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The latest movie theater news and updates
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February 15, 2008
Teens lose their bid to save Quo Vadis
WESTLAND, MI — Don Gurka and Zachery Gizicki led a charge to save the Quo Vadis Entertainment Center. Exploring all avenues to save the theatre, the teenagers put up quite a fight.
When they look at the old Quo Vadis movie theater in Westland, teenagers Don Gurka and Zachery Gizicki don’t see a dilapidated old building that needs demolishing to make room for progress.
They circulated petitions at school and at Westland Shopping Center, collecting more than 200 signatures from supporters.
They formed the Quo Vadis Preservation Foundation and started a Web site, www.savetheqv.org, that drew thousands of hits from people near and far away.
Read the full story in Hometown Life.
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Curtains for Brisbane Regent?
BIRSBANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA — Following ongoing rumours about the fate of the Brisbane Regent, it was announced in Wedne'sday’s Courier Mail.
The Regent (1593) will close, retaining the heritage listed grand lobby and foyer which will then become the back entrance to a new office tower.
In the late 70’s…..the Save The Regent campaign fought hard to preserve the entire theatre, often referred to as one of Australia’s finest. After closing in 1978, the main auditorium was converted to four new cinemas with one containing saved plasterwork/ornaments and features from the original theatre).
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“Flashlight” vigil held to note anniversary of Lebowsky fire
OWOSSO, MI — The Owosso Community Players, owners of the Joseph H. Lebowsky Center, held a “flashlight” vigil Wednesday night to note the 1st anniversary of the fire which destroyed their home. Because of that, the members decided that a candlelight vigil would be inappropriate. So members of the OCP and the general public brought flashlights to shine beams of light on the surviving walls of the scarred theater.
Construction to enclose the theater again is expected to begin in April or May and it’s believed that the OCP can stage shows again at the old Capitol Theatre in five years.
News stories about the anniversary and vigil can be found in the:
Argus Press at Article #1 and Article #2
as well as the Flint Journal and Flint Journal #2.
There are also news stories which include video from WJRT and WLNS. -
Charming Maine theatre for sale
OGUNQUIT, ME — The Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre is for sale.
From the listing: “Incredible space to make a dream come true. This building offers unbelievable square footage for endless ideas. With Town approval, convert this space to retail shops, residences, a club, restaurant, or a mix of the above. Opportunity awaits.”
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February 14, 2008
Yesterday’s outage
Our apologies to anyone who was unable to use Cinema Treasures yesterday.
We suffered a large power outage at our data center, and it took almost eight hours for all of the servers to come back online.
Power outages are rare in the hosting business, but they do happen. Thanks for your patience.
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Carthay Circle statue stolen
LOS ANGELES, CA — The bronze statue of a miner located across the street from the former Carthay Circle Theatre has been stolen, possibly for scrap. This was one of the last remnants of the once glorious square where the movie palace stood.
When neighbors in the Carthay Circle community heard the news, they feared it had been stolen for scrap, like so much copper wire and plumbing around the region, as prices for metal have soared.
“I think someone stole him to have him melted down,” said Judy Moore, president of the Carthay Circle Neighborhood Assn. “I don’t want to see him as rain gutters. It just breaks my heart. He was part of neighborhood history.”
Los Angeles police are investigating the theft and others, and they suspect the miner was indeed taken for scrap. Nationwide, bronze, brass and copper artworks are vanishing into scrap yards, destined for the foundry furnace.
Read more in the L.A. Times.
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Boston area projectors - free!
Howdy all,
I have some projectors free for the pick-up.
I haven’t tried to use them; I’m assuming they’ll take some real work to get going. Maybe you have a mansion or lobby you’re looking to spruce up with old behemoths.
Sorry, no sound equipment.2 small 35mm (black) RCA Photophone projectors with carbon arc lamphouses & projector bases. These were working for a collector 10 years ago, but they’re in rough shape, in need of full restoration if you want to run film in them.
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Chief Theatre question
KENOSHA, WI — I am working on a project about theaters in Kenosha and would be very grateful to receive any information at all about the Chief. I know it was operating in the 1940’s but can’t find out anything else. Information about its capacity and location would be especially welcome.
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35mm nitrate 1936 remodeling film of Clintonia
I want to preserve this and all other home movies that I have on 16mm. Who in central Illinois could help me?
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February 13, 2008
Hard times for many repertory cinemas
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — According to this article from the San Francisco Chronicle, repertory cinemas – those that program for lovers of classic, revival, and non-mainstream fare – are finding it harder and harder to do so and remain even modestly profitable due to DVDs and other downloadable and rentable media:
For more than two decades, ever since the arrival of VHS tape, San Francisco exhibitors have been scrambling to find a business model that supports classic repertory programming. Exhibitors have devised and revised workable survival strategies, but time after time, those strategies have been undercut by new threats – such as the advent of DVD, Netflix and now downloadable movies. They’ve tried longer runs, shorter runs, themed festivals, celebrity guests, relatives of deceased celebrities, autograph signing parties and live entertainment, all to less and less effect. Some look ahead to digital projection as a possible panacea, but that’s a few years away.
All exhibitors concur that the prospects for repertory in San Francisco have become downright bleak, and that just within the past year business has gotten even worse. In movie-loving, cineast San Francisco, the repertory audience seems to be drying up.