|
|
 
|
|
Author
|
Topic: What's the latest theatre to close or open you have heard about?
|
|
|
Dan Harris
Film Handler
Posts: 86
From: Bristol, UK
Registered: Jun 2003
|
posted 09-10-2005 06:14 PM
quote: Michael Brown
Odeon Barnsley - last day of operation will be next Saturday. (17th Sept)
I worked there for six months. Lovely 2-screen traditional cinema, was given a £100,000 overhaul back in 2001, but sadly business has continued to drop due to competition from multi's in Meadowhall and Wakefield.
Screen 1 is the old circle and seats approx 400 with a 33' screen. Screen 2 downstairs seats around 480 (used to be 650, but new seats were put in with about a meter legroom!) and has a 40' screen with Dolby Digital. The original proscenium is still intact, although the twinkle lights no longer work.
Technical operation is flawless, the Chief Tech has been there for years. The tech team there have done several major upgrades themselves, such as enlarging screens, and 'box 1 has 2 Christe AW3R's - one either side of the Vic 9 to cater for the films they run. They rescued the second from Odeon Leeds when it was stripped out and got it up and running themselves. The Vic 8 down in screen 2 is dual guage 35/70 capable.
This is box 1, the original "top box" (taken 2003):
Michael in the picture you posted you can see the Rank logos on the panels above and below the vertical Odeon sign - they still have one of them somewhere!
The site has apparently been sold to a property developer. A shame.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Justin West
Master Film Handler
Posts: 271
From: Peoria, IL, USA
Registered: Jul 2001
|
posted 10-01-2005 11:43 AM
GKC's (now Carmike's) former Landmark Cinemas has a new tennant:
(from the 9/29/05 issue of the Peoria Journal Star)
Big screen, hometown feel
Nova Cinemas offers lower ticket prices, lower concession prices and family films
Thursday, September 29, 2005
By Steve Tarter
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - Peoria's newest theater is one of its oldest.
On Oct. 21 the Nova Cinemas will open at Landmark Recreation Center, 3225 N. Dries Lane, former site of Landmark Cinemas.
The remodeled 12-screen complex will open a little more than two months after Landmark closed. Carmike Cinemas of Columbus, Ga., closed the theater in August.
Heading the effort to bring the theaters back on line is Vern Reynolds, owner of the Reynolds Theater Group, which owns and operates theaters in Morton, Chillicothe, Elmwood and Canton.
"Landmark wanted an operator with a hometown feel," said Reynolds, who's been part of the central Illinois movie scene since 1979 when he purchased the Palace Theatre in Elmwood.
Partnering with Reynolds on the Nova project is Buck Kolkmeyer, president of Nova Cinetech Inc., a movie group operating 117 screens in nine states. It's based in Sandwich, west of Chicago.
"Buck's expertise covers a wider area and I know the local scene, so it's a good combination," said Reynolds of the partnership.
The reopening of the theater side of the Landmark Recreation Center is good news for Doug Holmes, the center's vice president and general manager.
"We're ecstatic. We thought it would take six months to a year to reopen the theater, but Vern and Buck put this thing together and it just took off," he said.
Holmes said Landmark would benefit from the new approach being taken by the Nova team.
"They're offering great service with lower ticket prices and lower concession prices plus they're pushing for family films," said Holmes.
Ticket prices at the Nova theaters will be $6 for adults and $4 for matinees, children and senior citizens. A small soft drink and popcorn can be purchased for $1.50 with a movie admission purchase, said Reynolds.
Prices at other movie theaters in Peoria range from $7.50 to $8.10 for adults and from $5.50 to $6.35 for matinees. For children, the prices range from $5.50 to $6.10.
"We're taking out the ticket booth and going to one-stop ticketing like we do in Morton," he said. After entering the remodeled lobby, customers will buy their tickets at the concession stand, said Reynolds.
While two of the 12 theaters are being overhauled, the complex has needed only minor repairs, he said. "I was surprised at what good condition (the theater) was in," said Reynolds.
The lobby and hallways have been repainted and projection systems are being beefed up where needed, said Reynolds. "Stadium seating will remain throughout and every room will project picture and sound digitally," he said.
Nova will book first-run films as the Landmark had done, while paying special attention to films that attract families, said Reynolds, estimating the theater would use 25 to 30 part-time employees.
The complex offers a total of 2,800 seats and faces a challenge given the number of theater screens already operating in the Peoria area, said Reynolds.
The city's other theaters offer a total of 32 screens. Willow Knolls Cinema, which opened in 1991, has 14 screens and the Rave Theater at Grand Prairie, which opened last year, has 18.
The family-friendly concept appeals to Holmes, who feels it will become a niche audience for the Nova. "The Nova people have a lot of new and different marketing ideas to help promote family business that people will be hearing about," he said.
Holmes said the theater would also benefit from its location - apart from the other theaters in North Peoria. "We've received a lot of phone calls from people who said they wanted to see the theater back open because they didn't want to drive north, especially with the rise in gas prices," he said.
Holmes said security would patrol Landmark parking areas when the theater reopens.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
|
posted 10-11-2005 10:58 PM
Celebration! Cinema South, Gaines Township, MI
Article from today's Grand Rapids Press:
quote:
New theaters give high-tech view to moviegoers
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
By Mary Radigan
The Grand Rapids Press
GAINES TOWNSHIP -- John Loeks is counting on some strong films to draw people back to the movies this year, especially to his new Celebration Cinema South.
The 16-screen megaplex and its tall beacon entrance opens Friday evening at 1506 Eastport Drive SE, on the northwest corner of Kalamazoo Avenue SE and M-6. The cinemas offer the first digital movie projectors in West Michigan.
Next month, the film "Chicken Little" will be shown in 3-D on a unique silver screen in one theater, while highly anticipated films such as "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," local author Chris VanAllsburg's "Zathura" and a remake of "King Kong" are expected to fill seats.
"It was a poor summer for the movie industry because the films just weren't appealing," Loeks said.
Loeks also owns Celebration Cinema North and IMAX on the East Beltline in Grand Rapids and the Studio 28 movie complex on 28th Street SW in Wyoming. He recently opened a 15-screen megaplex in Portage and plans on renovations at the aging Studio 28 complex.
"Even though there are a lot of screens out there, I'm quite optimistic about the coming months because the movies coming out are stronger than they were at this time last year," Loeks said. "The product is good."
The Gaines Township theater is patterned after the best features found at the East Beltline Celebration Cinema and his theater complex in Lansing, Loeks said.
The large lobby is highlighted by glass and neon lights, and the concession stand is located straight across the back of the building.
The lobby has a bridge across the middle, so projection rooms on each side of the building can be reached easily. In addition to a box office, the theater has automated ticket purchase machines.
Each theater is crowned by its own neon display over the entry, which leads to a wall-to-wall giant screen, stadium-style rocking chair seats and high-tech digital sound projected from geometric panels along the walls.
The building also has two rooms on the second floor for private-party rentals, and the lobby is available for other uses, "when business is slow," Loeks said. With a look toward the future, the theater was built to allow for additional screens to be added to the 13-acre property, he added.
The theater is managed by Betsy Artz, who served as general manager at Studio 28 for four years.
Working with about 100 employees, the theater will be open for matinees and evening shows, seven days a week.
"We're very excited about the new Celebration Cinema South," Loeks said. "It's time to have a movie theater on the Southeast Side of Grand Rapids."
© 2005 Grand Rapids Press. Used with permission
Copyright 2005 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.
quote:
...and high-tech digital sound projected from geometric panels along the walls.
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Justin West
Master Film Handler
Posts: 271
From: Peoria, IL, USA
Registered: Jul 2001
|
posted 10-13-2005 03:16 PM
Here's an interesting article on the Lawford theatre in Havana, ILL (from the Peoria Journal Star):
Havana theater in flux
Advertisement
Saturday, September 10, 2005
BY BRENDA BOWEN
OF THE JOURNAL STAR
HAVANA - Re-opening the closed Lawford Theater is in question, with the building's managers and former employees at odds over workers getting paid.
Mike Novelli and Paul Warshauer, co-owners of Wheaton-based Grande Venues Inc., leased the Havana theater in June and opened in late July, showing recently released movies.
Novelli and Warshauer hired local employees to sell tickets and concessions at the theater. The men closed a week ago when a projector bulb blew out during a show. Warshauer said the projector housing needed replaced, so the men decided to close for renovations and planned to re-open by Thanksgiving.
But theater employees say they have been released permanently from their jobs and still haven't received their last paychecks.
"They can't even pay their employees," said Mike Kolves, the Lawford's former assistant manager. "They were paying themselves, and they can't pay us?"
Another former employee, who asked not to be named, said she had to bring her own calculator and vacuum cleaner to the job to add ticket sales and clean up after shows.
"None of that was ever appreciated," she said. "There was nothing in there to work with ... I even took my own Scotch tape there."
The worker said she and another former co-worker are looking into ways to get the last paycheck owed to them.
"It's not much money, it's just the principle of the thing," said the other former employee, who also asked not to be named. "They more or less wanted us to donate our time."
Novelli said Friday he and Warshauer are investigating theft by employees at the Lawford.
"There is an investigation going on into some wrongdoing," he said. "We know one of them stole from us."
The investigation is "internal," not being handled by police, Novelli said.
Warshauer said he and Novelli have contacted police about their suspicions. "We've locked (the former employees) out, that should tell you something," he said.
In November 2003, he was at odds with Bartonville officials over his plans to rehab a Peoria State Hospital into a "boutique hotel." Warshauer asked the village to invest in a $190,000 feasibility study into the concept with no commitment on his end to move forward on the proposed $6 million project.
Village trustees said they were leery of using taxpayer funds for the project under the terms proposed.
That same month, the Chicago Revenue Department issued a cease and desist order on the Portage Park Theater, owned by Warshauer on the city's Northwest side.
When the men came to Havana, they asked city officials for a $15,000 loan to renovate the Lawford but were turned down because Mayor Dale Roberts said they didn't have collateral.
Roberts said Friday that Novelli and Warshauer owe the city money for the theater's water service but declined to say how much.
"They have a water bill that is unpaid," he said. "We shut the water off. We were going to shut it off anyway, but they called and asked us to before the cutoff date."
Novelli said re-opening the Lawford by Thanksgiving is still a goal for him, but it may not happen.
"We've got a lot of issues," he said. "It's not a solid thing."
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Mark Lensenmayer
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1605
From: Upper Arlington, OH
Registered: Sep 1999
|
posted 11-04-2005 09:14 AM
Drexel Gateway opens 11/4/05 near the Ohio State University campus. This theatre is operated by Jeff and Kathy Frank, who operate 3 other facillities in the Columbus OH area (3-screen Drexel, 1-screen Drexel Grandview and 8-screen Arena Grand.
The new theatre is officially an 8-screen theatre, but one of the rooms has no permanent seats, a retractable screen and a video projector. Chairs can be moved in and out as needed. So, I guess you could call this a 7.1 screen theatre.
The theatre will play a mix of "art" and conventional film. It is located about 2 miles from a 24-screen AMC theatre.
Parking is in a garage close to the theater, and will be $1.00.
Columbus Dispatch Article
quote:
Flexible ’plex
New campus theater fits trend of mixing highbrow with commercial fare
Friday, November 04, 2005
Frank Gabrenya
When the Drexel Gateway opens today near Ohio State University, it won’t be just another multiplex. But don’t expect a stuffy art house, either.
It’s something in between, and it illustrates the increasingly blurry line between mainstream and art cinema.
The eight-screen theater will show the same sort of independent, foreign-language and documentary fare as the three-screen Drexel in Bexley and single-screen Drexel Grandview. It will also seek out comedies and other Hollywood fare that appeal to college students.
‘‘It’s going to be constantly moving back and forth," said Jeff Frank, who with his wife, Kathy, manages the three Drexel theaters and Downtown’s Arena Grand.
The theater will open with Capote (an indie film), Shopgirl (a romance playing nationally on a mix of specialty and mainstream screens) and Jarhead (a war film playing mostly on commercial screens in other markets).
‘‘Our overall mission is to allow art films to have longer runs and to bring some that have not played here in the past," Frank said.
Columbus gets more art films than it has in the past but continues to miss some that win critical acclaim. Of the 2004 Academy Award nominees, two foreign-language films (Sweden’s As It Is in Heaven and South Africa’s Yesterday) and a documentary (Twist of Faith) did not play in Columbus.
Terry Foegler — president of Campus Partners, which built and owns the theater — sees the Gateway drawing from several audiences.
"We believe with the independent and art-film product, we have the flexibility to appeal to a broad array of segments, both within the university community and the urban neighborhoods in and around that area."
A consultant from Boston recommended a commercial theater that shows art films, Foegler said, because it represented an unmet demand in the area.
"He said there is a lot of product that doesn’t make it to Columbus because of the number of screens available."
No one knows how many of the nation’s roughly 37,000 movie screens are "art" or "specialty" houses such as the Drexels.
"It’s hard to pin down statistically," said Jim Kozak, editor in chief of In Focus, the publication of the National Association of Theatre Owners.
"A screen can convert from a mainstream film to an art film in an hour," he said. "The harder thing to get around is defining what an indie or a specialty film is.
"Most would agree that a foreign-language film would qualify, but you get into situations such as: Was Pulp Fiction an independent film? Some will say, ‘Definitely.’ Others will say, ‘No; it had John Travolta and Bruce Willis in it.’ "
A film in the gray area between mainstream and specialty features is Good Night, and Good Luck, directed by and starring a major performer, George Clooney. Shot in black and white, it’s about a political subject, McCarthyism, that happened 50 years ago. It opened simultaneously at the Lennox, Easton and Drexel theaters.
While documentaries are usually art-house fare, Michael Moore’s well-publicized Fahrenheit 9/11 opened at five mainstream multiplexes, as well as the Drexel, in June 2004.
Landmark Theatres, a national chain with 208 screens in 57 locations (none in Ohio), specializes in art films. Its Web site defines the programming as "first-run independent and foreign films, restored classics and nontraditional studio fare."
The site lists sample titles — Garden State, The Pianist, Bowling for Columbine, The Blair Witch Project — all of which played on Drexel screens.
Landmark and Gateway also illustrate the upscaling of arthouse theaters. Once restricted to vintage flat-floor neighborhood theaters, specialty cinemas are now multiscreen with high-tech projection and sound, stadium seating and unusual concession items.
Landmark opened multiplexes throughout the ’90s, including the nine-screen Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge, Mass., the largest specialty multiplex in the country.
The Cedar Lee theater in Cleveland, a longtime center for art films, expanded to six screens. Several others, including the Shaker Square and Chagrin cinemas, mix "specialty films" with Hollywood fare.
Gateway adds screens capable of showing specialty films, but a mix of fare is still critical to the plan.
"We’re going to be able to take more chances on films," Frank said. "By showing more commercial as well as independent films, we’re hoping to interest more people who want to see commercial films to come and take a chance on independent films."
| 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