Fountains Cinema 8
801 South University Drive,
Plantation,
FL
33432
801 South University Drive,
Plantation,
FL
33432
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I remember when this theater was being finished in the summer of 1989. I had just come back to FL after my freshman year of college and was staying with a friend’s family for the summer so I could get out of the city for a few months. I took a few part time jobs, one of which was at the old GCC Broward Mall Cinema. The manager of that theater, a woman named Margie, was put in charge of the Fountains 8 and left us with a young woman who was much closer in age to the staff and we loved her and she let us get away with murder.
Margie was a bitch and a hard ass so we were happy to get rid of her. I recall the Fountains having some last minute issues and one night, shortly after opening, the A/C blew out and they had to bring the print of When Harry Met Sally, which was having a sneak preview, to the Broward Mall Theater. Of course, no one called to tell us this before we started getting customers arriving at the box office to buy tickets for a movie we didn’t know we were showing.
When The Fountains finally did get going, it was pretty nice. We were allowed to come see any movies there for free, which I took huge advantage of- The Abyss, Lethal Weapon 2, Eddie & The Cruisers 2, Turner and Hooch, Flashback, Shag… And then I went back to NYC and never came back.
This opened on July 19th, 1989. Grand opening ad in the photo section and below.
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Saw a multitude of movies here growing up. I remember hanging out in the Fountains on lazy summer days seeing all the first run blockbusters this place had to offer. Killing time at the old Circuit City right around the corner was a normal thing to do while waiting for the movie to start. Or sinking a lot of quarters into the old Final Fight machine they had in the lobby/concessions area. One great memory was going to see Mortal Kombat opening night with my brother back in 1995 and all the kids in the theater getting up on their chairs and dancing when the techno intro blasted during the opening credits.
Born Jaded is right. The sound in the main two theaters was intense. Loudest theaters I’ve ever been to. Saw Jurassic Parks 1 & 2 and The Phantom Menace there. The podrace sequence with that sound system was incredible. I could hear the dinosaur foosteps from OUTSIDE THE THEATER in the lobby!!!
Per The Miami Herald article “Changes coming soon to Fountains shopping center in Plantation” (9/13/09), the Fountains Cinema 8 has been demolished. Kohl’s is part of their redevelopment, but I don’t know if they’re on the former cinema site. At least one local resident quoted in the article wished they could have convenient moviegoing again.
Now closed, happened sometime during 2007. Haven’t been in the area for a while, but saw some mentions in the business news that a Kohl’s department store may be taking over the site. On at least one occasion, the abandoned theater was used for hazmat training exercises.
Quite a few exclusive engagements and preview screenings drew me to the Fountains in the late 80s/early 90s; as long as screenings were in one of the THX-certified auditoriums, worth the drive. Architecture was GCC’s standard blueprint from the late 80s, also as used at Deerfield Mall 8 (still open as of now) and Mission Bay 8 (Boca Raton, now LA Fitness).
So that just leaves Plantation CrossRoads (the former Mercede Cinema) for neighborhood moviegoers right now, but there’s now a third attempt going on to bring a megaplex to the Fashion Mall area.
Pretty standard mulitplex that looked better in it’s GCC days. Sunrise Cinemas last year made this place interesting by showing older films on Fridays and Saturdays as part of it’s Flashback series. They showed movies like Ghostbusters, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Pulp Fiction. 80s blockbusters were featured the most as I recall. But this only lasted a couple of months and now it’s back to business as usual.
From 1990 until about 1997, the Fountains 8 — within 3 miles of my home — was my favorite place to simply watch a movie. During this time, it was run by the General Cinemas Corporation (GCC), which withdrew from South Florida completely a few years later. When GCC ran this venue, and even now (it’s currently run by Sunrise Cinemas, a South Florida-based chain), the selection was always limited to commercial Hollywood films. One of the houses (auditorium # 8), however, was THX-certified, and the audio experience in this auditorium, as well as in the other large house (#1), was aurally orgasmic. Screens in these two houses were large, flat, and dominating, with the masking opening for ‘scope prints automatically either after or during the coming attraction trailers. Projection was crisp and clean, with the image remarkably fluid — at other venues, particularly those in the AMC and Regal chains, the image is often grainy, also suffering from curved screens.
The only problem with the Fountains, during the time it was run by GCC and still, was that four of its 8 houses were monaural. I avoided seeing films in these houses whenever I could. As time wore on, so did the theater, and a musty odor became pervasive. GCC withdrew from it in 2000, and the theater sat dormat for a couple of years before being rescued by Sunrise Cinemas, which is currently doing an admirable job of managing it, although they have not carried out any noticeable upgrades.
The theater is 8 screens not 7.
The Fountains is run by Sunrise cinemas chain. The ownwer is Mitchell Dryer who originally owned one theater in Ft Lauderdale, the Gateway. His second theater was the Galleria which he took over gfrom GCC in 1998. He than purchased the Fox theater in Sunrise from the Fox chain. He actually ruined this theater by takin 3 of the 4 large theaters and dividing them making very uncomfortable 150 seat theaters.
After GCC closed in Florida he ended up purchasing the Intercostal in MIami, this theater and the GCC in Deerfield Beach mall.