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The latest movie theater news and updates
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January 27, 2010
Renovation consultants to examine Miller Theater in Augusta
AUGUSTA, GA — The Augusta Symphony Orchestra, the current owner of Augusta’s Miller Theater, has hired consultants to advise on the renovations needed to convert the former movie house into a performing arts center. The theater has been closed since 1983. Among the issues that will need to be addressed are acoustics, stage depth, ADA requirements and other issues of concern to prime potential arts group users of the facility.
On the experts list of issues is seating, which they believe will decrease from the auditoriums original 1800 to approximately 1200 for reasons of comfort and acoustics, meeting Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, sound and the stage. Long said the stage, which is approximately 20 feet deep, would have to be addressed.
Because the Miller was built as a movie theater, it was designed acoustically contrary to the needs of a symphony Holden said. The remnants of acoustic baffling that still cling to the theater walls testify to that.
Read more in the Chronicle.
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Orpheum returning to a single screen layout
MADISON, WI — A wall that was erected in the 1960s to create a separate theater out of the stage area of the Orpheum is going to be removed so the theater can be used for larger stage productions. Movies are still shown in this 1927 Rapp & Rapp house which is also used for live entertainment.
he wall hampers live performances in both spaces because of loss of capacity, sightline problems and increased production costs.
“Broadway-style productions, dance recitals, ballets or operas even – those type of things we’d like to focus more on in the future,” Doane said. “This business is event-driven, and we need to do as many things as we can to keep it afloat. The more variety of things we can do the better the bottom line is going to be in the long run.”
There is more in this story on Madison.com.
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Denver approves seasonal commercial outdoor cinema in city park
DENVER, CO — For thirty days during the next three summers, movie patrons in the Mile High City will have a movie-going alternative. The city has approved a contract with US Open Air LLC to operate a 1,400 seat operation. Films will be shown on a screen thirty feet tall in an outdoor area of Denver’s Civic Center in 2010, and in Denver’s City Park in 2011 and 2012. Tickets will be $15 in advance and $20 at the site. Some Council members objected to the commercialization of a historically public space.
A 30-foot-tall screen would be lowered each day, although the grandstand, nearly the same height, would remain in place. The shows are proposed for Civic Center this summer and in City Park for the summers of 2011 and 2012.
Supporters said it represents a wonderful opportunity for the city to make some money while detractors said the city will receive only a pittance compared with what the operator stands to earn. Open Air has operated similar packages in cities around the world for roughly 20 years. This would be its first showing in North America.
Here’s the full story from the Denver Post.
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January 26, 2010
RAVE theater chain is no longer a bit player
An article in the L.A. Times describes the ascension of the growing Rave theater chain. Their recent acquisition of several National Amusements theaters brought them up in the rankings of theater operators.
For Stephenson, the deal catapults him from a second-tier operator into the big leagues of national theater chains. Rave is now the No. 5 circuit in the country, operating 65 theaters and about 1,000 screens in 20 states, more than doubling its size.
At a time when movie theaters are no longer considered a high-growth business, Stephenson is making a contrarian bet — at least in the midterm — that people will continue to trek to theaters for a movie rather than nesting at home and watching it on their big-screen, high-definition TVs.
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Fairmont’s days may be numbered
FAIRMONT, WV — Time may be running out for the Fairmont Theater on Adams Street, as the whole block of which the theater is a part is being eyed as the site for a new state office building. Now closed, the 1940s-era theater last operated as a triplex.
The plan would be to tear down the entire block and build a brand new office.
This location would bring about 250 state jobs back into downtown, it would clean up some of the vacant and run-down buildings in the city, and it would promote use of the parking garage, county commissioners said. However, officials are still in negotiations with some of the property owners on that block.
There’s more in the State Journal.
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New company promotes improved 3D system for existing 35mm projectors
SAN JOSE, CA — Oculus3D has announced a new lens and film printing system that it claims will substantially reduce the cost of presenting 3D films. The company claims the system will benefit those theater operators unable or unwilling to make the investment in digital 3D projection systems.
The Oculus3D system consists of the OculR lens for the theater’s 35mm projector, a new movie screen and plastic frame linear polarizer glasses. The lens provides a minimum brightness of six foot lamberts, which equals or exceeds the brightness of most digital and single-projector film systems.
In addition, the startup’s approach does not use the over/under technique of packing left and right frames—one on top of the other—into a single movie frame. At the Consumer Electronics Show, cable TV and satellite broadcasters said they will adopt the over/under or a side-by-side format to reduce the bandwidth needed to send stereo 3-D content.
Further information about the system is in the EE Times.
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January 25, 2010
WANTED….Vintage theater items
I am amounting a collection of vintage theater/cinema items such as signs, equipment(working and non working), 35mm films reels, ect to decorate a home. If you have any items that you are looking to part with, please . I already have several seats, so I am not really interested in those.
Thank you
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Preservationists hoping to win landmark status for Pasadena’s Washington Theater
PASADENA, CA — They did not succeed in saving the more elegant Raymond Theater but Pasadena preservationists are now seeking landmark designation for the 1924 Washington Theater that ended its movie exhibition days as the Cinema 21. The building has been vacant for several years, having suffered earthquake damage in 1994. The city council may consider the landmarking petition next month.
Now, Pasadena Heritage and the Pasadena Neighborhood Coalition are banking that their nomination of the property for listing as a city historic landmark will help promote its long-term survival.
It has been declared eligible by city staff, and the City Council is expected to consider its listing next month, said Vicrim Chima of Pasadena’s planning department.
The property is tied in with the city’s earliest commercial history, Mossman said, and its place in a prominent corner of an emerging shopping and retail center in the 1920s is enough to support its historic designation.
There is more in the Pasadena Star News.
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New name for Flick
LEXINGTON, MA — As part of a restoration, the former Flick will now be known as the Lexington Venue.
The Lexington Flick is no more, but fans of the mom-and-pop theater have no need to worry. The new name is simply the latest in a long list of improvements owner Peter Siy has made to revamp a Lexington center favorite.
“We’re working every day to make this a better theater,” Siy said. “We have new seats. We just decided it was time to make a break with [the name] ‘Flick.’”
Read more in Wicked Local.
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January 22, 2010
Longest continuously operating entertainment venue in Kansas getting facelift
PHILLSBURG, KS — The Majestic Community Theatre in is listed as the longest continuous operating entertainment venue in Kansas. This theatre was opened in 1905 as the Phillipsburg Opera House. Then in 1925, owner Ralph Winship hired the Boller Brother architects to renovate the main floor which at the time housed a furniture store. Since then, this theater has been in operation.
In 2000, when the previous owners were planning on closing the doors. Phillipsburg community members rallied together. They purchased the equipment and bought this magnificent historic building for $1.00. It has been operated by community volunteers every since.