Westwood Twin Theatre

Current function should be church.

Cineplex Odeon closed it in early May 1988. Article posted

The Westwood theater should now be listed as closed and for sale. The movie house opened in 1966, meaning it’s 50th anniversary would just be ahead. At the time it opened, moviegoers could choose from the 4 downtown theaters, (The Metro, The Majestic, The Paramount and The Queen). The Interstate chain closed The Queen down on the day before The Westwood opened. Sonny and Cher came to The Westwood in April 1967 as part of a Texas tour for their movie, “Good Times”. It was twinned in the summer of 1977. In the last several years it became a bargain cinema. You could get in for less than $2.00 and get a large bucket of popcorn for $5.00 with a free refill. True the seats were falling apart and the sound and projector broke down a lot, but it made for a cheap date. Later in 1969, National General Cinema built a theater in the Westgate shopping mall. Shortly after that, The Radford Hills 3 was built and a Jerry Lewis Cinema, causing a glut of theaters for a town the size of Abilene. The Westwood officially closed November 15, 2014. I attended the Westwood most of its theater life and am saddened to see the old girl go. Hopefully someone will invest in it and give it a new life.

You mean people saw Star Wars in that teeeeny tiny bowling alley theatre???

http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/4644.html

I can’t tell you when the Westwood opened, but I saw Paper Lion there in October 1968. I saw 2001, A Space Odyssey there and I was very impressed with the magnetic stereo sound system. I still think Hal’s voice was in the surround speakers. Paint Your Wagon was another great magnetic stereo presentation. I was always amazed that Funny Girl, Hello Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof and Ben-Hur weren’t stereo. I believe the theater was part of the Interstate chain as was The Paramount. When the Westwood was twinned the screen was acquired by a Cooper High School teacher to be installed in the school auditorium.