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Topic: So there's this closed movie theater near me...
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David Stambaugh
Film God
Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002
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posted 04-03-2002 07:42 PM
I have a dream... heh heh.In neighboring small town Cottage Grove (15 mins south of Eugene, straight shot on I-5) sits a now-closed twin cinema, appropriately enough named Cottage Grove Cinemas. I drove down and looked at it today, was surprised to see it's in a relatively new retail shopping center. Looks like the building was originally constructed with the cinema in mind. It's a conventional commercial/retail building, only the end with the theaters is 2 stories high instead of standard 1-story commercial height. Unfortunately the auditoriums have been gutted, including removal of the center dividing wall between the 2 smallish rooms. I would guess each may have seated 150 or so. However the lobby, ticket booth, and restrooms are still intact. The shell of the concession stand is also in place. Looks like the upstairs booth is intact too. Though of course there is no usable equipment left. The drop ceiling was painted black. Yay. You can see the outline of the sloped seating arrangement along one of the sidewalls, though in its gutted state it's now just bare, flat concrete floors. So, is there a rule of thumb for the minimum size of a small town that could support a twin cinema with, say, 300 seats? I think Cottage Grove is like 8000 or so. There are no other theaters there, so anyone who wants to see a movie must drive about 20 mins. up I-5 to Cinemark 17 in Springfield. Hmm, do you suppose that's what killed the twin? I should try to locate the original operator and find out what the story is...
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Jerry Chase
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1068
From: Margate, FL, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 04-03-2002 10:28 PM
A town of 8000 can't support a theatre now, and probably couldn't at any time after 1952. Rule of thumb back in the heyday of twins was *at least* 10,000 in the village (20,000 was better), double that within ten miles - and nothing else to do in the entire area for recreation. This was before cable, video tapes, satellites, or DVD. County seats got preference, and closest competion had to be about twenty miles away. A lot of people got burned trying to do a "Jerry Lewis" twin theatre in a thin location. In towns like Cottage Grove, residents are now used to driving just to shop. Kids aren't interested in meeting the same kids they go to school with, so they want to party (and watch movies)in the city and would all but ignore a local theatre. Sorry to dash dreams but a theatre has about as much chance surviving there as a steam locomotive (maybe less).
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David Stambaugh
Film God
Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002
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posted 04-05-2002 04:13 PM
When I say bad presentation, what I mean is that since Day 1 (they opened in 1990), as a general rule their screens have been dim & under-lit, sometimes with non-uniform illumination; fuzzy, jittery image; and weak, anemic sound systems (Ultra-Stereo, probably not SR-compatible). They did install DTS on 2 screens in the mid-90s, but didn't bother with split surrounds or subwoofers as far as I could tell. The last movie I saw there was Riding In Cars With Boys. The print was actually in very good condition, but the screen was dim and fuzzy, uneven illumination, there was something blocking part of the image in the lower-right corner (looked like an aperture plate that someone started cutting but didn't finish the job or maybe the plate wasn't in the correct position at all), and the sound was AM-radio quality with no directionality. Luckily it only cost me $1 to get in (first show of the day is $1, $1.50 after that).
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Paul Cassidy
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 549
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 04-19-2002 12:33 PM
Yes it is very hard to compete with Multiplexs with 12 to 21 screens and you only have 1 or 2 , the customers want to see their film when they want, not when you are showing it...I was showing as many sessios as I could 6 or 7 a Day but not able to show the same one twice (exception being "Jurassic Park 1" that movie showed All Sessions All week for weeks) as I had to cater for the children in the mornings ,teenages and Adults in the afternoon and evening sessions ,so with one screen it has it's draw backs ,people wont stick around and wait for their film they will go down to the Complex that has the Feature showing in 4 cinemas at staggered times ,long weekends is where I made my money showing Movie Marathons , school and club outings then there is special Ethnic Films (Bollywood) for a small theater to survive it needs to have the backing of the Community and a multi-use ,such as Live Theatre , coffee meetings for senior citizens with a Classic Movie.... you know something different from the Plex as there is no way you can compete , so you need to be slightly out of step from them.------------------
A KIWI eats,roots & Leaves.
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