Springs 3 Theatre

The Boxoffice article Tinseltoes linked to mentions “…architect Bill Murphy, starting with the plans of Bill McGehee, architect of the Charleston project….” The Charleston project was the Ultra-Vision Theatre there, the first of its kind, designed by William B. McGehee of the firm Six Associates. I’ve been unable to find anything more about Bill Murphy, but it seems likely that he was either another member of the firm (though neither McGehee nor Murphy was among the founding members, one of whom was theater architect Erle G. Stillwell) or a Florida architect who supervised the project in Ocala.

In 1970 this would have been an ABC Florida State Theatres Ultravision Theatre. A similar one opened in Deerfield Beach just a few months later.

I just discovered this website while doing some research for a writing project, and I’m very pleased to see someone is keeping the torch lit (we lose so many great and historic theaters every year)! I’m sorry to read (above) that the old “round theater” finally lost the fight. I have a lot of good memories of that place. I worked behind the candy counter in 1987, when I was 16, and we did call it the Cineplex Odeon then, though I remember still seeing the Plitt name on things. We had a really nice guy as our manager, but I’m terrible with names…maybe Jeff? Mike? He had a mustache, I do remember that. I remember watching some great movies for free (best part of the job, of course) that summer: Full Metal Jacket, Spaceballs, The Lost Boys, Less Than Zero, La Bamba, Stakeout, Dragnet, Lethal Weapon, Robocop. And, of course, I saw many more there as a kid growing up in Ocala. And I DEFINITELY remember the kiddie movie festival on Saturday mornings. We were overrun with screaming toddlers, restless elementary schoolers, and some very stressed out moms. It was a total circus, but kinda fun, too. Of course, I wasn’t the one cleaning the aisles and seats, soooo….. Anyway, my original reason for happening onto this page was to see if I could find out if Jurassic Park (1993) ever played in this theater. I’m pretty sure I watched it at Cinemas West, but I’d like to know if it was possible to have seen it here. Anyone??

Did this theatre run 70mm and was it ever a Cinerama

This was an Ultra-Vision house, using a system developed by Wil-Kin Theater Services. In time, more than sixty Ultra-Vision theaters were opened, and as far as I know all of them were in the southeast. The system could be used with either 35 or 70mm projectors, but I think most of the houses used 35mm to keep overall costs down. Information about the system is sparse on the Internet, but as near as I can tell it uses dual projectors with their beams sent through an apparatus that blends the images seamlessly on a curved, lenticulated screen. The system was premiered at the Terrace Theater in Asheville, N.C., in 1968.