Perimeter Mall Theatre

chris32 on October 28, 2010 at 3:43 pm

Wow! I can’t believe I found this site. I sold the very first ticket at Perimeter Mall Cinema in December of 1973. I was working there nights and weekends while I did my student teaching not far away. We wore not-very-attractive navy blue skirts, white blouses with the GCC logo on them, and really horrible navy blue ties. Mr. Brainerd was the first manager, and a good guy. Mr Edmondson, the assistant manager, was hilarious. I literally learned how to operate the ticket machine about 15 minutes before the first show.
I think I saw “Billy Jack” about ten times while I worked there, and I’m still trying to figure out why.
On “special nights”, Mr. Brainerd and Mr. Edmondson would dress up in their fancy suits and try to maintain a little crowd control. We had no system of “lines” there, and customers pretty much surged up when we had a new movie opening.
I once rode my horse from the stable on Peachtree Dunwoody Road to the theatre to pick up my paycheck. I thought it was really cool, but Mr. Brainerd wasn’t too thrilled with me riding right up to the glass doors.
Memories. Glad to have found some other people who remember this place.

clubned on May 21, 2010 at 10:53 am

You guys are ALL much more knowledgeable than I am, but I saw Star Wars four times in the theater. The first was in Hattiesburg, MS in, I believe, August of ‘77. The other three would have to have been somewhere in Atlanta, and Perimeter Mall was a frequent go-to spot for us. We went to Roswell for movies a lot, and Lenox and Phipps, and the North Springs Shopping Center theater, too — which later became a $1 theater. It is odd that I would not remember where I had seen Star Wars, as I can reel off movies I saw at any given theater, but it would be even odder that I might not have seen it at Perimeter MAll. Are you sure that it NEVER played there? I remember it being held over for dozens of weeks at a time in many theaters.

By the way, Stan, I saw a photo you posted of the old Lenox Square Theatre. Amazing. Also, I saw Empire at Phipps in that 70mm run — I was there the first week of June, right after school let out. I confess, though, that I’m not sure if I saw it in the 70mm room. Did Phipps have it in more than one room during that two week run? I saw Jedi there, too, the day it came out.

Mike Rogers on October 18, 2009 at 12:30 pm

PERIMETER MALL 1 2 AND 3

NOW SHOWING WALT DISNEY’S THE BEARS AND I

FOR PETE’S SAKE

ON ANY SUNDAY

ALL CINEMAS EVERY DAY $1.25 until 2:30 The cinemas had a SMOKING LOGE..ART GALLERY..ACRES OF FREE PARKING. about 1974.

mikemercury on May 8, 2009 at 9:38 am

I may be wrong about about the May release, but I am fairly certain Star Wars was playing at Permimeter in mid-late June and throughout July because we passed the theatre often. I had a friend who saw the picture there five or six times there before we saw it in mid July.

mikemercury on May 8, 2009 at 8:47 am

In 1977 Star Wars played at the Permimeter theatre for months on end. It began running in May and played through July when I saw it for the first time. I remember the glass lobby…very neat. The air conditionnig was crazy out of control. I also saw ‘The Deep’ the same summer here.

WHITEFIELD on June 23, 2007 at 11:05 am

Remember these.
View link

dave-bronx™ on August 1, 2005 at 5:31 am

StanMalone is right about the booth automation – the Rank diode-pin board would do all kind of tricks. There were also 7-day clocks and interval timers. On the first show of the day if you had a two-reel show and the system was set up correctly and was threaded up the night before it would start the exhaust fans, turn on the audio rack, house lights, the non-sync music, turn down the lights, start the show at the appropriate time, make the change-over and shut down after the second reel, bring up the lights and turn on the non-sync music at the end of the show. In theory, nobody had to go in the booth until it was time to rewind and thread up for the second show. One GCC I worked in where all was set properly, the projectionist had been inolved in a car accident on his way to work, but everything started up and the show ran as scheduled. GCC used this system in all their theatres that were built or converted in the seventies. Though slightly complicated, it was a more flexible set-up than the equipment today.

StanMalone on July 30, 2005 at 7:02 am

The opening of the Perimeter Mall Theatre was a true watershed in the history of movie theatres in Atlanta. First, it marked the entry of the General Cinema chain into the Atlanta market. Until that time the theatre business in Atlanta was dominated by two local companies, Storey, and Georgia Theatre Company which themselves were once one company, Lucas and Jenkins. Other national chains such as Loews and Walter Reade had a small presence in Atlanta and regional chains like Martin (now Carmike) and ABC Southeastern a somewhat larger one.

The location of the Perimeter Mall also marked a big change. For years first run theatres had been slowly moving toward the northern suburbs of Atlanta as the exodus from downtown gathered steam. For the most part this consisted of the first run theatres in the Buckhead area such as Lenox, Phipps Plaza, Tara, Capri, Fine Art (now Garden Hills) and the Georgia Cinerama (listed on this site as the Georgia Twin). The northernmost first run location was the Loews 12 Oaks in Chamblee, and it had a spotty record at best in attracting first run business unless it had a can’t miss feature. But Perimeter Mall was the first theatre built outside I-285 with the first run trade in mind. It was also the first multiplex (in those days three screens was considered a multiplex) built with first run intentions. At the time Atlanta had two other triples, the Old National, later expanded to 7, and the Westgate, originally a Martin twin later bought and tripled by Georgia Theatre Company. Both of these theatres, now closed, were on the southside of Atlanta and concentrated on intermediate runs of films as they left the first run theatres to the north.

Among the other changes ushered into the market by the arrival of GCC was the lower priced bargain matinee and the policy of running an all day, “grind” schedule year round. Hard as it may be to believe now, many of the suburban first run theatres of that time, such as Phipps, Tara, 12 Oaks, and Georgia, would cut back to night showings only as business dropped off as the runs lengthened. One new feature that did not catch on was the inclusion of smoking areas. I can remember some downtown theatres such as the Rialto having roped off areas in the balcony where smoking was permitted, but at Perimeter Mall the entire left side seating sections allowed smoking and ashtrays were built into the back of each seat. I do not know when this policy ended, but it did not last long.

As mentioned in the above post, the auditoriums of the theatre were nothing to brag about. Cinema 1 held 850 seats, Cinema 2 had 550, and Cinema 3 had 420. 1 and 2 had three section seating with two aisles and 3 had two section with a center aisle. None had curtains, a common feature at the time. Instead they had the black bordered “window box” screens. I do not believe movable masking was added until later which meant that while cinemascope movies looked fine, flat presentations were left with a raw edge on the sides. All screens were lit up with a row of overhead screen lights in the trademark General Cinema blue. The walls were not draped but were covered with a thin metal curved to look like pleated drapes with holes to allow sound to be absorbed by its foam backing.

The lobby was large and well lit due to the 100% glass wall design. Unfortunately, no one bothered to check the sun angle, especially in the winter, and as a result the lobby, which faced south was almost unbearable, both heat and light wise, in the late afternoon. It was not long before louvered blinds and later curtains were installed. The theatre did not have a box office as such. Once you entered the lobby you were directed either right or left depending on which movie you were seeing and walked up to a desk with a ticket machine. Although this gave an informal modern look to the place it was a security nightmare. When the lobby started to fill up people would be standing just behind the cashiers with nothing but a velvet rope separating them from the cashiers and the open cash drawers. When business was slow, just one desk was used. The lobby was not divided by theatres. On the left was a hallway leading to Cinema 1. In the middle was a concession stand which jutted out into the lobby. On the right was a hallway leading to Cinemas 2 and 3.

The projection booth was very long and narrow. It was equipped with two Century 35MM projectors per theatre with Christie lamphouses. 6000 foot reels were provided and there were two make-up / rewind tables, one between 1 and 2 and the other between 2 and 3. As a nice touch, small windows were included on each side of the auditorium dividing walls. This allowed the operator to see into two theatres at once. One remarkable piece of equipment was the Cinemation Mark 3 Pegboard automation system. Perimeter was the second theatre in town to have this marvel (following the Doraville Mini Cinema) and in my humble opinion it was the finest piece of automated program management equipment I ever worked with. I do not recall this system ever missing a cue here or at GCC’s second Atlanta location, the Northlake which was similarly equipped.

The Perimeter Mall Theatre opened on Friday, December 21, 1973. The opening features were The Laughing Policeman, and The Seven Ups, both wide break first run movies, and The Way We Were, and intermediate break fresh from its first run engagement at the Tara. I was standing in line for the first show, and remember waiting outside and watching the manager and staff frantically unboxing trash cans and ash trays that had been delivered shortly before. After we were admitted to the lobby to stand in line to purchase tickets, we had a nice view of the Pepsi crews desperately cutting holes in the concession stand counter tops and trying to get at least some machines up and going before showtime. I was not working in projection booths at that time, but I know that the booth situation probably mirrored that of the lobby. My showing of 7 Ups included an “Also Showing” preview for 7 Ups and several stops and starts before the movie started and at least one early changeover. Obviously, the booth was not ready in time for the projectionist to have the luxury of a dry run.

Despite this rocky start, Perimeter was a hit from the beginning. In 1974 it was probably Atlanta’s top grossing theatre, all screens combined that is. Also, many films which used to open exclusive run would now open at the Perimeter Mall as well. At Christmas of 1979 a milestone was reached when Dolby was added to Cinema 1 for the first Star Trek movie. In the Spring of 1980, a sad event occurred when Cinema 1 was split into two 380 seat shoebox theatres. The Dolby system was moved to Cinema 2 which was now known as Cinema 3. In the booth, the end wall was moved to enclose some of the office space so the left projector could be moved to shoot onto the screen of the new #1. The right projector was shifted to the right to shoot into #2 and a platter was placed in between. The booth now had two houses running platter and two running reel to reel. This caused no end of aggravation in the years to come when it was necessary to move prints between houses until sometime in the 90’s when the entire booth was converted to platters. Both 1 and 2 were equipped with the up and down masking which made the flat pictures larger than scope. The only good thing to come out of this episode was the addition of side to side masking in #3 and an entirely new and larger screen in #4 also equipped with up and down masking. While all of this was going on the lobby and concession were remodeled. The ticket desks were removed and a true, secure boxoffice was built where the front doors once stood. Some of the glass area on either side was removed for the installation of new entrance doors.

This was pretty much the way Perimeter looked to the casual observer for the rest of its time. Some improvements continued to be made. Dolby was added to #4 and still later to #1 when Northlake was closed and its projectors and Dolby system were moved to Perimeter. Dolby Digital was added to #3 in 1994 but no DTS or SDDS systems were ever installed. Downstairs, the “new look” GCC concession stand was added in 1986 and an outside awning was erected around the front half of the building.

Despite these upgrades, the time for this facility was clearly past by 1990. Even though the place was well maintained, it still had that old 70’s look, and 4 screens were just not enough anymore. By the late 90’s it was little more that a moveover house for the new GCC Parkside (later known as the EFC Parkside then Madstone, and now Lefont Sandy Springs.), and the new United Artists, (now Regal) Perimeter Point. It was used to good effect as a place to hold pre opening promotional screenings because of the good size of the #3 house and the fact that you seldom had to cancel a showing of a movie that was doing good business to run your screening. Being located in the middle of a massive office park area, the site also did pretty well as a location for business meetings. It also did well showing limited appeal or “art” movies.

For years there was talk of either expanding the location or building an entirely new facility with a mall entrance. As anyone who was familiar with the GCC of the time knows, GCC was notoriously slow when it came to site choosing and building of theatres. While they were busy thinking, UA opened the Perimeter Point 10 across the street. In the end, nothing was done. As I stated in my post on the theatre at Lenox Square, I believe the mall ownership here was also less than thrilled about having a theatre using their precious parking spaces for people who were only interested in purchasing a movie ticket. This attitude became even harder when MARTA opened a train station next to the mall and riders tried to park in the mall parking lot so they could take the train downtown. An unofficial story that I was told was that the mall would allow GCC to expand or tear down and rebuild the theatre, but that they had to remain in the existing footprint. Also, the traffic situation in the area worked against the site. Ashford Dunwoody Road, which runs in front of the mall was and still is the daily site of a spectacular afternoon rush hour traffic jam. Many times we would stand in the lobby and measure the amount of time it would take for a car to pass the half mile or so stretch in front of the theatre, and 10 to 15 minutes was not unusual. Once, when I was called in during rush hour because of a booth emergency I actually parked at the MARTA station one stop to the south, rode the train to the Perimeter Mall stop, walked through the mall and across the parking lot, and arrived much sooner than I would have if I had waited in traffic.

In the final event, nothing was ever done about the location, and in 1999 the decision was made to close. On the final night, the manager invited those of us who were still in touch to come by and share some old times together. We took some pictures and were allowed to take some mementos that would not be making the trip to the GCC Parkside where anything useful was being sent. I made off with a rewind spindle and a couple of diode pegs from the automation system. My ticket stub from 1973 with its $1.00 bargain matinee price was a big hit. When it closed, the theatre had been in operation for 26 years, an eternity compared to larger and more expensive sites that are still closing today. For the record, the final frame of the movie which closed the last curtain (figuratively speaking of course since the Perimeter Mall never had a real curtain) belonged to Cider House Rules. A few months later I received a call from another former projectionist informing me that the demolition of the theatre was underway. On the way to work the next morning I stopped by and took some pictures. The auditoriums were a pile of rubble but the lobby was still mostly intact.

Anyone who has grown up in Atlanta or even lived here long is used to this sort of thing by now. I can’t say for sure, but I think I probably worked more time at Perimeter Mall Theatre than at any other single location in my entire movie theatre history, and that takes in a lot of theatres and years. The loss of the venue itself was nothing to mourn over. It was outdated and built in the less than impressive 70’s utilitarian style that bridged the gap between the downtown movies palaces of the past and the Close Encounters “spaceship” style of today. The theatre was located at the highly visible corner of Ashford Dunwoody Road and Perimeter Center West, but don’t go there today expecting to see any sign of it. After demolition was complete, the Mall completely reworked the corner and removed the theatres entrance driveway and surrounding trees and landscaping. Now, you could never tell that anything other than the existing parking lot was ever there. This is one the most visible corner lots in Atlanta and I am sure that before long a hotel or office tower will be sitting on the old theatre site.