. The design used is sometimes referred to as a “butterfly†because of the auditoriums being on the opposite sides of the building.
Cinema 1 had a seating capacity of around 1200. Cinema 2 had a seating capacity of over 600. When the larger of the two auditoriums was “twined†they then became Cinema 2 and 3. The old Cinema 2 then became Cinema 1.
Due to delays in the construction the local competition, also under construction, opened ahead of General Cinemas Lakeside Cinema. The local competition was the Cobb family. They opened their theatre across Veterans Blvd and called it the Lakeside Theatre.
Several years after the opening another “Twin†theatre was built and opened next to the original Lakeside Cinema. This newer theatre became known as Lakeside Cinema 4 & 5. This newer cinema had auditoriums that could seat approximately 500 each.
At two times during the operation these theatres were operated by the same overall manager. The longest one person managed both was by Bill Day. He was the manager of both Lakeside 1-3 and the city manager for General Cinema for five years. He managed both the Lakeside Cinema 1-3 and Lakeside Cinema 4-5 for a period exceeding two years. The only position that was common between the two during this time was the Manager. The two did operate independently for the remanding time of operation. Behind these two theatres was a “Winn Dixie†grocery store.
These two theatres were the premier theatres in the Metairie area for many years. There were many premiers held there. During these premiers many top name entertainers visited and took part. Around 1988 Lakeside Cinema 1-3 underwent an extensive remodeling which added new life to the aging theatre.
The Lakeside Cinemas started their decline around 1989 or 1990. General Cinema, the parent company, itself started a downward spiral a few years later. This came about after a realignment of the management structure of the company. Many poor business decisions were made and the company, several years later, in the early 2000s was under bankruptcy.
This once second most powerful theatre company in the USA began closing selling off and closing more and more of it’s’ theatres in the early 1990s. Two of these theatres were two Lakeside Cinemas. These closings and sell offs were done until once rival AMC purchased what was left of this company. Ironically many years earlier AMC was being looked at by General Cinema as possible purchasing to expand GCC.
Bob Bibeaux was the manager there for many years. Gene Spieckermann was the first House Manager of the expansion screens at the second building. He later transferred to the Gateway Cinema in Beaumont Texas, but returned to New Orleans long enough to marry one of his former cashiers in the late 70’s.
Forgot to mention the location…I believe the theatres stood at the NW corner of Lakeside Shopping center, between a parking garage and a grocery.
The following is all from (hazy) memory, and is only offered because no one else has posted any info. Corrections welcome…
GCC Lakeside 1 & 2 opened in about 1968. 1000+ seats in each. One of the houses was twinned at some point, probably in early seventies. A second building was subsequently erected immediately next door, with two more screens of maybe 500 seats each. Sometimes the theatres operated with dual management teams, sometimes with a joint team. I believe that a single projectionist walked back and forth between the buildings, but I could be wrong on that also.
Cinema 1 had 70mm THX Dolby surround, and played exclusive New Orleans engagements for many films, including ‘90s rereleases of Fantasia, Star Wars, Lawrence of Arabia, and others.
GCC operated the theatres until the mid/late 90’s, and they sat empty for several years. I saw a wrecking ball doing the last of the dirty work on Cinema 4 & 5 during a visit around 2002.