Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: 10 years

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Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 01-22-2005, 01:15 AM:

The theatre I work at turned 10 years old this past week. Thursday, January 20, 2005 was the 10th birthday of the opening of Regal Cinemas Virginia Center in Richmond, VA. The theatre opened as a 14-plex in 1995 and was expanded in 1998 into a 20-plex with stadium seating. It is one of the highest grossing theatres in the Richmond area and I hope it stays around for many more years.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 01-22-2005, 03:06 AM:

Our place turns 10 in March this year. It opened up as a 10 screen, sloped auditoriums, and 4 DTS houses. Now, we have 4 stadiums added to the original 10, and everything is in digital sound (SRD or DTS) except three screens. We still do good business, and wallop our crosstown rival in terms of presentation. I've worked there almost 4 years, but I've been a patron since day one. I love our place!

AJG

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 01-22-2005, 07:46 AM:

Hey, I've been to Brandon's theatre. This would have been around 1998-1999. The big houses are decent and used to be (but I don't think still are) THX certified. Hopefully they're doing a good job of keeping up the physical building. I've heard stories of some older "standard 1990s Regal design" theatres with leaky roofs and other structural issues.

The oldest theatre where I have worked will be 79 years old this year; the youngest will be seven.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 01-22-2005, 08:07 AM:

Hmmm....the Uptown in DC turned 10-years....about 59-years ago. [Wink]

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 01-22-2005, 09:48 AM:

The one-screen Nugget Theatre in Telluride, CO, will turn 70 this year. In 1935 the owner hung the floor above us from an armature built on the roof, took out the bearing wall in the middle of a 50' building and created a 35' wide movie theatre in the space. It's shown movies ever since and my wife Luci and I have operated it for the past 20 years. The Telluride Film Festival has used this theatre for 30 years.

There are two Nuggets in the US. The other is a four-plex in Hanover, NH.

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 01-22-2005, 11:47 AM:

The theatre is still in good shape. We don't have the THX certification in #14 (the old #8 before the 20 plex conversion) anymore. The interior has been modified a lot, but we keep the place as clean as a 10 year old theatre complex that does this much traffic can be.

Posted by Chris Mosel (Member # 1451) on 01-22-2005, 12:51 PM:

The first theatre I worked at would have turned 63 this year, opened 1 month to the day after the Pearl Harbour attack. The projectionist was drafted for WW II and returned after the war. I worked with him until he passed away in 95. Great guy with great theatre and war stories. The theatre I'm at now turns 6 this year and I've been here since construction. World of difference.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-22-2005, 01:07 PM:

Mine will be 75 years old on September 6 of this year. That is if the radio/TV/cable/videogame/Betamax/VHS/DVD/home-theatre/downloading revolution doesn't put us out of business before then.

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 01-22-2005, 01:58 PM:

Any plans to hype your diamond anniversary, or are you keeping it fairly low key?

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 01-22-2005, 04:10 PM:

The Carmike theater here in Lawton had its 10th birthday recently. The theater opened in December of 1994 with 8 screens, 2 of them THX certified and equipped with DTS (those DTS-6 two-drive machines are still working fine). Now all 8 screens have DTS and work is being completed on a stadium seating conversion.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 01-22-2005, 04:35 PM:

Our theatre turned 76 continuous uninterrupted years this past dec. 24. Never closed.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-22-2005, 06:04 PM:

Aaron - no specific plans yet, but I'm brainstorming ideas.

Posted by Wayne Keyser (Member # 2420) on 01-22-2005, 06:34 PM:

Brandon - Hurray for you! If you're in Richmond, ask around about the old Lee Art, now THERE was a house!

35 years ago, it was smack in the middle of the Virginia Commonwealth University campus - leaky ceiling, a corner of the screen coming loose, a couple of rows of seats collapsed ("just don't sit there"). But every one of us knew the place well.

Why?

Because it was the early days of porn, and when we'd brave its seedy interior we all felt so guilty that we believed that our souls were just about as broken-down as the theater.

It's a much more respectable place now, of course. I think I heard that it's an "arts center" or something. If the fine folks who go there only knew...

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 01-22-2005, 08:39 PM:

Wayne-
The Lee X Theatre is now owned by VCU and they use it for the Art Foundation program. They teach freshman art classes there. Down the street, the old Biograph theatre has been gutted and turned into a "cyber cafe." With all the new development going on Downtown with the performing arts center and whatnot, I would expect to see someone put a multiplex down there in the next few years.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-22-2005, 08:45 PM:

Brandon... Hopefully you haven't been with them for all of those 10 years [Wink]

!

Mark

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 01-22-2005, 08:50 PM:

Nah, I started there as a concessionist back in '02 in my freshman year at VCU. Became an assistant manager in the summer of '03. Been seeing movies there since it opened, though.

Posted by Richard C. Wolfe (Member # 431) on 01-23-2005, 12:05 AM:

My theatre will turn 85 on February 1st of this year. It opened as the Lyric on that date in 1921. The only time it ever closed was for a two month remodeling during July and August of 1933 to get a new art deco treatment and was renamed the Roxy at that time. 90% of the theatres built after it, through 1995 are now gone.

We have one AMC 8 plex that is about 15 years old. We have 3 Regal plexes and 1 Carmike plex that are all less then 10 years old. It is my belief that when all these multiplex theatres now celebrating making it 10 years are gone, replaced by other newer and larger complexes, theatres such as Mikes, Jims and mine will still be here and still in business.

Posted by Kevin Markwick (Member # 2698) on 01-23-2005, 06:50 AM:

We are 89 years old this year. Can anyone beat that?

Purpose built that is.

Posted by Thomas Jonsson (Member # 1902) on 01-23-2005, 03:35 PM:

My theater will turn 50 on February 11th.

Opening movie in 1955 was "Easy to love" starring
Esther Williams.

How do you guys celebrate your anniversaries?

Thomas

Posted by Gunnar Johansson (Member # 1661) on 01-23-2005, 05:53 PM:

Palladium, Gothenburg, which is oe of the theaters I help out at opened in 1919, which makes it almost 86 years old. It´s in a house from the middle of the 1800´s. Seating 770 today (used to be 1022 in the old days.
Opening flick: How could you, Jean? (en piga bland pigor) directed by William Desmond Taylor (starring Mary Pickford...).
Still around and hopefully/probably will be for a long time to come!
Palladium, small pictures but still

Oh, and congratulations all.

//Gunnar

Edit: Celebrated by having it open all day with a tour and showing old trailers and short films, and a competition. It was mentioned in local press and the company´s own paper. Free coffe and cake too.