This is topic UA new construction in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Large on 05-30-1999, 03:25 AM:
 
Here is a list of new UA theatres being built or planned.

McArthur, TX opens August, 1999.
King of Prussia, PA opens August, 1999.
Westberry, NY opens Nov. 1999. Not Under Construction yet.
Sheeps Head Bay, NY opens Nov. 1999. Not under...
Market Fair, PA opens March, 2000. Not Under...
 

Posted by Martin on 05-30-1999, 03:25 AM:
 
You wouldn't happen to have a list of which dumps are closing and when?
UA=underachieving
 
Posted by Mark Ogden (Member # 43) on 05-30-1999, 03:26 AM:
 
I used to think that UA was underachieving myself. God knows they built a
lot of shoeboxes in their day (alot of them mono only with bare cinderblock
walls in the theaters, fer heaven's sake), and I still hold a grudge against them
for being the first chain to bust IATSE's chops (they were the pioneers of the
union guys only on the weekends, popcorn kids in the booth the rest of the
week thing).

On the other hand, I went down to the Village to check out the Union Square
14 recently, and I have to give grudging credit, it's quite a place. It's quickly
become the acknowledged "quality place" to see a movie in New York City
and is second only to the Sony Lincoln Square in box office. I took a lady
friend to see "Hillary and Jackie" there, and the projection and sound were
unsurpassed (I tried to look into the booth to see what kind of heads they
had, looked like Simplexes). Of course, in Manhattan you've got to go balls
to the wall when spending for projection and sound to be competitive. It goes
to show that they are willing to cough green when they have to. Let's hope
they are underachievers no more.
 

Posted by Martin on 05-30-1999, 03:27 AM:
 

sounds like that's the exception not the rule.
According to Boxoffice mag they lost $98,000,000 last year alone.
 
Posted by Steven Privett (Member # 718) on 07-07-2003, 10:50 PM:
 


[ 10-03-2003, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: Steven Privett ]
 
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-07-2003, 11:27 PM:
 
Has someone been surfing the archives? This discussion is over 4 years old! (Before I started requiring real names.)

By the way, the UA MacArthur is closed now.
 
Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 07-08-2003, 12:06 AM:
 
Was "Large" Ian`s alias back then?
 
Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 07-08-2003, 01:39 PM:
 
Ha ha, UnderAchieving- that's almost as good as All Movies Compromised!
 
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 07-08-2003, 04:11 PM:
 
"Large" is indeed our own Ian Price. To update his list:
 
Posted by William T. Parr (Member # 677) on 07-08-2003, 10:14 PM:
 
quote:
I used to think that UA was underachieving myself. God knows they built a
lot of shoeboxes in their day (alot of them mono only with bare cinderblock
walls in the theaters, fer heaven's sake), and I still hold a grudge against them
for being the first chain to bust IATSE's chops (they were the pioneers of the
union guys only on the weekends, popcorn kids in the booth the rest of the
week thing).
UA did not remove the Union form the booth in Corpus until 1977 or so. Mann had Union Projectionist up until 1982 or so when it closed for the first time. However they were running 2000 ft changeovers there until then. Presidio Theatres gets the credit for busting the Union Early in Austin. When they built there first theatre in 1972 it was the first place to be non union. AMC built the third theatre in 1976 to follow suite. The rest was history for IATSE in Austin. However the last strong hold the IATSE local had on movie places in Austin was GCC and that all went to hell with the closing of the Great Hills 8 and the Highland 10 now the only place that does have a union rep in the booth is the Paramount. However the IATSE still ha a hold alot of the venues in town when it comes to stage set up's i.e. Austin Convention center and Palmer Auditorium to name a couple.

As to the closing of the MacArthur. That was not a big surprise. When UA informed Raymond they were closing the Cine 6 in August of 2001 the MacArthur was on the chopping block then. Paul Stinson had to do alot of pursuading to get UA to keep it open. All he did was prolong the inevitable.
 
Posted by Gregory Brannon (Member # 405) on 07-09-2003, 09:19 AM:
 
The July 9,2003 Business section of the Dallas Morning News reports today that the UA MacArthur Marketplace 16 has been purchased by West Virginia based Marquee Cinemas. It's their first foray into the Dallas area. They are expected to reopen the theatre by July 25 and will continue to show first run releases and plans to lure customers from nearby AMC Grapevine Mills 30 and Cinmark 17-Imax by offering lower ticket and concession prices.

Personally, I thought the reason this theatre struggled was perhaps the design. The legroom was atrocious for a stadium seating theater. Whenever the person in front of you would recline, their seats would almost touch the knees of the person behind them. Secondly, for a theatre with all three digital sound formats including Dolby Digital EX, the sound presentation was week compared to their nearby competitors. I saw X2 their on opening day and was very dissappointed by the sound that I had to see it again at Cinemark Legacy where the sound in auditoriums 12 & 13 are always the best in Dallas. Also when I saw X2 there, they had one attendant at the ticket both and the lines were long as hell, I guess that should have been a sign that they were in trouble. Thirdly, this is just a personal pet peave I hope the new owners re-paint that ugly crimson and gold triangle colors of the exterior.

I don't know if this theatre was doomed to fail upon opening back in Sept. 1999 because it was late to the market by 3 years. By the time it opened AMC Grapevine Mills 30 had been opened since 1997, the nearby AMC Grand was still a popular theatre and Cinemark 17 was in the process of adding on their IMAX screen. Also, I was hoping that the UA MacArthur would be as good as the UA Galaxy 9 which has nice size screens, THX auditoriums and good leg length between rows but unfortunately it was a dissappointment from the start and never seem to connect with the patrons which was odd considering the tremendous growth in high income families and homes in the immediate area of the theatre.

I'll give the theatre one more chance once the new ownership takes over.
 




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