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The latest movie theater news and updates
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September 22, 2010
Can you ID this theater?
I participate in the chat board of the “Talkin' Broadway” web site, and on its homepage is a photograph of a theater which is obviously not a Broadway theater, but instead is what appears to be an atmospheric movie palace. In the site’s FAQs, the owners admit they have no idea what theater it is. I am also an old theater buff, but every lead I have followed has so far come up dry.
I would appreciate any help or suggestions that the experts on this forum might have to try to identify this theater. Thank you in advance.
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Holiday Theater historical program, Sunday 9/26
PARK FOREST, IL — The history of the Holiday Theater will be the program at the Park Forest Historical Society annual meeting on Sunday September 26, 2010 at 2:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in Park Forest Village Hall Board Meeting Board Meeting Room, 350 Victory Drive.
Jack and Becky Mallers Black will lead a panel discussion on the history of the Holiday Theater, Mrs. Black’s father, Bill Mallers, owned the theater from 1953 to 1978-9. Mr. ard Mrs. Black also worked at the theater. Also participating in the program will be Ann, Phillip and Chuck Mallers, Jim Kaufman—a former projectionist, and Jeff Lindstrom, who was an usher. Other former employees of any period of the theater are encouraged to attend.
The Holiday Theater opened in the Park Forest Shopping Center on October 28, 1950. It was one of the first movie theaters in the country to be in a shopping center. It was possibly the largest theater built in the Chicago metro area since the Depression, having over 1,000 seats and a soundproof “cry room” for parent with children.
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September 21, 2010
Demolition of Showcase Cinemas in Toledo is imminent
TOLEDO, OH — Workers have erected fencing around the Showcase Cinemas in preparation for the theater’s destruction. The theater closed in 2005. Plans to build hotels on the site have been dropped and the property will up for sale when the theater building is razed. It was once a 70mm Cinerama house.
The former theater at 3500 Secor Rd. closed in 2005. Last Spring, several regional hotel owners expressed interest in building on the West Toledo site. Under a site plan, the current structure, built in 1964, was to be demolished to make way for a pair of hotels and a retail strip on the property. That plan was withdrawn months later.
There is more at ToledoOnTheMove.com.
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Mounties raid marijuana operation in closed cinema
GRENFELL, SASKATCHAWAN, CANADA — Law enforcement discovered and shut down a sophisticated marijuana growing enterprise in this small town’s long-closed movie theater (probably the former Windsor). Two people were arrested.
Around 416 marijuana plants and about 4.5 kilograms of harvested marijuana were found in the theater in the town of Grenfell, in the Western Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they raided the theater on Wednesday after a man was arrested trying to enter Canada from North Dakota with a small amount of what was suspected to be hashish in his car.
Read more in Reuters.
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Old theater sound systems wanted
I am a collector of old theater sound systems, and related parts such as tubes, speakers, old amplifiers, etc. I travel all around the U.S. and will pick up and pay cash. Please call me at: 616-791-0867 or email me at: . I will be happy to pay more than fair amounts for your unused equipment.
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September 20, 2010
Theaters to be required to post calorie counts
NEW YORK, NY – As if the prices at the snack bar are not enough to scare you these days, the FDA is finalizing new requirements that would require chains of more than twenty theaters to post the caloric content of the food and snacks they serve.
The expansion stems from provisions in the health-care overhaul enacted in March. The government wants calorie listings posted to make it easier for consumers to select healthier options, and the restaurant industry backed the move so it could avoid a patchwork of local ordinances that are developing.
So far, the expansion of the calorie counts beyond restaurants has drawn praise from nutrition advocates but push-back from industries that say the original legislation was never intended to hit them.
There is more in the Wall Street Journal.
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Beach Theater closes
FORT MYERS BEACH, FL — The four-screen Beach Theater has closed due to poor attendance. Recent attempts to sell it were unsuccessful, but a buyer may now be coming forward.
Manager Nick Campo blamed the economy and a lack of good movies being released.
The theater’s attendance had dwindled to 50 or so people a day – compared to 150-200 a day at Marco Movie Theater, Campo said. Both theaters are owned by the same business partners.
The full story is in the News-Press.
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Cinema West to build new theater in Hesperia
HESPERIA, CA — Groundbreaking is slated for next year for a new twelve-screen cinema that will be a major addition to this city’s civic center area. To be operated by Cinema West, which currently operates most of its theaters much further north in California, the theater will feature digital projection and stadium seating. The city has approved a ten-year exclusivity agreement for the theater.
The 36,000-square-foot theater complex will be built on city-owned land just west of Civic Center Park at the southeast corner Smoketree Street and Ninth Avenue. The complex will feature state-of-the-art, digital technology with stadium-style seating.
Construction for the project will begin in 2011 with completion set for the summer of 2012, according to Steven Lantsberger, deputy director of economic development.
There is more detail in the Victorville Daily Press.
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September 17, 2010
Charging ahead in Lowville
LOWVILLE, NY — Two decades in and the Lowville Town Hall Theater is still owned and operated by the same hard-working family.
Mr. O'Brien purchased the theater 20 years ago from Nick and Rena Giannocous, who owned it for 33 years. Mr. O'Brien is hoping that with the temporary closure of the theaters at Salmon Run Mall to make room for an expanded operation, movie buffs will discover, or rediscover, this theater.
“Maybe we’ve got a new lease on life,” Mr. O'Brien said.
Read more in the Watertown Daily Times.
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Success at the 10th Annual Downtown Forest Hills Walking Tour
QUEENS, NY — The walking tour held two weeks ago in Forest Hills was the best-attended yet. Check out the Rego-Forest Preservation Council Blog.
The 10th Annual Downtown Forest Hills Walking Tour was held on a pleasantly sunny and warm Sunday afternoon of September 5, 2010, and was a historic record-breaker, adding a chapter in the success of previous walking tours led by Historian Jeff Gottlieb. Members of Central Queens Historical Association and Rego-Forest Preservation Council, inclusive of neighborhood residents, were in attendance. The 2 hr 45 min tour began on the corner of Austin St and Continental Ave, made its way east on Austin St to Ascan Ave, while viewing the blocks between Austin St and Queens Blvd, and turning in on Ascan Ave. On Queens Blvd, the tour headed west, pointing out historic sites along the south and north sides, and made its way to 70th Ave, and then stopped at MacDonald Park, a cornerstone of the neighborhood. Then the tour turned in on 70th Ave and proceeded west on Austin St, back to its origins at Continental Ave.