|
|
 
|
|
Author
|
Topic: What's the latest theatre to close or open you have heard about?
|
|
|
Jack Ondracek
Film God
Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
|
posted 11-30-2010 07:59 PM
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/430925_theaters29.html
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter
The nonprofit organization that runs the Paramount and Moore theaters in downtown Seattle is taking over the Neptune Theatre, turning the University District icon into a primarily live-performance venue — and saving it from possible demolition.
Seattle Theatre Group will assume control from Landmark Theatres, which has operated the 700-seat Neptune as a movie theater since 1981 and will continue showing movies there until February.
STG will then close the building to remodel the bathrooms, add a sprinkler system and remove half the main-floor seating, reopening in May. Though it means the end of another neighborhood movie house in Seattle — after Sunday's closure of the Uptown Theatre in Lower Queen Anne — it also means the nearly 90-year-old theater will remain open.
Earlier this year, Sound Transit had considered demolishing the building at Northeast 45th Street and Brooklyn Avenue Northeast as part of its plan to build a light-rail station in the area but has since scrapped that idea.
STG plans to keep the Neptune name and marquee as it converts the theater into a space that will host concerts, comedy shows, speakers, and fine-arts and community performances and events. It plans to still screen some films there, though not primarily first-run movies.
The goal is to present both local and touring artists in a venue outside the downtown core.
STG Executive Director Josh LaBelle said his organization values historic theaters, partnership opportunities, arts as an economic tool and diverse arts for a diverse community.
"The Neptune offers all that."
Under Landmark Theatres, the Neptune was known for showing a variety of films from blockbusters to Oscar-bait documentaries and, for a number of years, weekly midnight showings of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
"It saddens us to leave this historical landmark in Seattle," said Ted Mundorff, Landmark CEO.
Craig Thompson, one of the Thompson family members who own the Neptune building, said it was his family's decision not to renew Landmark's year-to-year lease.
Landmark has been a great tenant — "I can't say enough good things about them," Thompson said.
But Thompson said signing a lease of more than 10 years with STG will bring in more money for his family and better serve the neighborhood.
STG, he said, has a track record of doing well by historic theater buildings. "It's a booster to the neighborhood — the life they can bring back to the building," Thompson said.
LaBelle said the Neptune could provide an especially apt rehearsal and performance space for younger, developing artists whose audiences may not yet be large enough for the Paramount or Moore theaters, which have 2,807 and 1,419 seats, respectively.
For STG, expanding to the U District also means being closer to University of Washington students.
"All arts organizations need to be continuing to develop young audiences," said LaBelle.
STG's plan for the Neptune was a factor that caused Sound Transit to reconsider demolishing the building to create a light-rail station, said transit spokesman Bruce Gray.
Now, the station is planned for next door, basically running from the back of the Neptune down to Northeast 43rd Street along Brooklyn Avenue Northeast.
There's even a move to get city landmark status for the Neptune Theatre. Local architect Larry Johnson said he's been working on the nomination since he got wind Sound Transit had been considering tearing the building down. He still plans to nominate the Neptune.
LaBelle said STG already operates two theaters with historic-landmark status — the Paramount and Moore — and would have no problem with the Neptune getting such a designation.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mike Frese
Master Film Handler
Posts: 465
From: Holts Summit, MO
Registered: Jun 2007
|
posted 12-03-2010 12:29 AM
quote: Matt Kerekes
Trademark Cinemas in the Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown Heights, NY closed last night. It was taken over from United Artists/Regal 4 years ago.
http://yorktown.patch.com/articles/movie-theatre-at-jv-mall-closes-without-warning
Following a weekend of movies at the Jefferson Valley Mall's movie theatre, which included the blockbuster Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, the theater abruptly closed. Residents throughout Yorktown were still learning of the news on Wednesday, Dec. 1.
According to the theater's telephone recording, "Effective Monday, Nov. 29, Trademark Cinemas in the Jefferson Valley Mall is closed for business. We appreciate all of our loyal customers over the last four years and we wish you all the best."
The recording pointed callers to the Trademark Cinema's website and Simon's management. Representatives from the company could not be reached for comment.
The CEO of Trademark, David Clifford, told The Journal News that Simon Properties would not provide Trademark with a long term lease.
When asked about the lease issue, a Simon representative said, it was company policy not to discuss lease issues. Mall management released a statement that they were committed to providing customers with a shopping experience which included a mix of retail stores, food and entertainment.
"We remain committed to that dynamic and view the unfortunate departure of Trademark Cinemas as an opportunity to enhance our retail offerings by bringing a new cinema operator to our mall that will satisfy the expectations of our loyal patrons," it said. "Since the theater only recently closed, it is too early to speculate on a possible replacement. We have already started the process and look forward to making an announcement about the status of the movie theater at Jefferson Valley Mall in the near future."
Yorktown Supervisor Susan Siegel, said, she looked forward to a new opportunity for the theatre.
"I am sorry to see it close," she said. "It's the last movie theater in Yorktown. The economy is a difficult economy for all types of businesses. It does not come as a surprise. People are cutting down on discretionary expenses like the movies."
As the economy improves, she said, so will the chances for a successful venture at Jefferson Valley Mall.
"I am surprised," said Helene Brandt, a Yorktown Heights resident and mother of three. "I think it is too bad. We don't have enough movie theaters as it is. That was a good place, all three of my kids enjoyed going there. It was better because it was in the mall. It was in an enclosed area."
Caleigh Scanlon, 13, from Yorktown Heights, said she was upset to hear the theater was closing.
"I like to go to the movies a lot," she added. "My friends and I would always go there because it was close by too. Now we have to go to Cortlandt or something that is 20 minutes away so it is kind of hard."
The theater first went out of business in 2006 after Regal Entertainment, which also owns the Cortlandt Town Center movie complex, declared it as "underperforming." A couple of months later, the young Trademark Cinemas company from Coral Springs, FL, made the Jefferson Valley theater their first New York venture, renovating a great deal of the multiplex, including carpeting and seats.
The Jefferson Valley Mall theater, with eight screens, was the sole theater in all of Yorktown's 40 square miles since the theater at the center of town, in the Triangle Shopping Center, closed in 1989.
According to a story in The Valley Breeze newspaper in Rhode Island, another movie theater that was recently owned by Trademark closed in November. Trademark was involved in a lawsuit in Rhode Island for back rent. A recent judgment was awarded for $136,212 judgment was awarded for backrent.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
|
posted 12-03-2010 09:55 AM
On Monday, November 29th, the following theaters were marked as closed:
AMC Pine Square 16 (Long Beach, CA)
AMC Celebration 2 (Celebration, FL)
AMC Plaza 3 (Keokuk, IA)
AMC Will Rogers 2 (Charleston, IL)
AMC Harrisburg 4 (Harrisburg, IL)
AMC Eastwood 2 (Peru, IN)
AMC Richmond 10 (Richmond, IN)
AMC Kennett 1 (Kennett, MO)
AMC Flat River 2 (Park Hills, MO)
AMC Hamilton 10 (Hamilton, OH)
AMC Colonial Commons 9 (Harrisburg, PA)
and in other news:
Green Oaks, IL: Marcus Theatres Proposes New Movie Theater Near Lambs Farm
quote:
Marcus Theatres announced this week that it has reached an agreement to purchase 10 acres in Green Oak, Illinois for a planned movie theater. The land is near the intersection of I-94 and Route 176 in the Northern Chicago suburb, near the Lambs Farm campus, which is visible from the freeway.
In the press release, Marcus Theatres is planning to build a movie theater with up to 15 screens featuring Digital Cinema projection systems and 2,400 seats, including one of their 70-foot wide UltraScreens. The movie theater will be part of a mixed-use development that will include retailers and restaurants.
No date is mentioned of when construction might begin or when the theater may open:
“We are currently in the process of due diligence and planning and will announce design elements and amenities when all of the details are finalized. We look forward to offering the latest in innovative technology, state-of-the-art amenities and the latest Hollywood films to residents throughout the area. The new entertainment complex will draw upon our experience in integrating food and beverage service into our existing theatres, as well as creating an entertainment destination that will attract people from throughout northern Illinois,” Olson said.
The new theater will face some strong competition, with seven theaters located within 10 miles of its location, including the Regal Lincolnshire Stadium 21 & IMAX. The Marcus Gurnee Cinemas is just six miles away as the crow flies, and there are 8 screens in each of two AMC theaters nearby as well.
Marcus Theatres is a division of The Marcus Corporation, and is the sixth largest movie theater chain in the United States. They currently own and/or operate 55 locations in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mike Frese
Master Film Handler
Posts: 465
From: Holts Summit, MO
Registered: Jun 2007
|
posted 12-05-2010 12:47 AM
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20101204/NEWS01/12040315
MARION -- Regal Cinemas is closing its Marion Centre mall location Sunday, a company spokeswoman said.
Regal Southland 7 "was identified as an underperforming location," said Jewell Gallagher, Regal Cinemas marketing manager for its north region. She declined further comment on the closing.
Closure of the seven-screen cinema leaves Marion with no first-run movie theaters. The Marion Palace Theatre shows second-run movies.
Meanwhile, the Marion Centre mall, which is in foreclosure, will be auctioned at a sheriff's sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 14, said Maureen Severns, who schedules such sales for the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
Regal Cinemas decided not to renew its lease, which ends in December, and to vacate the 1415 Marion-Waldo Road site, Gallagher said. The company has operated the movie theater since 1994, when it expanded it to a seven-screen cinema complex. The theater opened under the operation of Cinema Centers Corp. of Boston.
She said she did not have information regarding whether Regal Cinemas had any plans to open a theater elsewhere in the Marion area. She said she had no response to whether her company's decision to close the cinema was related to the mall being in foreclosure.
A phone message left at Kimco Realty, which manages the mall property, was not returned by press time.
Severns said the sheriff's sale of Marion Centre will be in the first-floor conference room of the Marion County Courthouse.
The mall property, which includes lots where McDonald's and a strip mall are south of the main structure, has been appraised at $60 million.
At the sheriff's sale, a bid of at least $40 million must be submitted, or the mall property will return to the mortgage company, Royal Bank of Canada, Severns said.
Marion County Common Pleas Judge William Finnegan in September granted Royal Bank of Canada its summary judg-ment seeking foreclosure on the mall property, 1509 Marion-Waldo Road.
Cabot Northpark Southland Leaseco LLC owes $92,183,662 plus interest on the property purchased by Cabot Investment Properties on Aug. 24, 2007.
Cabot Investment Properties, which has offices in New York and Boston, purchased the 41-acre retail property as part of a three-mall package, which included malls in Ashtabula and Marion, Ind.
A parallel foreclosure action is being pursued on the Northpark Mall in Marion, Ind.
| 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