Meadowbrook Cinemas

Good article in the Providence Journal of 10-25-98 about theatres in this area and how they were surviving.

I have so many memories of the Meadowbrook. I did go to Warwick Veterans Memorial High School and I think I remember Skank Records. There were three record stores near Vets. There was one directly across the street. It was open in ‘74 because the first time I drove alone I went there to buy I believe a Deep Purple Record. There was also another record store on the same side of the street at Vets in the direction of the Meadowbrook. It was the first of the three to open and closed pretty quickly. It was open and probably closed before '74. Then there was a third record store also across from Vets that was the last of the three to be open. It might have been in the same shopping plaza as the one where I bought the Deep Purple Record.

And does anyone remember “Door 24” I think it was called. It was in that shopping plaza at the corner of Airport Road and Post Road (that also used to contain a restaurant called “The Chicken Coop” and “The Mayfair Lounge” and Ladd’s Records (after the Garden City Store closed). In any event Door 24 was down a flight of stairs and there was a record store, a head shop and maybe a clothing store. It didn’t last long; door 24 closed.

I don’t remember Michael Wood’s (RIP) video store, but I do remember he had a record store down by Warwick Veteran’s Memorial HS called Skank Records. Word is that James (Pilgrim HS ‘65) bankrolled it.

Actually, I think Woods' video store was not quite in Apponaug. If memory serves me correctly it was in the plaza where Almacs was at the corner or Buttonwoods Avenue & West Shore Road where the Columbus Bank used to be (the first bank where I had an account; a passbook savings!; remember those!) and it moved across the street to a building that also housed a men’s hair stylist (I used to patronize that place too, but I had more hair back then). I can’t remember if Woods' store started next to Almacs and moved across the street or if it was the other way around.

Meanwhile, getting back to the Meadowbrook, two other films I remember seeing there were ANIMAL HOUSE and THE TERMINATOR.

This theatre must have booked a lot of B movies back in the day because in addition to “Billy Jack” & “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” I caught “Walking Tall” here.

When I lived in Warwick there was a Benny’s in the plaza where the Meadowbrook was located. Across the street were woods. In the eighties or nineties they built a huge Stop & Shop and a plaza across the street. When Star Market went bust, Benny’s moved to where the Stop & Shop was in Wild’s Corner on West Shore Road about a mile away. Stop & Shop, needing an even bigger store, then knocked down the plaza where Benny’s & the Meadowbrook was and literally moved across the street. I don’t know what replaced the Stop & Shop.

Also, in the days before Blockbuster, there was a great local owner operated and run video store in the plaza where the Meadowbrook was located. Oddly, the video store was closed on Sundays of all days. They had a good selection of classic titles if memory serves me correctly, plus knowledgeable staff.

This is neither here nor there, but actor James Woods is from Warwick (Pilgrim High School I think) and his brother ran a video store in Warwick in the eighties.

I remember seeing “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” here when I was in high school.

I remember the Meadowbrook, growing up a mile or so away. At one point there was a fire. I was in high school so that must have been around ‘74 or '75 and the cinema was closed for awhile and then reopened. I think it became a triplex after it reopened.

Hard as this is to believe today but there were woods across the street from where the Meadowbrook was and I remember smoking some reefer and going to see “Magical Mystery Tour” with Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. I remember seeing “Serpico” there when I was in high school. I also saw the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” there on original release so they weren’t too strict about letting underage people into R rated films.

I know that it reopened in the 80s or 90s and I believe the people who ran the Cable Car ran it. Last film I remember seeing there was “Point Break” with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.

This theatre later became the Limelight Cinemas. It was open for less than a year after that. It is currently part of the parking lot for Super Stop & Shop.