|
|
 
|
|
Author
|
Topic: What's the latest theatre to close or open you have heard about?
|
Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
|
posted 10-25-2004 12:17 PM
The King Cinema in LaCrosse, WI Closes:
After 32 years, theater's screens go dark
By STEVE CAHALAN and BETSY BLOOM / La Crosse Tribune
The article is a pretty good eulogy for a closing theater, complete with history and a photo.
While the article seems to go down the same road as every other such article (blaming the crowds for liking stadium seating and multiplexes), the photo, I think, shows a better reason for why this theater could not compete.
Some of the seats have been removed, but you can clearly see how narrow that auditorium was. At its widest in the photo, there are 10 seats across with an aisle down the middle. So what does that come to, 24-30 feet?
Here's the article:
quote:
Richard Lepsch was manager of King Cinemas when it opened in downtown La Crosse as King Theaters in 1972.
Advertisement
Advertise Info. Directory
On Tuesday, he and other Marcus Theatres Corp. employees were removing equipment from the three-screen movie complex at 216 Seventh St. S., which showed its final films Sunday night.
They finished by taking a sledgehammer to cinderblocks in one of the large trash bins outside the building. "It's the end of a long day," said Chuck Bushek, general manager of Marcus Theatres in La Crosse.
Another bin held stacks of seats, discarded as outdated. The entire theater had been "showing its age," Lepsch said, but due to the building and its location, the theater could not be adapted to meet the public's changing tastes.
"They want the stadium seating, the big screens, big sound systems," Lepsch said. "Multiplexes are what companies are building. The singles, doubles and triples have gone by the wayside."
He acknowledged some sadness about the closing of the theater he managed from 1972 to 1983. "But it had to happen," said Lepsch, who today is a district manager for Marcus Theatres, which has operated the King Cinemas since 1983.
The Milwaukee-based company's Marcus Cinema La Crosse movie theater complex at 2032 Ward Ave. is being expanded and remodeled in time for the Christmas movie season. Its number of screens will increase to 11 from eight. Lepsch said plans are to complete that project by Thanksgiving.
Almost all of the King's 12 employees will transfer to the Ward Avenue theater, he said.
Stefany Besse, general manager of a Marcus Theater in Oakdale, MN carries a chair out of one of the theaters at the King Theaterin downtown La Crosse tuesday as a team of marcus employees worked to gut the three theater complex. The theater has been closed after more than 32 years of business. PETER THOMSON photo
The leased downtown building is owned by R&R Development, LLC, an affiliate of Cleary Management Corp., said Jerry Miller, a Cleary Management spokesman.
"We're exploring all options at this point" for the property, Miller said. "Everything from leasing the present building to the possibility of new development on the property."
The downtown movie complex had two screens when it was opened by the Brenden Corp. in 1972. A third screen was added later.
The first movie shown at the King was Disney's "The Biscuit Eater." The last was "Wimbledon," Bushek said, to a scant crowd. Marcus chose not to publicize the theater's closing in advance.
While he still has the Ward Avenue complex to manage, Bushek said he'll miss some of the King's regulars and smaller rewards. The theater often provided lesser-known films with a venue in La Crosse.
"For a lot of months, I would almost call this, ‘Academy Theater,'" Bushek said. "They appealed to that certain niche."
Some blossomed into unexpected hits. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" pulled in decent audiences at the King for almost six months, Bushek said. He and Lepsch were quick to add those types of films should find a place at the expanded Ward Avenue site.
Owners of two neighboring restaurants, the Country Kitchen and Pizza Doctors, said Tuesday they didn't expect the theater's closing to cost them much business.
"It's too bad, I used to go there when I was in high school, that was the place to go, but that's what happens when other places get bigger and better," said Larry McMahon, owner of Pizza Doctors, 624 King St.
"It used to be more steady (business), but it depends on the movie," said Earl Zumach, owner of Country Kitchen, 141 S. Seventh St. "Boy, when they got good movies going, you could see a difference."
The King was the last first-run movie venue in downtown La Crosse, Lepsch said. The Rivoli Theatre shows second-run movies and the Children's Museum of La Crosse owns the Hollywood Theatre, where it shows children's and family films.
Informed Tuesday of the theater's closure, Mayor John Medinger said he hoped the downtown could retain its remaining movie houses.
"I feel bad about it," Medinger said. "I think it's important to have a movie theater downtown ... so let's all start going to the Rivoli."
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!
Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000
|
posted 11-07-2004 07:49 PM
Following up on Dan Lyon's post in the yak random pictures thread:
Los Angeles Times, Sunday, November 7, 2004
ORANGE COUNTY
Fox Backers Hope for a Miracle in Last Reel
Deadline nears for donations to buy the Fullerton landmark. Foundation hasn't given up on hitting the 'magic figure.'
By David Reyes, Times Staff Writer
They marched. They pleaded. They lighted up Fullerton's Fox Theatre with Klieg lights. And this weekend, in a final, desperate try, preservationists hired a Charlie Chaplin mime to attract last-minute donations.
"Save your Fox!" the actor shouted Saturday, breaking his silence before a small, rowdy crowd of supporters clad in T-shirts from the Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation, which is spearheading the restoration project.
One of the volunteers, Irene Shaw Broden, 68, said she remembers watching Cary Grant films at the theater as a young child.
"This is a special spot, a crown jewel," she said.
"It's going to be awful if this place ends up in the obituaries."
But with one day left before a deadline to raise enough funds to buy the 1920s landmark, support for the drive appeared destined to fall short.
The Fox's owner is asking about $3.5 million for the once majestic, now dilapidated, building at Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Avenue.
According to foundation President Jane Reifer, about $850,000 in cash and pledges have been raised, in addition to an earlier $1.6-million pledge from the city. A $300,000 loan offer last week still leaves the group about $740,000 short.
"This is our last appeal," she said. "We're still hoping to reach the magic figure in time to turn the money into the bank on Monday."
As Fullerton struggles to save the Fox, leaders of similar projects in Southern California say saving these old theaters doesn't come cheap. And it doesn't happen quickly.
Fundraisers say it would take two to three years to raise $4 million, not 10 months, the length of the Fullerton campaign. Preservationists need an organized fundraising drive that has "the right recipe," said Tara Jones, a San Diego consultant who has worked on Los Angeles' Broadway revitalization downtown.
Those taking on a campaign must develop a marketing strategy and organize a fundraising base, said Jones, who did consulting on the Fox project.
In Newport Beach, renovating the historic Balboa Theater began more than a dozen years ago. The theater enjoys passionate support but won't be open for four more years. That will give philanthropic leaders a chance to raise the $6.5 million needed to renovate the former 325-seat vaudeville theater, which was built in 1928, said Christopher Trela, a theater spokesman.
"It's been a slow process," he said.
The Balboa Arts Theatre Foundation is several million shy of its goal.
The Miramar Theatre in San Clemente is also from a simpler time, when a cartoon, newsreel and double feature cost a quarter.
Built in 1937, the cinema is closed and empty now. Ownership has changed hands this year, and the theater in a Spanish Revival design is part of revival discussions by a city task force.
"The motivation is there," said Lee Van Slyke, president of the San Clemente Historical Society.
The Port Theatre in Corona del Mar was sold recently by the owner, who had dreamed of returning it to its former glory. But renovation costs were about $3 million. The new owner plans to restore the Art Deco building as a theater, adding a restaurant, bar and coffeehouse.
Fullerton preservationists' short fundraising campaign may also may have sealed the theater's fate.
"I'm sorry, but 10 months is too short," said Killis Almond, former president of the League of Historic American Theatres. "The fact that they've raised that much in 10 months is a great job."
Last week, the Fox foundation suffered a blow when it sought a $1.8-million loan from the city but was denied. The foundation's resolve was buoyed when it received the last-minute $300,000 loan offer Tuesday.
Leland Wilson, a Fullerton city councilman, said that even if the foundation fails to raise the money, the Fox is not in immediate danger because it has been designated a historic landmark. Any effort to raze the building would require extensive environmental-impact studies, he said.
Last-minute pledges and contributions are being collected at the foundation office, 131 W. Commonwealth Ave., and also at the theater, 512 N. Harbor Blvd.
---------------------------------------------------
Staff writer Joel Rubin contributed to this report.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
John Walsh
Film God
Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999
|
posted 11-25-2004 09:38 AM
In New York city, what was the D.W. Griffith theater, later a Clearview Cinema, (239 East 59th St) has been reopened as the 'ImaginAsian Theatre.' They show mostly Asian-type films and events on either 35mm film or video. They actually opened last summer, so this is somewhat old news.
However, of interest, they are using RFS Technilight system, discussed here before at F-T. I think they mostly run video, so verify the format beforehand if you'd like to check it out.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Steve Kraus
Film God
Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000
|
posted 11-26-2004 11:16 AM
I believe the Park Forest Theatres (Park Forest, IL, south suburb of Chicago) have closed again. This was a 1940's single screener long known as the Holiday Theatre which was eventually converted to a 5 screen subrun by the Classic Cinemas chain. CC sold or leased it to an operator called Sensible Cinemas but I think someone else had it more recently. Of course the marquee says "Reopening Soon" so we shall see.
On the reopening side, and this comes as a huge surprise, an 8 screen in Lansing, IL (south of Chicago, just west of the Indiana state line) has reopened. Formerly known as River Run it was built by the old M&R chain just before Loews/Sony took it over and is only a few hundred yards SE of Loews Cineplex's River Oaks 9 & 10 building. (LCE River Oaks--former Plitt & Cineplex Odeon--operation consists of a six-plex and two two-plexes, having abandoned two additional two-plexes over the years. #9, the original ABC Great States house and previously known as #1, is famous among theatre buffs for being one of the few remaining D150 theatres.)
With the LCE merger, River Run was one of the venues earmarked for being divested to preserve competition. With industry contraction and bankruptcies that failed to happen but I guess it finally did. I do not know if they kept their hodgepodge of junky equipment but a newspaper article says a multimillion dollar renovation included stadium seating and Dolby Digital. (There previously were a handful of SDDS boxen.)
New owner, per the article, is Florida-based Bayview Corp. with "Lansing Theatre Management" the local operating entity. New name is Cinema 8.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
Topic Closed
Printer-friendly view of this topic