Village Cinema

dallasmovietheaters on September 14, 2018 at 7:23 pm

The Village Mall opened at 300 Main Street with 31 stores in May of 1974 as the key retail concept in East Rochester’s urban renewal. The Jerry Lewis Village Cinema opened in the Village Mall on May 22, 1974 with “Newman’s Law.” But the mall was a disaster quickly running into financial difficulties. In 1975, the mall owners declared bankruptcy which likely gave lease holders an opportunity to bail.

The Jerry Lewis Cinema left at the end of August of 1975 followed by the A&P Grocery Store in 1976 and Neisner’s in 1977 leaving the mall without traditional anchor stores. New mall owners came in during 1977 and gave the mall hope. The cinema opened as the rebranded Box 5 Cinema specializing in repertory and foreign film. It launched September 16, 1978 and had Gloria Swanson and Esther Ralston at the opening. It also tried a subscription concept to get regular patrons. But the Box 5 ended just months later on December 31, 1978 when the Box 5 – noting the half-empty mall – closed.

On February 9, 1979, the Waring Theater chain relaunched the venue as the Village Cinema as a sub-run dollar house. The opening of the Henrietta Mall in 1982 negatively impacted the Village Mall. The shopping center changed names to the Techniplex in December of 1982 to attract technology and service related lessees. The Techniplex retained the cinema which kept its original name and signage. The theatre closed on February 28, 1984 with “The Man Who Love Women” as the lease was terminated.