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Bantam Theatre, Litchfield, CT. "Connecticut's oldest continuously operated movie house."
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/115-...d-CT/16503136/
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/115-...d-CT/16503136/
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Bow Tie Cinemas will not reopen the following New Jersey theaters and has removed them from their website: the Clairidge Cinema, Montclair; the Red Bank Cinema, Red Bank; the Tenafly Cinema, Tenafly; and the Cinema 100 in White Plains, New York. The Clairidge was pretty much northern New Jersey's only art/alternative location, a five screen site built inside a former Cinerama house. Although the placement of the individual screens was awkward to say the least, they had good programming. I was a frequent guest and will miss it.
Also, my report of the closing of the AMC Wayne 14 on the previous page was premature, it turns out a final decision hasn't been made about it.Comment
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Good riddance to the Clairidge. The auditorium that I saw A Hidden Life in last December was the most unpleasant room I have ever had the misfortune to see a movie in. I felt cheated and will never set foot in a Bow Tie Cinema again, ever.
Back around 1980 the then private owner of the Clairidge Theatre offered to give me the Cinerama Projectors if I would haul them away. Unfortunately I was living in a small apartment at the time so I did not take them. I don’t know what eventually happened to them.Comment
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Mahoning Valley Cinema opened on December 15th, 1995
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The Real to Real theater in Johnson City, TN is closing.
It wasn't anything special as theaters go, with small screens and center aisles, but I have a lot of memories from that place.
Two that stand out are both from the last few months of 1984, when I was 13.- I walked home a mile and a half at dusk after watching A Nightmare on Elm Street by myself. Movies rarely scare me, but I was feeling pretty creeped out and made record time.
- I remember standing in line at a haunted house in the same shopping center with a friend after coming out of The Terminator. We were blown away, and both trying to wrap our heads around what we'd just seen.
https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Bus...tream&lp=9&p=1
Johnson City’s Real to Reel Theater is permanently closing.
“The family owned and operated company has proudly served our city and the surrounding areas since 1982,” Peerless Properties & Development said in a press release Friday, “and we thank them for wonderful service and entertainment.”
Peerless Properties & Development said it plans to begin revitalization efforts on the building immediately.Comment
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The Century/Cinemark Corte Madera Cinema Theatre in Marin County CA will not be opening again. A former deluxe Blumenfeld Theatre then run by Pacific/Cinerama® Theatres and lastly Century/Cinemark they will not renew the lease. The was one of the best movie theatres in the SF Bay Area.
With a huge curved 70mm type screen with curtains and great stereo sound when It was new. Pacific took it over and later Century they cut down on the size of the screen for video DCP and never fixed the curtains.
The popular movie theatre was never twined and had great parking. The lot It sits on was to be a furniture store but this has never happened.
Let's hope some creative entertainment company will buy or take over the lease for future Marin $$ county movie lovers to see what a large cinema looks like.Comment
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The closing of the Corte Madera Cinema is another terrible loss. That was a truly great theater, with a giant immersive screen, enveloping sound, terrific sight-lines, and fantastic presentations.
Over the 8 years I worked for LucasArts, I attended dozens of LFL company screenings at the Cinema, usually at 8 or 9 am on Saturday or Sunday, before the theater opened. All of them were spectacular experiences. Terry is correct: it's one of, if not the best cinemas in the Bay Area.
Sadness
Cinemark jettisons Corte Madera movie theater
Marin County moviegoers will have one less venue when health authorities allow theaters to reopen.
Cinemark announced that its Corte Madera theater is permanently closed. The Texas-based theater chain say the move is not related to a loss of revenue from the coronavirus outbreak.
The company said it had reached the end of its lease at the Tamal Vista Boulevard site and the closure is “normal course of business” from its ongoing review of its operations.
The property is owned by Scandinavian Design. Cinemark operated it as a theater until the county imposed coronavirus restrictions on businesses in mid-March.
Scandinavian Design had plans to redevelop the site, but Corte Madera’s planning department has not communicated with the home furnishings company since 2017.
“It’s so sad, man,” said Dan Zastrow, general manager for the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. “I’ve seen many movies there, but the writing has been on the wall.
“That was the place to go see ‘Star Wars’ when it opened. That’s where I went and I hear that’s where George Lucas would bring his staff for early screenings because it fit 600 or 700 on just one screen.”
The only other single-screen theater left in Marin is the Lark, which Zastrow said is a much more intimate venue.
Ellie Mednick, executive director of the Lark, said the theater in Corte Madera has been a fixture of the Marin film community for decades.
“As a theater manager as well as a citizen of the county for over 50 years, I will miss it,” Mednick said. “We loved that Cinemark. We don’t figure other theaters as competition for us. They enhanced our movie going experience and for the general public. The loss of any theater in our community is loss for all of us.”
She said the theater industry in Marin is changing because of the coronavirus restrictions. The Lark, on top of providing online movie streaming subscriptions, recently partnered with the Bon Air Center in Greenbrae to host drive-in movie nights in the parking lot.
Mednick said the Lark, on Magnolia Avenue in Larkspur, plans to reopen in late August. Meanwhile, it’s finding other ways to bring in revenue, such as a “drive-in operation.”
“I can’t reveal details, but we are looking at lots in Central Marin,” she said. “It looks very promising. We hope that will sustain us, and if the Bon Air ticket sales are any indication, we’ll be in good shape. They sold out in 29 minutes.”
She added that the Lark has only furloughed three part-time workers, while being able to retain six full-time employees through a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan. But the money will run out at the end of the month.
Like the Lark, the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center tends to screen classic, foreign or independent films, Zastrow said. It plans to reopen its three theaters in August. Meanwhile, it is also offering subscriptions to stream movies online.
“We serve a different clientele base than Cinemark,” Zastrow said. “Mainly for folks who are looking for something other than a thrill ride or superhero film. But for folks on both sides of the cinema business, it’s rocky times right now.”
He said the safety protocols for staff and customers will change the cinema experience. These include limiting screening rooms to only 25% capacity; 6 feet of separation between viewers; reserved seating; one-way traffic in and out of rooms; increased disinfection of high-touch areas; barriers at concession stands; masks and gloves for employees; and mask requirements for customers.
The biggest challenge will be the capacity limits, Zastrow said.
“It comes down to the size of your space. How big is your lobby?” he said. “The Lark has a small lobby that goes into their single-screen auditorium. A single-screen theater like that, that’s going to be tough.
“There are two parts to the state mandate: 25% capacity or a max of 100 folks in a theater. So you’re obviously going to max out at 100. At that point you’re not generating enough money to even pay staff, so it gets really difficult.”
Marin plans to allow customers back into theaters as part of Phase 2i, according to the county’s reopening plan. The county is entering Phase 2h starting Monday, although it has pared the plan back because of rising coronavirus cases.
Cinemark representatives said when it is allowed to welcome back patrons, it will follow strict sanitation, personal protective equipment and social distancing guidelines. Cinemark locations in Marin include: Northgate and Century Regency in San Rafael, Rowland Plaza in Novato, Century Larkspur and CineArts Sequoia in Mill Valley.
Other theaters in Marin include the Tiburon Playhouse and the Fairfax Theatre.Comment
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Eastdale Mall, Montgomery AL announces it will be reopened in September (it's been closed for several years)
This has all the makings of an epic tragic fail
https://www.alabamanews.net/2020/07/...eastdale-mall/Comment
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I don't know if New Vision Theatres as a company is done (their web site wasn't working when I just checked) but the Leitersburg 10, in Leitersburg, MD (Hagerstown, MD) and the Waynesboro (single) in Waynesboro, PA have now officially shut their doors via New Vision. So either a new operator picks them up or they're done for good. Likely Waynesboro is done for good unless the city itself makes it attractive as a business. It is a small single with all of the challenges of a single in even good times. It was relatively recently renovated too and actually looks pretty nice.
Their statement via Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/LeitersburgCinemas/We know there have been a lot of questions circulating about the status of Leitersburg Cinemas and whether or not we will be reopening. As of right now, we will not be reopening as New Vision Theatres, however, we are hopeful that a buyer will be interested in purchasing the theater with plans of reopening. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time sharing movies with you and making memories that will last a lifetime! We want to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for the support and love you have shown us throughout the years. We will miss all of you terribly and hope we will once again be able to share a movie and popcorn with you! #longliveleitersburgcinemas
[EDIT]
Just saw this posting on the Waynesboro Theatre on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/WCTProject/Waynesboro nonprofit dedicated
to reopening downtown movie theater
WAYNESBORO, Pa. – The group that led the renovation of the Waynesboro movie theater announced today it is committed to showing movies again downtown.
The nonprofit Waynesboro Community Theatre Project helped raise more than $650,000 to renovate the circa-1970 former Waynesboro Mini-Theatre in 2015. The group owns the building and most of its contents.
The Waynesboro Theatre reopened in November 2015 with HighRock Group running the new state-of-the-art theater.
New Vision Theatres purchased Leitersburg Cinemas from HighRock as well as the right to show movies at the Waynesboro Theatre in early 2019.
New Vision Theatres, announced last week that it will need to default on its lease and would not be reopening the Waynesboro Theatre because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Waynesboro Theatre has been closed since mid-March because of the government-ordered shutdown caused by the pandemic.
“COVID-19 has been a real back-breaker for the entire industry, and it has had a major impact locally, as well,” said Bill Kohler, who serves as president of the board.
“We seek to be there for the community that was there for us in 2015 when the theater badly needed repairs,” Kohler said.
“We want the community to know that we as a board are dedicated to doing whatever we can to try and reopen the theater when it is safe to do so,” he said.Last edited by Steve Guttag; 07-21-2020, 04:48 AM.Comment
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According to one article I've found so far, New Vision Theatres appears to be getting out of the business:
New Vision Theaters Fitchburg IMAX to close
Adam Hasz said the company has “been trying for months to renegotiate leases and this and that but they could just never agree to anything. So, they just decided as a company, it was best at this time to shut down.”
Hasz said the company will shut down all 18 of its theaters nationwide.Comment
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New Vision getting out of the business makes sense in that they were a group set up by investors, not movie people. I really expected them to start flipping the theatres much sooner. If both AMC and New Vision call it quits, we'll be the only theatre in Montgomery. I don't expect it to last long, but hey, bragging rights.
Re: Waynesboro, PA - Jeez, it is hard to think of a 1970 theatre as a classic old theatre, but it's fifty damn years old. Good luck to them. [Cinematours says they're from 1966 and formerly a Jerry Lewis Theatre. I guess that is a sort of historic claim. Looks like they've had a nice facelift sometime in the last 20 years.]Comment
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The facelift was in 2015 so it is very recent. It just isn't going to draw huge crowds, geographically as a small single.Comment
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So, would you consider running some first-run fare if that would actually happen?Originally posted by Martin McCaffery View Post
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