Lafayette Square Cinema I & II
3919 Lafayette Road,
Indianapolis,
IN
46254
3919 Lafayette Road,
Indianapolis,
IN
46254
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Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. launched the Lafayette Square Mall in 1968. An original tenant in the Mall’s interior was a 925-seat single-screen theater for General Cinema Corp. (GCC) known at opening as the Lafayette Square Cinema. Mia Farrow was in person for “Rosemary’s Baby” on that date, June 26th, 1968, and both the film and the actress were substitutes when Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward cancelled a special appearance.
Due to the Mall and cinema’s successes, GCC would add an exterior triplex - the Lafayette Square II-III-IV - on November 5th, 1976. The interior screen was duplexed in 1977 becoming the General Cinema Lafayette Square I & II. Since “II” was already in the use outside, the new name created short-term roman numeral havoc with the exterior facility which became the General Cinema Lafayette Square III-IV-V. The I-II interior space managed to survive into the multiplex era closing at the end of a 30-year lease on May 26, 1998 with “He Got Game” and a split screen of “Mercury Rising” and “Barney’s Great Adventure.” The exterior carried on as the General Cinema Lafayette Square (roman numerals redacted) until closure on October 18, 2000.
June 26th, 1968 grand opening ad in photo section
I should have clarified I was talking about cinema 3-5 when I said the seating was probably less than 300. It is probley right around 300 in 2 of them and just over in the other. If I remember correctly 2 of the theatres were the exact same size but I can’t remember if it was the Laf. Sq or another theatre I helped with seats but they put the new seats in they didn’t put the front row back in. They did this because they increased the space between rows slightly.
The 1-2 cinema was much bigger than most GC’s seating caps in Indy area. I think the only one bigger in Indy was Glendale 4-6’s cinema 6 had 575 and a wider theatre.
After the reseating, the capacity of each auditorium only dropped by roughly 12 seats each. Final capacity in each was around 483, varying by a couple from #1 to #2
It may have been one of the most profitable twins in the country through the ‘90’s but I know that Southtown in Bloomington,Mn would blow it out of the water. Southtowqn only had 2 years in it’s history it didn’t make money and one was the last year open but it was suppose to lose money then. The mall did everything they could to get the theatre out but the people of Bloomington fought to try to keep it.
When GC upgraded the seats it was a major inprovemewnt over what they had. I helped with the seats in ‘91 & '92 and with the new seat they probably didn’t have 300 in each theatre.
The theatre in the mall did indeed open in 1968 and was a single screen seating just under 1000. It was split into a twin at some point in the mid 1970’s giving each auditorium about 495 seats each. The triple stand alone in the S.E. parking lot was opened in 1975. It was built as a 3 screen seating between 315 to 335 each. The mall location was 1 & 2, the parking lot was 3 – 5. The mall location closed in May 1998, with the parking lot theatre closing in late 1999 or early 2000 prior to the bankruptcy of General Cinema in October 2000.
The Lafayette Square 1-2 was remodeled in stages from January 1991 to Spring of 1994. The lobby was repainted in 1991, carpet replaced in late 1991, new seats in aud #2 in 1992, and in #1 in 1993. The screens were replaced with new silver screens around that time also. The concession stand was remodeled in 1992 with a canopy added and back lit graphics added in 1993 and 1994. Computerized ticketing and concessions were added in 1997. In 1993 the dolby stereo system was dramatically updated in #2 and in 1994, DTS digital was added. In 1994 auditorium #1 also received a significant sound upgrade with SDDS digital ready components and dolby added. During the early 1990’s the arcade area expanded and around 1995 a mobile concession stand was added for a brief time. The theatre was one of the few twin theatres remaining in the country that still made an annual profit throughout most of the 1990’s and was closed in May 1998 when it’s lease expired.
the stand alone is now the headquarters for a lawn care company.
Garage doors have been installed along the north wall.
The locks were put on the theatere exits because of a break in.The only office the broke in was one the safe wasn’t in. They had chained the doors at night but the fire marshall said they couldn’t do that because they might forget to take them off. The doors at Glendale were also chained at night but they didn’t have to put locks on.
Incidentally, the Loews theater that is mentioned above is also still standing but is now a church. The two box office booths are still in place though curtains cover both of them.
I was in Indianapolis this weekend and went by this theater. The stand alone theater does have a bridge you need to cross to get into the absolutely huge parking lot which now has grass growing over it. The sign in the rear states that these were Cinemas 3-4-5 which means Cinemas 1-2 were in the mall. The General Cinema logo is still on the front wall and except for some graffiti the building is in great shape. The boards on the doors and windows don’t appear to have been tampered with and there are locks on the back exit doors. There is also a cloth sign still on the wall promoting midnight movies every weekend “For people who want to do anything but sleep”.
Chuck — Which Lafayette Square opened in 1968? The one in the mall or the one outside of it? Thanks.
I also worked for General Cinema and left Indy in ‘93 but did get back to the area at times. I know they were both still open at least by '98 or '98. I know the one in the mall closed first and I think the stand along closed shortly before the new Greenwood opened and the old Greenwoods closed.
luglio I think you got it backwards. The stand alone I want to say closed 99 maybe 00. I used to work for General Cinema and I was sent out to work at Lafayette Square on a couple occasions.
General Cinema operated both the in-mall and stand-alone screens. I believe the stand-alone screens, which you reached by crossing a bridge into a separate parking lot from the mall’s, were Cinema I-II-III, and the in-mall screens were Cinema IV-V. The stand alone building closed at least 10 years ago and remains empty. The in-mall screens closed in the mid to late 90’s and their space was converted into an Old Navy (which itself closed about a year ago). A Loews just north of the mall also closed about 5 years ago. However, a regional chain, Republic Theatres, has just opened a 14-screen, stadium seating theatre just across the street from Lafayette Square in a closed Cub Foods store.
I don’t have much information about it but I do know there was a twin in the mall and a triple outside in the parking lot. I think they opened in the ‘70’s along with many of General Cinema’s older theaters. I know that they replaced the seats in '92 and '93. I think the twin was opened a single and the triple as a twin.