In 2016, AMC purchased the Carmike circuit. In 2017, the Dupont would receive AMC’s CLASSIC tag that was generally given to inherited locations and those locations that would be less likely to receive a major refresh and/or expanded options under the banner, the AMC CLASSIC Fort Wayne 20. AMC closed here temporarily with the rest of the AMC locations on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened on August 27, 2020. AMC announced the permanent closure of the AMC CLASSIC Fort Wayne 20 following showtimes on July 31, 2022.
Oakwood Mall opened October 15, 1986 with the Carmike six-plex as an original attraction though launching on November 21, 1986. The Mall was overhauled in 1996 and Carmike would expand here to twelve screens on November 5, 1997 as the multiplex era had morphed into the megaplex era. In 2005, Carmike refreshed the megaplex with stadium seating.
In 2016, AMC purchased the Carmike circuit. The Oakwood would receive AMC’s CLASSIC tag that was generally given to inherited locations and those locations that would be less likely to receive a major refresh and/or expanded options. The Oakwood Mall would shed three anchors in 2017/8 in Macy’s, Younkers, and Sears. The AMC Classic Oakwood closed temporarily with the rest of the AMC locations on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened on September 3, 2020. AMC announced the permanent closure of the AMC CLASSIC Oakwood 12 following showtimes on October 2, 2022.
Add the Sun Sun Theatre to the also known as. That name change occurred on July 25, 1975 as the Sun Sun showed chopsocky films. The venue was then added by the operators of the Star Mall Twin and the Miller Road 93 as the Sun-Sun Cinema later in the year. The Sun-Sun sunsunset on July 29, 1976 at the expiry of a year over year sublease with David Chiang in “The Tong Father,” SuperChan - Kung Fu King in “Forced to Fight,” and Michael Wai-Man Chan in “Chinese Mack.” They didn’t go half way at the Sun-Sun.
The venerable Lyric Theatre closed permanently following the December 11, 1971 showing of Alan Alda in “Paper Lion.” The new Viking Theatre opened the next day, December 12, 1971, with “West Side Story.” It became the Viking 1 & 2 and then the Viking 3 in 1993.
Ellen Larsen opened the Lyric Theatre on September 7, 1914 in the Mrs. Iver Larsen building in downtown Decorah. Bathed in ivory and olive, the venue sold out its first motion picture show. The theatre added sound to remain viable. In the 1960s, it rotated bookings seasonally with the local drive-in. The Lyric closed permanently following the December 11, 1971 showing of Alan Alda in “Paper Lion.” The new Viking Theatre opened the next day with “West Side Story.”
The Grand Theatre closed for the season on June 16, 1965 with “One Man Way.” The drive-in carried the summer schedule. However, only the Lyric opened in the Fall. The Grand was next used for an art gallery.
The new-build Frana Opera House launched March 23, 1916 by L.J. Frana with “As Years Roll On,” a live show starring Al Wilson. The building also housed a drug store. The town already had a movie theater in the Palm Theater’s Movies at Calmar and Frana quickly learned that the townspeople liked movies more than live shows. Frana would briskly reposition the opera house within two months as the movie-centered Olympic Theatre after installing a $3,500 Wurlitzer pipe organ and getting the coveted Paramount Studios exclusive film contract. That would be enough to unseat the Palm Theater.
In 1930, he equipped the Olympic Theatre venue with sound and played his first talkie in “Rio Rita.” Frasna sold the theatre after 29 years of operation to John Ladue in November 1944. After a refresh that included a new sound system and new seating to the count of 280, the venue was rebooted as the Calmar Theatre. It appears that the Calmar Theatre closed June 1, 1957 with Esther Williams in “Unguarded Moment.” So while it was the Calmar Theatre also known as the Olympic Theatre, it was never the Olympia Theatre though it started as the (also known as) Frana Opera House.
The Majestic Theatre was opened by Mr. Carson with motion pictures accompanied by a Deckert piano on April 17, 1913. The grand reopening of the Majestic turned Princess Theatre occurred on September 29, 1917 with “Womanhood" and new Powers film projectors.
L.E. Palmer closed the Princess Theatre permanently on August 4, 1929 with Richard Dix in “Red Skin.” He cited the lack of patronage for silent films as the reason and there was competition just about ten miles away where the Postville Theatre had talkies. The Princess Theatre heatre was dismantled in early January with the seating and equipment moved to a nearby town’s theater.
Hod Engbertson opened the Decorah Drive-In on August 5, 1953 with a double feature of “The Lone Hand” and “Ambush at Tomahawk Gap.” It appears to have closed August 3, 1986 with “Spies Like Us” and “Cobra.”
AMC announced the permanent closure of its Classic Duncan 6 just four days after the circuit had shut down all of its locations due to COVID-19 on March 16, 2020. But the theatre reopened as the Heritage Park Theatre 6 by the Heritage Park Theatres Circuit which relaunched the 6-plex on September 8, 2020.
The local paper contends that John and Opal Gray converted a decade’s old retail building in downtown Chickasha and converted it into the Pix Theatre. Looking at the 311 Chickasha Avenue address, retail businesses are in it for decades which corroborates the newspaper’s account. Posted in photos is a February 1941 announcement of its impending opening less than a week away.
Opal Gray took over full control over the Pix Theatre during its run. She regularly advertises through December of 1952 but nothing after. That may be indicative - or not - of its closure. The paper lists a different venue for the home of the Ismo so believe it could be stricken from this entry.
The Golden Triangle is the area extending from Denton at the north point to Dallas at the southwest point and Fort Worth on the southwestern point. Each had a role in the marketing of the area to industrial, educational, and commercial development. Developers announced the mall project in 1978 under the name of the Golden Triangle Mall. It had its groundbreaking on June 22, 1978. The original outparcel United Artists was announced as one of the original tenants. That venue opened in June of 1980 (as noted above, it made it to the end of its 20-year leasing term and was shuttered). To answer the question, that outparcel has long since been razed and was later replaced by a Staybridge Suites hotel.
Competition for mall space occurred when the Vista Ridge (later Music City) Mall opened in 1989. With folks bailing out of the tarnished Golden Mall at their 15-year lease opt-outs, the Mall was refreshed including an interior space carved out for the U.A. Golden Triangle 5. The theaters thrived until major competition from a modern Cinemark megaplex across the highway. From there, the interior Mall theater fought against insurmountable odds to try and make it to the end of its lease. UA achieved that but only as a sub-run discount house. Silver Cinemas continued the venue as a discount house.
Following COVID-19, the theatre staged an unlikely comeback relaunching after a year and a half after its March 16, 2020 closure likely negotiating a sweetheart year-to-year lease on September 29, 2021. On paper, Landmark Theatres took over the venue from its own Silver Cinemas in February of 2022 when the circuit dissolved the Silver Cinemas nameplate. The theater escalated to first-run when discount titles were challenging to find and customers of second-run product almost as rare. The customer base was thin with the theater finally operating only on weekends as it reached its first anniversary in its post-COVID closure existence.
Landmark closed here on September 25, 2022 likely bailing instead of opting for another year (if that was indeed the agreement). That left Texas with a single Landmark location in the Inwood Theatre. The Mall management obviously likes the foot traffic offered by a theater and hopefully it will return. But the odds seemed likely against it with modern megaplexes and destination bar/food alternatives very close by.
The Chickasha Theatre launched on February 20, 1926 with Monte Blue in “The Limited Mail" at 206 West Chickasha Street, 73018. C.B. Hudson took on the venue in January of 1932 and gave it a major refresh. It reopened on June 1, 1932 as the New Midwest Theatre with William Haines in “Are You Listening?”
Southern Theatres closed here moving a block away to the former Kozy Theatre as the New, New Midwest Theatre. Unfortunately, it suffered a major fire on April 2, 1936. So the former location was opened for a short period as the Ismo Theatre beginning on April 19, 1936. The Ismo Theatre continued, however, even when the New, New, New Midwest relaunched post-fire. Then Southern Theatres acquired the Ritz Theatre from Consolidated Theatres. When Southern took on the Ritz, they closed the Ismo. The Ismo Theatre was shuttered here permanently on December 4, 1937 with a local talent amateur night show. The building has been demolished and replaced.
The Kozy Theatre was opened by W.C. Blackstone. Blackstone had previously operated the Star Theatre beginning with its launch on September 23, 1909. The first Kozy opened in an existing retail location on Third Street in downtown Chickasha opening September 26, 1911. Business for five cent films was brisk. When the Prince Pool Hall burned down on West Chickasha Avenue, Blackstone built a new Kozy Theatre at this address.
The New Kozy Theatre launched Ocotber 5, 1912. One of its first ads stated, “The only theater that is safe from fire. All our wires are in conduits.” Opening films were “Honeybugg’s First Quarrel,” “Foreman’s Cousin,” and “The Price of Art” with music from the Humphries Orchestra. In 1914, J.D. Sugg of the Sugg Theatre acquired the venue and it was simply called, Kozy Theatre dropping “New.” Sugg died in 1925. The theater closed in 1930. Fred P. Hoenscheidt, operator of the Sugg and Rialto, reopened the Kozy with a new sound system in 1932. In 1935, he remodeled the It closed in 1935 the day the Rialto opened with its remodeled, streamlined look. The Kozy Theatre was closed the day that the new-look Rialto closed.
The first Midwest Theatre had opened on June 1, 1932 as the New Midwest Theatre in the former Chickasha Theatre location at 206 Chickasha Street. The venue reopened on February 14, 1933. The theatre moved here to 316 Chickasha only to suffer a major fire April 2, 1936. Then in 1936, Southwestern Theatres Circuit, Inc. decided to rebuild the fire-damaged venue. In the interim, it relit on old venue as the Ismo. They then relaunched the Midwest Theatre and, though there is some doubt on this, it’s extremely likely that it was here in the former Kozy location. Merging with Griffith Amusement, the Midwest was in the Griffith Southwestern portfolio which also included the Washita, Ritz and Rialto. Griffith closed the Midwest on June 14, 1949 after showings of John Wayne in “Seven Sinners.” That closure turned out to be permanent.
The circuit moved the Midwest’s summer bookings to the new outdoor Chief Drive-In. It promised that the Midwest would return in the Fall. But when the Chief closed for the season late in 1949, the town only had its Washita, Ritz and Rialto theaters to choose from.
The facility was retrofitted for other retail purposes, including a snooker parlor. Because the Kozy Theatre had replaced the burned down Prince Pool Hall, it seemed highly appropriate that the Midwest Theatre was replaced with the Men’s Club’s Snooker Parlor. Bottom line, this can be listed as previously the New Kozy Theatre and the Kozy Theatre with fairly high confidence
The multiplex era had arrived in Chickasha in the form of the Valleyview Theaters 6. Built in 1999, the venue was operated by Robert Goerge who had previously been associated with the Heritage Park Theatres in Altus and Elk City. It launched on August 27, 1999. The theater was then listed as two words - the Valley View Theaters. On July 12, 2006, it became attached to the Heritage Park family of theaters and renamed as the Heritage Park Valley View Theaters 6. At the end of 2006, it became the Heritage Park Theatres (formerly - and dropping - the Valley View). Today it goes by the name Heritage Park Theater 6.
The Southland Shopping Center opened theatre-lessly in 1965. 15 years later, an outparcel building was constructed becoming the Southland Twin Theatre launched on September 25, 1981 with John Travolta in “Blow Out” and a Walt Disney double-feature with “Swiss Family Robinson” and “Herbie Rides Again.” After consistently advertising in the local paper, it stopped advertising in 1997 which may - or may not - be indicative of its closing date.
Pat R. on November 29, 2014 at 2:56 am wrote the following:
Lived in Hollywood and started driving in ‘77. Saw Cannonball, Texas Chainsaw Massacre(!), Scanners and a few more at the Southland Twin! Though Texas C.M. was released in ‘74, I believe, it was apparently re-released a few years later! Great place! Not huge, but never too crowded and very lenient in admitting under 17 year old kids to R rated films! Yaaaay! haha!
Groundbreaking for the $3 million Tarpon Mall took place in February of 1969. An original destination in the mall was Floyd Theatre’s Tarpon Mall Theatre, a 430-seat single screen venture. The first store, an Eckerd Drug Store opened first in the center on June 26, 1969. Judy Limoseth was the opening manager of the Tarpon Mall Theatre that launched on December 9, 1969 with “Winning” starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. It was the Floyd Circuit’s 45th theater and likely was operating on a 30-year leasing agreement.
The venue was twinned into two, 230-seat auditoriums on March 16, 1978 with “Saturday Night Fever” and “Greek Show” becoming the Tarpon Mall Twin Cinema I & II. An oddity occurred at the Tarpon Mall Twin on June 22, 1987. The assistant manager spoke about a frequent ghost in the cinema named George. He invited two men into one of the auditoriums as he put together a print of “The Devil’s Own” to test it. He then put together another print in auditorium on audi 2 of “Volcano.” One of the two invited transients went into see “Volcano.” The assistant manager thinking the house was empty heard noises attributing them to ghost, “George.” He picked up a wrench and clubbed the ghost injuring the guest and landing the assistant manager in jail.
As the theater’s lease was getting close to its expiry, the days of twin screen theater’s viability was long since past. Tarpon Mall Twin was closed on October 15, 1998 with Kirsten Dunst in “Small Soldiers” & Bruce Willis in “Armageddon”. It was demolished around 2004 to make way for a new strip center.
Closed on October 8, 1978 with Charles Bronson in “From Noon Till Three” and Peter Sellers in “Revenge of the Pink Panther.” Wometco then sold the Coral Way to investors for a proposed shopping center. The C.W.-D.I. was razed in 1979.
Located in the Midway Mall, the Midway Theatre had a 16-year run and was ostensibly replaced by a multiplex when the Mall was rebranded in 1987. The Midway Mall project was announced at the end of 1966 and would be designed by architect Donald Reiff with some drawings by Carlos Roman (Roman’s sketch in photos). The sensibilities of the Midway Mall may have had some commonalities with the Lauderhill Mall as both malls were by the same developers and had two anchors in common as well as the movie theater on the backside.
The Midway Mall inked three anchors in 1967 with Woolworth’s big box Woolco and Richard’s Department Store (also in the Lauderhill) and J.B. Hunter’s. It would also scoop up 70 interior retailers including a movie theater. The theatre was built during the latter stages of the luxury suburban cinema movement in film exhibition. Like most suburban theaters that were locatd in or near retail strips or malls, the Midway Theatre would offer a large screen (this one offered “Dimension depth”), comfy seats,“ acres of free parking,” an art gallery, and quality sound (here they had the non-patented, “Ultra-fidelity”).The groundbreaking ceremony for the Midway Mall took place on March 13, 1969.
The Mall opened unevenly beginning with Woolco in September of 1970. That was followed by the Richard’s and Hunters on October 14, 1970. One week later, on October 21, 1970, Holiday Theatres launched the Midway Theatre with a sub-run George C. Scott in “Patton” for a buck (ad in photos). The theatre operated at its mall address of 7793 West Flagler. And the opening date and address furnished in the entry above are certainly close enough. The Midway Mall’s official grand opening took place on February 3, 1971 and in the mall grand opening ad, the Midway Theatre was on top.
Even prior to the 20-year leases coming due, it was clear that the Mall’s concept didn’t match the trajectory of the population shift within the area. The theatre also had arrived as the twins and triple cinema was more in vogue. By the time the third operator came into the flagging cinema, the Mall’s fortunes were fading. Midway Mall had reached “greyscale status” – a term akin to a dead mall in which vacancies outpace functional retailers. The Midway Theatre operator tried to connect with the Latin and Hispanic audiences with heavier programming of Spanish language films. However, the theater closed permanently on November 2, 1986 with the Argenitanian film “la historia oficial” starring Norma Aleandro.
The mall would be repositioned as the Mall of the Americas in 1987. Now film exhibition was a multiplex world and a single-screener just wouldn’t cut it. MOA added an eight-screen venue for AMC Theatres in 1988 that then expanded to 14 screens in 1992 just as the megaplex era was about to open. The AMC closed in 2015. The original mall theatre space appears to have been demolished in one of the remodeling efforts and the AMC theatre was demolished in 2018. With the Mall of Americas concept reaching its 25th year and the departure of those lessees, the Mall was again rebranded. This time it was named the Midway Crossings. That 2022 refresh came with exterior entries afforded to more retailers for easier access and closer parking for individual stores. It was the first of the three iterations of the mall not to have a movie theater.
Final showtimes were January 11, 1963 “The Humanoids” and “Magic Voyage of Sinbad.”
In 2016, AMC purchased the Carmike circuit. In 2017, the Dupont would receive AMC’s CLASSIC tag that was generally given to inherited locations and those locations that would be less likely to receive a major refresh and/or expanded options under the banner, the AMC CLASSIC Fort Wayne 20. AMC closed here temporarily with the rest of the AMC locations on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened on August 27, 2020. AMC announced the permanent closure of the AMC CLASSIC Fort Wayne 20 following showtimes on July 31, 2022.
The theatre had a great 50-year run until closing after October 2, 2022 showtimes.
Oakwood Mall opened October 15, 1986 with the Carmike six-plex as an original attraction though launching on November 21, 1986. The Mall was overhauled in 1996 and Carmike would expand here to twelve screens on November 5, 1997 as the multiplex era had morphed into the megaplex era. In 2005, Carmike refreshed the megaplex with stadium seating.
In 2016, AMC purchased the Carmike circuit. The Oakwood would receive AMC’s CLASSIC tag that was generally given to inherited locations and those locations that would be less likely to receive a major refresh and/or expanded options. The Oakwood Mall would shed three anchors in 2017/8 in Macy’s, Younkers, and Sears. The AMC Classic Oakwood closed temporarily with the rest of the AMC locations on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened on September 3, 2020. AMC announced the permanent closure of the AMC CLASSIC Oakwood 12 following showtimes on October 2, 2022.
From the Dipson Theatres Facebook feed announcing its closure
Add the Sun Sun Theatre to the also known as. That name change occurred on July 25, 1975 as the Sun Sun showed chopsocky films. The venue was then added by the operators of the Star Mall Twin and the Miller Road 93 as the Sun-Sun Cinema later in the year. The Sun-Sun sunsunset on July 29, 1976 at the expiry of a year over year sublease with David Chiang in “The Tong Father,” SuperChan - Kung Fu King in “Forced to Fight,” and Michael Wai-Man Chan in “Chinese Mack.” They didn’t go half way at the Sun-Sun.
The venerable Lyric Theatre closed permanently following the December 11, 1971 showing of Alan Alda in “Paper Lion.” The new Viking Theatre opened the next day, December 12, 1971, with “West Side Story.” It became the Viking 1 & 2 and then the Viking 3 in 1993.
Ellen Larsen opened the Lyric Theatre on September 7, 1914 in the Mrs. Iver Larsen building in downtown Decorah. Bathed in ivory and olive, the venue sold out its first motion picture show. The theatre added sound to remain viable. In the 1960s, it rotated bookings seasonally with the local drive-in. The Lyric closed permanently following the December 11, 1971 showing of Alan Alda in “Paper Lion.” The new Viking Theatre opened the next day with “West Side Story.”
The Grand Theatre closed for the season on June 16, 1965 with “One Man Way.” The drive-in carried the summer schedule. However, only the Lyric opened in the Fall. The Grand was next used for an art gallery.
The new-build Frana Opera House launched March 23, 1916 by L.J. Frana with “As Years Roll On,” a live show starring Al Wilson. The building also housed a drug store. The town already had a movie theater in the Palm Theater’s Movies at Calmar and Frana quickly learned that the townspeople liked movies more than live shows. Frana would briskly reposition the opera house within two months as the movie-centered Olympic Theatre after installing a $3,500 Wurlitzer pipe organ and getting the coveted Paramount Studios exclusive film contract. That would be enough to unseat the Palm Theater.
In 1930, he equipped the Olympic Theatre venue with sound and played his first talkie in “Rio Rita.” Frasna sold the theatre after 29 years of operation to John Ladue in November 1944. After a refresh that included a new sound system and new seating to the count of 280, the venue was rebooted as the Calmar Theatre. It appears that the Calmar Theatre closed June 1, 1957 with Esther Williams in “Unguarded Moment.” So while it was the Calmar Theatre also known as the Olympic Theatre, it was never the Olympia Theatre though it started as the (also known as) Frana Opera House.
The Majestic Theatre was opened by Mr. Carson with motion pictures accompanied by a Deckert piano on April 17, 1913. The grand reopening of the Majestic turned Princess Theatre occurred on September 29, 1917 with “Womanhood" and new Powers film projectors.
L.E. Palmer closed the Princess Theatre permanently on August 4, 1929 with Richard Dix in “Red Skin.” He cited the lack of patronage for silent films as the reason and there was competition just about ten miles away where the Postville Theatre had talkies. The Princess Theatre heatre was dismantled in early January with the seating and equipment moved to a nearby town’s theater.
Hod Engbertson opened the Decorah Drive-In on August 5, 1953 with a double feature of “The Lone Hand” and “Ambush at Tomahawk Gap.” It appears to have closed August 3, 1986 with “Spies Like Us” and “Cobra.”
AMC announced the permanent closure of its Classic Duncan 6 just four days after the circuit had shut down all of its locations due to COVID-19 on March 16, 2020. But the theatre reopened as the Heritage Park Theatre 6 by the Heritage Park Theatres Circuit which relaunched the 6-plex on September 8, 2020.
The local paper contends that John and Opal Gray converted a decade’s old retail building in downtown Chickasha and converted it into the Pix Theatre. Looking at the 311 Chickasha Avenue address, retail businesses are in it for decades which corroborates the newspaper’s account. Posted in photos is a February 1941 announcement of its impending opening less than a week away.
Opal Gray took over full control over the Pix Theatre during its run. She regularly advertises through December of 1952 but nothing after. That may be indicative - or not - of its closure. The paper lists a different venue for the home of the Ismo so believe it could be stricken from this entry.
The Golden Triangle is the area extending from Denton at the north point to Dallas at the southwest point and Fort Worth on the southwestern point. Each had a role in the marketing of the area to industrial, educational, and commercial development. Developers announced the mall project in 1978 under the name of the Golden Triangle Mall. It had its groundbreaking on June 22, 1978. The original outparcel United Artists was announced as one of the original tenants. That venue opened in June of 1980 (as noted above, it made it to the end of its 20-year leasing term and was shuttered). To answer the question, that outparcel has long since been razed and was later replaced by a Staybridge Suites hotel.
Competition for mall space occurred when the Vista Ridge (later Music City) Mall opened in 1989. With folks bailing out of the tarnished Golden Mall at their 15-year lease opt-outs, the Mall was refreshed including an interior space carved out for the U.A. Golden Triangle 5. The theaters thrived until major competition from a modern Cinemark megaplex across the highway. From there, the interior Mall theater fought against insurmountable odds to try and make it to the end of its lease. UA achieved that but only as a sub-run discount house. Silver Cinemas continued the venue as a discount house.
Following COVID-19, the theatre staged an unlikely comeback relaunching after a year and a half after its March 16, 2020 closure likely negotiating a sweetheart year-to-year lease on September 29, 2021. On paper, Landmark Theatres took over the venue from its own Silver Cinemas in February of 2022 when the circuit dissolved the Silver Cinemas nameplate. The theater escalated to first-run when discount titles were challenging to find and customers of second-run product almost as rare. The customer base was thin with the theater finally operating only on weekends as it reached its first anniversary in its post-COVID closure existence.
Landmark closed here on September 25, 2022 likely bailing instead of opting for another year (if that was indeed the agreement). That left Texas with a single Landmark location in the Inwood Theatre. The Mall management obviously likes the foot traffic offered by a theater and hopefully it will return. But the odds seemed likely against it with modern megaplexes and destination bar/food alternatives very close by.
Landmark has temporarily closed the Golden Triangle location as of September 26, 2022
The Chickasha Theatre launched on February 20, 1926 with Monte Blue in “The Limited Mail" at 206 West Chickasha Street, 73018. C.B. Hudson took on the venue in January of 1932 and gave it a major refresh. It reopened on June 1, 1932 as the New Midwest Theatre with William Haines in “Are You Listening?”
Southern Theatres closed here moving a block away to the former Kozy Theatre as the New, New Midwest Theatre. Unfortunately, it suffered a major fire on April 2, 1936. So the former location was opened for a short period as the Ismo Theatre beginning on April 19, 1936. The Ismo Theatre continued, however, even when the New, New, New Midwest relaunched post-fire. Then Southern Theatres acquired the Ritz Theatre from Consolidated Theatres. When Southern took on the Ritz, they closed the Ismo. The Ismo Theatre was shuttered here permanently on December 4, 1937 with a local talent amateur night show. The building has been demolished and replaced.
The Kozy Theatre was opened by W.C. Blackstone. Blackstone had previously operated the Star Theatre beginning with its launch on September 23, 1909. The first Kozy opened in an existing retail location on Third Street in downtown Chickasha opening September 26, 1911. Business for five cent films was brisk. When the Prince Pool Hall burned down on West Chickasha Avenue, Blackstone built a new Kozy Theatre at this address.
The New Kozy Theatre launched Ocotber 5, 1912. One of its first ads stated, “The only theater that is safe from fire. All our wires are in conduits.” Opening films were “Honeybugg’s First Quarrel,” “Foreman’s Cousin,” and “The Price of Art” with music from the Humphries Orchestra. In 1914, J.D. Sugg of the Sugg Theatre acquired the venue and it was simply called, Kozy Theatre dropping “New.” Sugg died in 1925. The theater closed in 1930. Fred P. Hoenscheidt, operator of the Sugg and Rialto, reopened the Kozy with a new sound system in 1932. In 1935, he remodeled the It closed in 1935 the day the Rialto opened with its remodeled, streamlined look. The Kozy Theatre was closed the day that the new-look Rialto closed.
The first Midwest Theatre had opened on June 1, 1932 as the New Midwest Theatre in the former Chickasha Theatre location at 206 Chickasha Street. The venue reopened on February 14, 1933. The theatre moved here to 316 Chickasha only to suffer a major fire April 2, 1936. Then in 1936, Southwestern Theatres Circuit, Inc. decided to rebuild the fire-damaged venue. In the interim, it relit on old venue as the Ismo. They then relaunched the Midwest Theatre and, though there is some doubt on this, it’s extremely likely that it was here in the former Kozy location. Merging with Griffith Amusement, the Midwest was in the Griffith Southwestern portfolio which also included the Washita, Ritz and Rialto. Griffith closed the Midwest on June 14, 1949 after showings of John Wayne in “Seven Sinners.” That closure turned out to be permanent.
The circuit moved the Midwest’s summer bookings to the new outdoor Chief Drive-In. It promised that the Midwest would return in the Fall. But when the Chief closed for the season late in 1949, the town only had its Washita, Ritz and Rialto theaters to choose from.
The facility was retrofitted for other retail purposes, including a snooker parlor. Because the Kozy Theatre had replaced the burned down Prince Pool Hall, it seemed highly appropriate that the Midwest Theatre was replaced with the Men’s Club’s Snooker Parlor. Bottom line, this can be listed as previously the New Kozy Theatre and the Kozy Theatre with fairly high confidence
The multiplex era had arrived in Chickasha in the form of the Valleyview Theaters 6. Built in 1999, the venue was operated by Robert Goerge who had previously been associated with the Heritage Park Theatres in Altus and Elk City. It launched on August 27, 1999. The theater was then listed as two words - the Valley View Theaters. On July 12, 2006, it became attached to the Heritage Park family of theaters and renamed as the Heritage Park Valley View Theaters 6. At the end of 2006, it became the Heritage Park Theatres (formerly - and dropping - the Valley View). Today it goes by the name Heritage Park Theater 6.
The Southland Shopping Center opened theatre-lessly in 1965. 15 years later, an outparcel building was constructed becoming the Southland Twin Theatre launched on September 25, 1981 with John Travolta in “Blow Out” and a Walt Disney double-feature with “Swiss Family Robinson” and “Herbie Rides Again.” After consistently advertising in the local paper, it stopped advertising in 1997 which may - or may not - be indicative of its closing date.
Pat R. on November 29, 2014 at 2:56 am wrote the following:
Lived in Hollywood and started driving in ‘77. Saw Cannonball, Texas Chainsaw Massacre(!), Scanners and a few more at the Southland Twin! Though Texas C.M. was released in ‘74, I believe, it was apparently re-released a few years later! Great place! Not huge, but never too crowded and very lenient in admitting under 17 year old kids to R rated films! Yaaaay! haha!
Closed December 27, 1987 with “Stakeout.”
Groundbreaking for the $3 million Tarpon Mall took place in February of 1969. An original destination in the mall was Floyd Theatre’s Tarpon Mall Theatre, a 430-seat single screen venture. The first store, an Eckerd Drug Store opened first in the center on June 26, 1969. Judy Limoseth was the opening manager of the Tarpon Mall Theatre that launched on December 9, 1969 with “Winning” starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. It was the Floyd Circuit’s 45th theater and likely was operating on a 30-year leasing agreement.
The venue was twinned into two, 230-seat auditoriums on March 16, 1978 with “Saturday Night Fever” and “Greek Show” becoming the Tarpon Mall Twin Cinema I & II. An oddity occurred at the Tarpon Mall Twin on June 22, 1987. The assistant manager spoke about a frequent ghost in the cinema named George. He invited two men into one of the auditoriums as he put together a print of “The Devil’s Own” to test it. He then put together another print in auditorium on audi 2 of “Volcano.” One of the two invited transients went into see “Volcano.” The assistant manager thinking the house was empty heard noises attributing them to ghost, “George.” He picked up a wrench and clubbed the ghost injuring the guest and landing the assistant manager in jail.
As the theater’s lease was getting close to its expiry, the days of twin screen theater’s viability was long since past. Tarpon Mall Twin was closed on October 15, 1998 with Kirsten Dunst in “Small Soldiers” & Bruce Willis in “Armageddon”. It was demolished around 2004 to make way for a new strip center.
Closed on October 8, 1978 with Charles Bronson in “From Noon Till Three” and Peter Sellers in “Revenge of the Pink Panther.” Wometco then sold the Coral Way to investors for a proposed shopping center. The C.W.-D.I. was razed in 1979.
Located in the Midway Mall, the Midway Theatre had a 16-year run and was ostensibly replaced by a multiplex when the Mall was rebranded in 1987. The Midway Mall project was announced at the end of 1966 and would be designed by architect Donald Reiff with some drawings by Carlos Roman (Roman’s sketch in photos). The sensibilities of the Midway Mall may have had some commonalities with the Lauderhill Mall as both malls were by the same developers and had two anchors in common as well as the movie theater on the backside.
The Midway Mall inked three anchors in 1967 with Woolworth’s big box Woolco and Richard’s Department Store (also in the Lauderhill) and J.B. Hunter’s. It would also scoop up 70 interior retailers including a movie theater. The theatre was built during the latter stages of the luxury suburban cinema movement in film exhibition. Like most suburban theaters that were locatd in or near retail strips or malls, the Midway Theatre would offer a large screen (this one offered “Dimension depth”), comfy seats,“ acres of free parking,” an art gallery, and quality sound (here they had the non-patented, “Ultra-fidelity”).The groundbreaking ceremony for the Midway Mall took place on March 13, 1969.
The Mall opened unevenly beginning with Woolco in September of 1970. That was followed by the Richard’s and Hunters on October 14, 1970. One week later, on October 21, 1970, Holiday Theatres launched the Midway Theatre with a sub-run George C. Scott in “Patton” for a buck (ad in photos). The theatre operated at its mall address of 7793 West Flagler. And the opening date and address furnished in the entry above are certainly close enough. The Midway Mall’s official grand opening took place on February 3, 1971 and in the mall grand opening ad, the Midway Theatre was on top.
Even prior to the 20-year leases coming due, it was clear that the Mall’s concept didn’t match the trajectory of the population shift within the area. The theatre also had arrived as the twins and triple cinema was more in vogue. By the time the third operator came into the flagging cinema, the Mall’s fortunes were fading. Midway Mall had reached “greyscale status” – a term akin to a dead mall in which vacancies outpace functional retailers. The Midway Theatre operator tried to connect with the Latin and Hispanic audiences with heavier programming of Spanish language films. However, the theater closed permanently on November 2, 1986 with the Argenitanian film “la historia oficial” starring Norma Aleandro.
The mall would be repositioned as the Mall of the Americas in 1987. Now film exhibition was a multiplex world and a single-screener just wouldn’t cut it. MOA added an eight-screen venue for AMC Theatres in 1988 that then expanded to 14 screens in 1992 just as the megaplex era was about to open. The AMC closed in 2015. The original mall theatre space appears to have been demolished in one of the remodeling efforts and the AMC theatre was demolished in 2018. With the Mall of Americas concept reaching its 25th year and the departure of those lessees, the Mall was again rebranded. This time it was named the Midway Crossings. That 2022 refresh came with exterior entries afforded to more retailers for easier access and closer parking for individual stores. It was the first of the three iterations of the mall not to have a movie theater.