The local media has reported that the city council is again extending the time frame for the developer to purchase the Carolina. The hope is that the economy can recover enough to support this development and construction could begin by 2011.
The official name was Trans-Lux Inflight Cinema and they originally used 16mm film projectors like airlines first did. The individual screens were known at various times as cine gold & cine blue or cine 1 & 2. It was in a strip center anchored by a Zayre discount store.
This is a great theater that does good business. I like the sympathetic subdivision of the original theater and the use of old theater artifacts in the new construction. The original bathrooms were recently remodeled and I was surprised that they took out the old fixtures. The finished product looks like any new bathroom anywhere. I loved the old urinals that went to the floor. I wish they had left them alone. Old fixtures are fine as long as they are kept clean.
The installation of Cinerama into the Carolina required about three weeks which resulted in drastic changes to the interior. Out went any remains of the semi-atmospheric Spanish decor. The deeply curved Cinerama screen spilled out well beyond the 40 foot proscenium. The entire interior was draped which caused much damage to the high relief plaster ornamentation. The three projection booths were added to the rear of the orchestra floor and a large wedge was cut out from the underside of the balcony to allow the images to reach the top of the screen. The ground level of the exterior facade was modernized at this time as well.
The Carolina remained the number one house in Charlotte through the sixties even as some newer suburban cinemas increased competition. After all the 3 strip Cinerama films were shown the programming expanded to include other big roadshow features. Extended runs of such popular movies as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, The Sound of Music', ‘Dr. Zhivago’ and a re-issue of ‘Gone with the Wind’ sent several of the single strip Cinerama films into general release runs at other area theaters.
Charlotte was one of the smaller markets to get a Cinerama theater and it drew from both North and South Carolina. Today on the opposite corner from the shuttered Carolina stands the Discovery Place IMAX Dome Theater which carries on with the tradition of cutting edge large format film programming for the region.
The Auditorium was opened in 1908 for the Democratic State Convention and was by architect L.L. Hunter. It was dismantled and moved to its current location in 1932. Its original capacity was 4500 including a balcony and gallery but the main floor was probably movable seats to accommodate a variety of different style events.
The following entertainers appeared on stage here: John Phillips Sousa on 1-26-06, Sarah Bernhardt 1-8-17, Julian Eltinge on 1-29-17, Billie Burke on 3-1-15 and Helen Keller on 4-27-16. New film projectors were installed for movies in September 1913.
Along with the movies that played here the following entertainers appeared on stage: John Phillips Sousa in 1922 & ‘24, Anna Pavlova in '22, Paderewski in '23 and Will Rogers in '26.
At 24 screens this is the largest Charlotte area megaplex. It’s inside a big mall and near the Lowe’s Motor Speedway. It always seems to do good business.
The Broadway was a Warner Brothers house in the 20’s which explains the early conversion to sound movies. I found one report in the local media from the 50’s stating that it was the 5th theater in the country to put in the vitaphone sound system but I’m not sure how accurate that is – Charlotte was a very small market back then.
Their was an earlier theater in Charlotte called the Broadway that also showed movies. It stood at 15 W. Trade Street and operated in the teens and early 20’s.
This was the first megaplex and the first stadium seating theater in the Charlotte area when it opened in the mid 90’s. Since that time just about every theater in the area has been built with stadium seating or been remodeled to include it.
The Park Terrace has been converted to an art house as part of Regal’s Cinema Art programming arm. This is probably in anticipation of the rumored closing of the Manor Theater which is the areas long time art house. the Manor is also programmed by Regal and is only a mile or two away from the Park Terrace. It’s unlikely both will stay open long with this programming format.
Also, the world premier of the Elvis Presley movie ‘Speedway’ took place at the Park Terrace on June 12, 1968
It looks like the Manor was twinned in 1984 according to the movie listings in the local paper from that era.
The local media has reported that the city council is again extending the time frame for the developer to purchase the Carolina. The hope is that the economy can recover enough to support this development and construction could begin by 2011.
The official name was Trans-Lux Inflight Cinema and they originally used 16mm film projectors like airlines first did. The individual screens were known at various times as cine gold & cine blue or cine 1 & 2. It was in a strip center anchored by a Zayre discount store.
This is a great theater that does good business. I like the sympathetic subdivision of the original theater and the use of old theater artifacts in the new construction. The original bathrooms were recently remodeled and I was surprised that they took out the old fixtures. The finished product looks like any new bathroom anywhere. I loved the old urinals that went to the floor. I wish they had left them alone. Old fixtures are fine as long as they are kept clean.
This is a duplicate listing. It is already on CT as the Plaza Theatre.
This is a duplicate listing. This theater is already on CT.
This is a duplicate listing. It is already on CT as the Hanes Mall Cinema
This is a duplicate listing. The Orpheum in Oxford is already on CT.
The installation of Cinerama into the Carolina required about three weeks which resulted in drastic changes to the interior. Out went any remains of the semi-atmospheric Spanish decor. The deeply curved Cinerama screen spilled out well beyond the 40 foot proscenium. The entire interior was draped which caused much damage to the high relief plaster ornamentation. The three projection booths were added to the rear of the orchestra floor and a large wedge was cut out from the underside of the balcony to allow the images to reach the top of the screen. The ground level of the exterior facade was modernized at this time as well.
The Carolina remained the number one house in Charlotte through the sixties even as some newer suburban cinemas increased competition. After all the 3 strip Cinerama films were shown the programming expanded to include other big roadshow features. Extended runs of such popular movies as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, The Sound of Music', ‘Dr. Zhivago’ and a re-issue of ‘Gone with the Wind’ sent several of the single strip Cinerama films into general release runs at other area theaters.
Charlotte was one of the smaller markets to get a Cinerama theater and it drew from both North and South Carolina. Today on the opposite corner from the shuttered Carolina stands the Discovery Place IMAX Dome Theater which carries on with the tradition of cutting edge large format film programming for the region.
The Auditorium was opened in 1908 for the Democratic State Convention and was by architect L.L. Hunter. It was dismantled and moved to its current location in 1932. Its original capacity was 4500 including a balcony and gallery but the main floor was probably movable seats to accommodate a variety of different style events.
The following entertainers appeared on stage here: John Phillips Sousa on 1-26-06, Sarah Bernhardt 1-8-17, Julian Eltinge on 1-29-17, Billie Burke on 3-1-15 and Helen Keller on 4-27-16. New film projectors were installed for movies in September 1913.
Along with the movies that played here the following entertainers appeared on stage: John Phillips Sousa in 1922 & ‘24, Anna Pavlova in '22, Paderewski in '23 and Will Rogers in '26.
Originally know as the Movies at Sardis when it was run by Eastern Federal. It started life as an 8 sceen complex.
By the 90’s this place was twinned and renamed the Silver Screen Cafe.
The Park Terrace was first twinned in 1975.
This theater opened in April ‘86.
The Queen Park opened in December ‘82.
The Capri opened in 1964. It was first twinned in 1975 and a third screen was constructed along side the original structure a few years after that.
The World premier of the documentary ‘Stockcar!’ took place here on May 27, 1977.
This theater opened in 1971 as a twin. It was split into 4 screens in 1984.
This theater opened in 1975 and was the first triplex in Charlotte.
At 24 screens this is the largest Charlotte area megaplex. It’s inside a big mall and near the Lowe’s Motor Speedway. It always seems to do good business.
The Broadway was a Warner Brothers house in the 20’s which explains the early conversion to sound movies. I found one report in the local media from the 50’s stating that it was the 5th theater in the country to put in the vitaphone sound system but I’m not sure how accurate that is – Charlotte was a very small market back then.
Their was an earlier theater in Charlotte called the Broadway that also showed movies. It stood at 15 W. Trade Street and operated in the teens and early 20’s.
This was the first megaplex and the first stadium seating theater in the Charlotte area when it opened in the mid 90’s. Since that time just about every theater in the area has been built with stadium seating or been remodeled to include it.
The Park Terrace has been converted to an art house as part of Regal’s Cinema Art programming arm. This is probably in anticipation of the rumored closing of the Manor Theater which is the areas long time art house. the Manor is also programmed by Regal and is only a mile or two away from the Park Terrace. It’s unlikely both will stay open long with this programming format.
Also, the world premier of the Elvis Presley movie ‘Speedway’ took place at the Park Terrace on June 12, 1968
The World Premier of the movie ‘The Vanishing American’ took place at the Imperial on September 21, 1925.