Fremont 3 Theatres
1300 E. Battlefield Street,
Springfield,
MO
65804
1300 E. Battlefield Street,
Springfield,
MO
65804
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Grand opening ad in the photo section.
I remember sneaking out to the 99ยข midnight movies. So much fun…
The theatre opened December 21st, 1977 as a Mann theatre and became a Dickinson theatre on January 18th, 1980.
I was just in Springfield last week. Went to the Springfield 8, which, although small, still has decent projection and comfortable auditoriums. Hats off to Goodrich for at least keeping the place up. They said earlier this year that they were looking into expanding it. Of course, as I noted in another post about Kansas City, they also said the same thing about the Glenwood before running it into the ground. Time will tell.
You’re right about Springfield being underscreened. Me and my mom were talking about it earlier this month when every showing of “Pirates Of The Caribbean:Dead Man’s Chest” was sold out on opening day (I didn’t think it would be the big summer movie, I thought Superman Returns would). It’s sad that a lot of the theatres (Tower, Fremont, Town and Country though people didn’t go to the Town and Country later on) have closed due to the Campbell 16 and the second-run Palace. A third theatre would be great (lots of good things need to come the Springfield theatre market), but at least we have the Moxie and the reopening Gillioz (it may show films along with the live stuff).
I worked at the Fremont in the early 80s. Our rival was the Petite 3 across the street. Dickinson Theaters tried to save the Fremont by upgrading the sound to all digital and turning it into a dollar house but ultimately it wasn’t enough. I also worked at the Town & Country 6, which opened in 1983 near I-44 and Kearney. That location became infamous because the manager there ran into some problems with money disappearing. Springfield at the moment is very underscreened. A metro area of over 350,000 only has TWO first run theaters, with a total of 24 screens. One was built in the late 80s, the other opened in 1996. They’re both “OK.” A new 14-screen theater located downtown (behind the old Heers store) has yet to break ground.
Just a trivia note. The Fremont opened in 1977 and the first movies it showed were “Telefon”, “The Gauntlet”, and “The Good-bye Girl”.
I worked for a rival theatre chain and got free “crossover passes” so I saw all three on opening day for free!
Century 21 theater use to show the PTA films when I was young.
I went here many times in 1997 and 1998 for the PTA-co-created Summer Film Series. People would by their tickets from the PTA, then would use the tickets at this theatre or the also-dead Town and Country 6. It was an awesome series and it was always packed at the Fremont 3. I saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hook, Rookie Of The Year, Andre, The Pebble and The Penguin, The New Adventures Of Pippi Longstocking, Mouse Hunt (the only film I saw twice in theatres), A Simple Wish (which for some odd reason, had an applause at the end), A Troll In Central Park, and many others. Back to the theatre, I liked the theatre and it was sad to see it go and be turned into a Play It Again Sports. Must have been stiff competition from both the Battlefield area (now no theatres in this area exist now) and the second-run area (only one, The Palace still lives on). Even though I only knew you late in your life, I miss you Fremont 3.