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Theaters
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October 25, 2002
New Theaters: Brooklyn, San Juan, Hamilton, Etc
We’ve just added over 30 new theaters including a large group of Brooklyn, NY movie houses thanks to Philip Goldberg, as well as a number of new listings from San Juan, Puerto Rico, courtesy of Jose Mendez.
Chad Irish has also added a number of new Hamilton, Ontario cinemas with Bryan Krefft rounding out the list with theaters from Hollywood, Florida and Dearborn, Michigan.
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October 24, 2002
Olympia Theater Reopens After Renovation
MIAMI, FL — The Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts reopened on Tuesday night following an extensive $2.1 million renovation, according to the Miami Herald. Images of the restoration of the theater’s gorgeous atmospheric interior are available at the Herald website.
The Olympia was originally constructed by the godfather of atmospheric theaters, John Eberson, and opened in 1926 for the Paramount theater circuit.
Visit the Gusman Center website
(Thanks to Dennis Huber for the update.)
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October 21, 2002
DuPage Theater Agreement Reached
LOMBARD, IL — Lombard officials and concerned residents have reached an accord which should help save the DuPage Theater while not taxing local residents. According to the Daily Herald, $3 million of state and local funds will be used to help resurrect the former movie palace, while the remaining $6.3 million will need to be raised by a new not-for-profit group.
This plan was approved last week by a 4-2 margin and should allay local concerns that the DuPage Theater project would increase property taxes. The city was able to raise the additional money by selling a parcel of land it owns which sits adjacent to the theater.
(Thanks to Bryan Krefft for the update.)
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Odeon Cinema In Nottingham Goes “Clubbing”
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND — Springwood Leisure, which operates the Zanzibar nightclub chain around England, has finally been given approval to convert the Odeon Cinema into a 2,000-capacity venue. According to the Nottingham Evening Post, the ruling comes after a 19-month battle to gain a license to operate inside the old movie palace.
Renovations will begin shortly with the latest Zanzibar scheduled to open next year.
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October 7, 2002
Lots Of New Theaters!
We’re continuing to add theaters at a blistering pace with 50 new entries added this week and 200 in the last month alone.
Thank you again to all of you who are helping us document this important part of movie history with your fond memories of those theaters which have gone dark, and a celebration of those remaining Cinema Treasures.
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October 4, 2002
Aero Theatre On Its Way Back; Benefit Screenings Scheduled
SANTA MONICA, CA — The Aero Theatre is becoming more and more fiscally sound thanks to a new publicity and fundraising campaign aimed at keeping the theater in business for years to come.
Scheduled to become part of the failed Sundance Cinemas project, the theater has seen rough times since General Cinema walked away during its bankruptcy reorganization. Luckily, the Aero’s owner, Chris Allen, has worked tirelessly during 2002 to save this Montana Avenue jewel.
Now in addition to the theater’s daily film progtamming, the Aero has also hosted a number of fundraising events with dinner, catered by the Wolfgang Puck Cafe, and a classic film screened for the general public.
If you already missed “Rebel Without A Cause”, “On The Waterfront”, or “Casablanca”, there’s still time to see “Dr. Strangelove” on October 16th at 6:00 or 9:00 pm. Tickets are $20 and include food and beverages. This is the best way to show your support for this single screen gem.
The Aero is also hosting a series of family films on Saturday and Sunday mornings with Shirley Temple in “The Little Princess” (1939) to be screened on October 5th & 6th at 11:00 a.m. Tickets are only $5.
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MoMA Film Screenings Return At The Historic Gramercy Theatre
NEW YORK, NY — With the Museum of Modern Art’s Manhattan location currently closed for a massive renovation and expansion effort, the theater’s much heralded film and media department has temporarily moved its screenings to the historic Gramercy Theatre.
The Gramercy will host its first MoMA series, “To Save and Project: The MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation” beginning October 11th. The series will run until November 7th.
The next series will be “Variations on an Enigma: The Billy Rose Tribute to Delphine Seyrig,” followed by “Isn’t It Romantic? Richard Rodgers: at the Movies” which opens in November and features six films from the 1930s and six contemporary international motion pictures.
Movies at the Gramercy are a throwback to the New York of the 1970s and 1980s when the theater was a key venue for repertory film programming before it switched to off-broadway and other live productions.
Visit the MoMA film website
Read the New York Times article on MoMA’s move to Queens -
UTCA Granted Extension On Purchase Of Uptown Theatre
CHICAGO, IL — The Uptown Theatre and Center for the Arts has been granted an extension on their $2.5 million purchase agreement for the Uptown Theatre. The following letter was sent in from the UTCA and is written by CEO Mark Zipperer:
As you are likely aware, today marks the expiration of the agreement we entered into for the … purchase of the historic Uptown Theatre. In the purchase agreement, our not-for-profit organization, the Uptown Theatre and Center for the Arts (UTCA), agreed to pay the current owner of the Theatre $2.5 million dollars.
We made a down payment of $250K and agreed to purchase the property in 120 days. Yesterday, on behalf of the UTCA, I signed an agreement with the owner of the theatre to extend our deadline to October 21. … We still do not have the funds to complete the purchase.
Our staff, board, volunteers, supporters, and community leaders remain hopeful that we can make this happen in the not-too-distant future. I ask you not to lose faith in our endeavor. We’ve accomplished much in a short period of time.
For the full text of the letter and additional press release, please visit our Uptown Theatre page’s comments section
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October 3, 2002
Elm Theater Closes After 55 Years
WEST HARTFORD, CT — The Elm Theater has finally closed down after five and a half decades of delighting suburban Hartford audiences. According to Cinema Treasures' Connecticut theater expert, Roger Katz, the theater closed this past Sunday, September 29, 2002.
No shows are listed for this coming weekend and a call to the theater confirms the sad news with the following recording: “We regret to inform you that the Elm Theater is closed. Thank you for your patronage.”
The theater had been struggling for the last few years and had been relegated to showing second-run features and was only open on the weekends. The now-twinned cinema opened as a single screen movie house in 1947 and was one of the oldest operating movie theaters in the area.
It will be missed.
(Thanks to Roger Katz for the sad news.)
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Two Theaters That Need Your Help
WASHINGTON, DC — We received the following email today from the Avalon Theatre Project seeking volunteers to help them organize and reopen their classic movie house:
Now that construction has begun at the theatre (!) we are in need of volunteers to work on a variety of initiatives. If you are interested in volunteering in any of the following areas, please let us know.
We desperately need help with:
1. Fundraising
2. Event Planning
3. PR/Publicity (press release writing, etc.)Also, so we don’t flood your list serve with e-mails, we would like to invite you all to join the ATP-Forum list serve. You can join at http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/ATP-forum
Thanks and look forward to seeing you at the movies!
To volunteer, please contact Jennifer Kaplan at .
PASADENA, CA — The Friends of the Raymond Theatre are now within less than $2000 of its goal needed to fight the owners of the former movie and concert venue who want to gut the building and erect condominiums inside the shell of the palatial theater.
The “Friends” have been given an additional week and a half by their legal team to raise the remaining funds. Gina Zamparelli, who heads the organization, desperately needs your help. Any amount (no matter how small) is welcome and can be easily submitted using PayPal and sent to .
(Thanks to all of you who can help save this beautiful theater.)