Do you have any Movie Cinema's that are not in use anymore or have been torn down?

We used to have a "General Cinema" in Watchung, NJ on RT 22 in Blue Star Shopping Mall  but its not there anymore. I saw the movie "Blue Chips" with Penee Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal in that Cinema back in 1994. We also used to have a Cenima in Rutgers Plaza(shopping mall) on Easton Ave in Somerset, NJ which is just basically no longer in use anymore I don;t think.

  There are many around here...

  Syufy @ Hilltop (Star Wars 1 and 2, Indiana Jones 2, Romancing the Stone, Ghostbusters...)

  Century 9 @ Pinole (Mad Max 3, Rocky IV, Red Sonja, The Fugitive, The Crow...)

  Century @ Hilltop (Star Trek VI, The Shawshank Redemption...)

  Drive-in @ Hilltop (N/A)

  Indoor @ Sunvalley (The Jungle Book, The Unidentified Flying Oddball, Pete's Dragon, Ice Castles...)

  Drive-in @ Fairfield (a few flicks in the late 70s that I don't remember...)

  Drive-in @ Vallejo (recently demolished) (Every Which Way But Loose, Battle Beyond the Stars...)

  Cine 3 @ Vallejo (a church, now) (Superman: The Movie, The Muppet Movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Misery...)

  The Empress @ Vallejo (turned into night club "Talk of the Town" in the 90's.  Now, dunno) (Double feature in '85 - Indiana Jones & TOD and Star Trek II...)

  Drive-in @ Martinez (N/A)...

We had a few:

A movie theatre at Sunvalley mall, which closed sometime in the early '80s, I believe.

Metro 4 Theatre, Antioch - Closed down in early '90s. We used to frequent it quite a bit.

Stamm Theatre, Antioch - Closed sometime in the mid '90s. We use to also go there a lot, too.

We had a few:

A movie theatre at Sunvalley mall, which closed sometime in the early '80s, I believe.



  That's the one I'm talking about...

  Was on the JC Penney end near Copeland's.  I remember when "Blame it on Rio" was playing there in '84, so it probably closed down in the late eighties...

  One more I forgot: was shaped like a gigantic dome near the old Monkey Ward plaza (off of Crescent Dr. in Pleasant Hill..?).  You could see it from 580.  Built in the 50s or 60s, that one closed down only in the past few years.  The CC Times actually ran a story about it.  I remember seeing The Goonies, Back to the Future and Dune there...

I saw Back To The Future at some cinema outside Fox Valley Mall in Naperville IL which has since been turned into a wicked cool sports bar called The Foundry.  Had a beer there last year.  Good times.

Yes...we have a few Carmike Cinemas (the smaller ones that only showed a few films at a time) that have closed down, in order to make way for these HUGE theater complexes that show like 25 movies at a time. I miss a lot of the smaller theaters. I also used to like when the cinema was IN the mall...now the malls around here don't have them within the building. Our largest movie complex is located behind our mall.

I saw Back To The Future at some cinema outside Fox Valley Mall in Naperville IL which has since been turned into a wicked cool sports bar called The Foundry.  Had a beer there last year.  Good times.


  Neat bar.  Looks like a good place to hang out and crush a beer or two, if I was into the bar scene...

  Check out that corrugated metal bar..!

   That's the one I'm talking about...

   Was on the JC Penney end near Copeland's.  I remember when "Blame it on Rio" was playing there in '84, so it probably closed down in the late eighties...

   One more I forgot: was shaped like a gigantic dome near the old Monkey Ward plaza (off of Crescent Dr. in Pleasant Hill..?).  You could see it from 580.  Built in the 50s or 60s, that one closed down only in the past few years.  The CC Times actually ran a story about it.  I remember seeing The Goonies, Back to the Future and Dune there...


Yeah, ohhh, Blame it on Rio - I love that movie. Yes, where Coplands and JCPenney's are. Coplands just closed over the Holidays. Coplands is all I remember being there, although if I remembered real hard, I coulda sworn they had an ice rink in that same spot. 

Yes, the dome near the old Montgomery Wards is still open. I just saw "The Illusionist" there a few months back. They were going to shut it down, but I think they've had enough community support to keep it open.

Yeah, ohhh, Blame it on Rio - I love that movie. Yes, where Coplands and JCPenney's are. Coplands just closed over the Holidays. Coplands is all I remember being there, although if I remembered real hard, I coulda sworn they had an ice rink in that same spot. 

Yes, the dome near the old Montgomery Wards is still open. I just saw "The Illusionist" there a few months back. They were going to shut it down, but I think they've had enough community support to keep it open.


  Yeah, there was an ice skating rink there, you're right.  As a kid, I'd see people walking back there, bundled up, and never knew where they were going...

  So the dome never closed, after all...

  I'm suprised.  It was an inch away from being demolished.  I'm glad it was saved...

The Odeon opened in the 1930's and became a bingo hall in the 1970's.  I can only remember going to the cinema here once for a Saturday Morning Picture Show.  Can't recall what we watched.

The Essoldo had a cinema upstairs and a dance hall downstairs apparently.  I don't know when it closed, my parents went there in the 1950's and by the early seventies it was a supermarket and now it's been split into 3 or 4 smaller shops.

There is only one cinema open now.  For years it was known as The Curzon.  Recently it closed for refurbishment and reopened as Reel Cinema.  They've kept the Art Deco foyer and frontage which is nice.  It has 6 screens, havning taken over Sammy's nightclub that used to be next door sometime in the early 90's

In Didcot we have The Coronet which is now The New Coronet Bingo Hall ! I've no idea when it changed but it is certainly an Art Deco building. They are currently building a new mutiplex in the centre of town.

Loews used to have a theater in the basement of the Virgin Megastore Times Sq. It went under the first time Loews went bankrupt.

   Yeah, there was an ice skating rink there, you're right.  As a kid, I'd see people walking back there, bundled up, and never knew where they were going...

   So the dome never closed, after all...

   I'm suprised.  It was an inch away from being demolished.  I'm glad it was saved...


Yeah, I'm surprised it's hung on so long, but again, I think enough people made a difference. I mean, it's like the center of the whole mall, ya know! It would be so boring without it!

I think my brother went ice-skating at Sunvalley when he was very young. But, for some reason, I can't remember if the theatre was there before the rink, or vice versa. Do you remember the Walgreens that was at Sunvalley? We use to enter through Walgreens all the time, get some snacks and then head into the mall...

Yeah, I'm surprised it's hung on so long, but again, I think enough people made a difference. I mean, it's like the center of the whole mall, ya know! It would be so boring without it!

I think my brother went ice-skating at Sunvalley when he was very young. But, for some reason, I can't remember if the theatre was there before the rink, or vice versa. Do you remember the Walgreens that was at Sunvalley? We use to enter through Walgreens all the time, get some snacks and then head into the mall...


   You might be too young to remember, but that whole end of the mall, in front of JC Penney where the escalators are, was a gigantic food court with tables in the center and the tewnty-or-so food stalls all around the sides.  All were set up smorgasboard-style.  I also remember these weird looking, giant metal things in the center of the court that kinda looked like rusty trees reaching up to the ceiling.  I'd give anything to see some old piccys of Sunvalley...

   If I remember correctly, the entrance to the ice skating rink was tucked away in the far corner.  I recall being told of the rink but never actually skated there or even saw it.  The cinema and the rink, both, must have existed at the same time because I remember seeing a few movies there in the late 70s.  Hilltop Mall, however, had an adjoining ice cream shoppe called Scoopy's.  The windows inside looked out over the rink.  Pretty neat...

   Wallgreen's..?  Sure.  In the summer I liked to park accross the street from there in the lower lot for shade.  Walgreen's was pretty much my regular entrance and exit.  Wow...I forgot about that old Walgreen's.  Toward the end, it was getting old and run-down.  That's where Johnny Rocket's is now, isn't it..?

   

   You might be too young to remember, but that whole end of the mall, in front of JC Penney where the escalators are, was a gigantic food court with tables in the center and the tewnty-or-so food stalls all around the sides.  All were set up smorgasboard-style.  I also remember these weird looking, giant metal things in the center of the court that kinda looked like rusty trees reaching up to the ceiling.  I'd give anything to see some old piccys of Sunvalley...

   If I remember correctly, the entrance to the ice skating rink was tucked away in the far corner.  I recall being told of the rink but never actually skated there or even saw it.  The cinema and the rink, both, must have existed at the same time because I remember seeing a few movies there in the late 70s.  Hilltop Mall, however, had an adjoining ice cream shoppe called Scoopy's.  The windows inside looked out over the rink.  Pretty neat...

   Wallgreen's..?  Sure.  In the summer I liked to park accross the street from there in the lower lot for shade.  Walgreen's was pretty much my regular entrance and exit.  Wow...I forgot about that old Walgreen's.  Toward the end, it was getting old and run-down.  That's where Johnny Rocket's is now, isn't it..?

   


Yeah, I believe I was too young to remember the World's Fair food court at SV. My boyfriend told me about, as he's older than I, and that they had all these food places to choose from. I would love to see pics of that, and actually I think I did find one on some Old Malls website. I do remember SV before they put the new tile in there (well, it's not really new anymore as I think it's been there for about 14 years). I remember Emporium Capwell's before they turned it into Macy's.

Yes, Walgreens - right next to that parking garage. Yeah, it was getting old down that way. They had that Marie Callendars before Johnny Rockets, and I believe it closed around 1991 or '92 and Johnny Rockets opened around 1993.

Ohh, did Hilltop also have a rink? Wow, that sounds like fun!

I'll keep a look out for old pictures/postcards of SV back in it's heyday !

Yeah, I believe I was too young to remember the World's Fair food court at SV. My boyfriend told me about, as he's older than I, and that they had all these food places to choose from. I would love to see pics of that, and actually I think I did find one on some Old Malls website. I do remember SV before they put the new tile in there (well, it's not really new anymore as I think it's been there for about 14 years). I remember Emporium Capwell's before they turned it into Macy's.

Yes, Walgreens - right next to that parking garage. Yeah, it was getting old down that way. They had that Marie Callendars before Johnny Rockets, and I believe it closed around 1991 or '92 and Johnny Rockets opened around 1993.

Ohh, did Hilltop also have a rink? Wow, that sounds like fun!

I'll keep a look out for old pictures/postcards of SV back in it's heyday !


  Wow, you even have the name..?  World's Fair food court.  There's something I didn't remember...

  I don't recall the Capwell's at SV, but the one at Hilltop.  SV has changed so much as to hardly be recognized.  Especially since the plane crash (or crashes).  Hilltop has not changed since the 70s, I swear, the whole layout, the rest area seating, the spiral ramp, the water fountain, even the tiles on the floor.  Sadly, the movie theater I frequented from childhood all the way up to young adulthood is gone...

  Nothing like the anticipation, the crowd, larger-than-life coming attractions posters and the smell of stale hot dogs and fresh popcorn...

  While not a piccy of the structure, all I have is a small piece of Syufy Hilltop history groove ;) on...

  http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1193336/esbhilltop.jpg

Sunvalley Mall on the JCPenney side - This has to be late '60s. JCPenney really hasn't changed much except for that sign  ;D And, man, I always go up and down those same escalators and staircase all the time! I LOVE Sunvalley! It's my favorite place, even though it's morphed a million times over  ;D

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/sunvalley-penneys.jpg


I think this may be what you were talking about - trees that went up to the ceiling. I was only 3 when they tore those out - If I could only remember!  ;D

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/sunvalley-fountain.jpg

Here are some more images:
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/sunvalley-mall-logo.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/sunvalley-mall-center.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/sunvalley-mall-aerial.jpg

Sunvalley Mall on the JCPenney side - This has to be late '60s. JCPenney really hasn't changed much except for that sign  ;D And, man, I always go up and down those same escalators and staircase all the time! I LOVE Sunvalley! It's my favorite place, even though it's morphed a million times over  ;D

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/sunvalley-penneys.jpg


I think this may be what you were talking about - trees that went up to the ceiling. I was only 3 when they tore those out - If I could only remember!  ;D

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/sunvalley-fountain.jpg

Here are some more images:
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/sunvalley-mall-logo.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/sunvalley-mall-center.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/ultraviolet521/sunvalley-mall-aerial.jpg


   Where in the world did you get that groovy mall directory..?   

   I remember the giant rooster and hen metal art display, old JC Penney sign and those clusters of ligts on the columns...

   That second pic is in the middle of the mall.  The large seating area and the elevator is there now.  There was a Musicland and a Dr.X pet shop nearby...  The metal tree things were in the food court and, as I recall, were much bigger.  Maybe three feet in diameter...

   Spent lots of time at Sunvalley when I was a teenager.  When I was a kid, it was more of a rare treat, as we frequented Hilltop more.  One of the places we'd eat, at SV, was at the Lyon's restaraunt inside Macy's.  That's right, there was one inside Macy's...

  Check out that aerial of SV.  There's, like, nothing around it..!  That must be Contra Costa Blvd. in front.  Wow, that looks hella different...

   Thanks for the memories!  Those pics are crazy..!  Have any more..?
   

Whoa, whoa, whoa - a Lyon's Restaurant inside Macy's? When did that go? I remember they had a sweet shop near the escalators where you could get Ice Cream and stuff. That's long gone now.

Yeah, that seating area near the main escalators near the Former Coplands and the still there JCPenneys is pretty much just a seating area with foilage around it (as you probably know already). Next time I hit the mall, I'm gonna check a few things out just to see how they've changed exactly. I like doing that kinda stuff because I'm like the biggest massive dork, lol  ;D Yeah, I bet hitting SV was a treat for ya. I wish I had visited the other malls when younger, but it appears SV was our main stomping ground. We also hit the County East Mall quite a bit, even before they made it an indoor mall. 

And yes, that ariel view is amazing! I was trying to think what that big, fat piece of vacant land was across the freeway, and then it clicked - that's the Willows Shopping Center now. Amazing! And, just to think the Willows had not even been built by 1975 - I thought it had been there for quite some time!

I found all of those pictures on a guys blog, where he focuses in on Northern California malls. It's pretty nifty and it seems he has similar memories as you do. I think if you google "Sunvalley Mall postcard" it should come up!

Enjoy!

Whoa, whoa, whoa - a Lyon's Restaurant inside Macy's? When did that go? I remember they had a sweet shop near the escalators where you could get Ice Cream and stuff. That's long gone now.

Yeah, that seating area near the main escalators near the Former Coplands and the still there JCPenneys is pretty much just a seating area with foilage around it (as you probably know already). Next time I hit the mall, I'm gonna check a few things out just to see how they've changed exactly. I like doing that kinda stuff because I'm like the biggest massive dork, lol  ;D Yeah, I bet hitting SV was a treat for ya. I wish I had visited the other malls when younger, but it appears SV was our main stomping ground. We also hit the County East Mall quite a bit, even before they made it an indoor mall. 

And yes, that ariel view is amazing! I was trying to think what that big, fat piece of vacant land was across the freeway, and then it clicked - that's the Willows Shopping Center now. Amazing! And, just to think the Willows had not even been built by 1975 - I thought it had been there for quite some time!

I found all of those pictures on a guys blog, where he focuses in on Northern California malls. It's pretty nifty and it seems he has similar memories as you do. I think if you google "Sunvalley Mall postcard" it should come up!

Enjoy!


   Yeah, in Macy's.  The first Lyon's I've ever seen.  The SV one is memorable because they served your food on what were, basically, frying pans, with the handle on the side, and all.  I thought that was cool.  Every dish included a chunk of watermelon and I remember trying to talk my parents and sisters into giving me theirs.  The restaraunt could be accesed through a door to the outside of the mall.  Trying to remember where the outside door was.  Mid/late seventies...

   Well, that makes me a dork, too.  I sometimes neglect to appreciate my suroundings for what they are, or have become, and think of them in terms of how much they've changed or stayed the same.  Actually, I'm starting to sound like my late grandfather with his sweeping arm gesture and, "None of that was here.  It was all just bare hills..."  Well, yeah Gramps, you were born in, like, 1915...

   Sunvalley, Hilltop, whatever, in the 80s the mall was the place to see and be seen, as the politics and social networking didn't end when you left campus.  I was just physically closer to Hilltop and it was only a short bus ride away.  Sunvalley, I'd have been transferring busses all day long.  You're closer to Sunvalley, being raised in Antioch...

   Don't know if you have this one, but it's cool.  It was linked from the website you mentioned...

   http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1193336/SunvalleymallConcord,California.jpg
   
   I'm guessing that this is the escalator in the center of the mall, where the glass elevator is now.  Macy's would be to the right, just out of the picture...

   Check out the old B. Dalton Bookseller..!  Good stuff...

   Yeah, in Macy's.  The first Lyon's I've ever seen.  The SV one is memorable because they served your food on what were, basically, frying pans, with the handle on the side, and all.  I thought that was cool.  Every dish included a chunk of watermelon and I remember trying to talk my parents and sisters into giving me theirs.  The restaraunt could be accesed through a door to the outside of the mall.  Trying to remember where the outside door was.  Mid/late seventies...

   Well, that makes me a dork, too.  I sometimes neglect to appreciate my suroundings for what they are, or have become, and think of them in terms of how much they've changed or stayed the same.  Actually, I'm starting to sound like my late grandfather with his sweeping arm gesture and, "None of that was here.  It was all just bare hills..."  Well, yeah Gramps, you were born in, like, 1915...

   Sunvalley, Hilltop, whatever, in the 80s the mall was the place to see and be seen, as the politics and social networking didn't end when you left campus.  I was just physically closer to Hilltop and it was only a short bus ride away.  Sunvalley, I'd have been transferring busses all day long.  You're closer to Sunvalley, being raised in Antioch...

   Don't know if you have this one, but it's cool.  It was linked from the website you mentioned...

   http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-6/1193336/SunvalleymallConcord,California.jpg
   
   I'm guessing that this is the escalator in the center of the mall, where the glass elevator is now.  Macy's would be to the right, just out of the picture...

   Check out the old B. Dalton Bookseller..!  Good stuff...




Ahhh, I wonder when that Lyon's left Macy's? I may remember it ever so slightly if it were after 1986. It's funny you mention those skillet style plates because our Lyon's out in Antioch also had those plates, too.

Yes, and it's even more true when your a child and growing up, you see these places all the time, but you never quite imagine them ever really leaving - because as it is, childhood seems like it takes forever, and then once it's over you wonder where it all went! I look back on the towns that I've grown up in or around and see what's left and what's took the place of the former and I start thinking, okay, I am getting older!

Yeah, and to be honest I never got the chance to take a bus when younger (as you know, the '80s were all about the kidnapping stuff - so my mom was overprotective of me and stuff). But, yes, that would have been quite a process to just get to SV from where you were coming from. I hear ya!

I think I have seen that postcard, but I'll check that guy's blog again to see a bigger version. I remember B.Dalton. Those are obsolete as far as I know. I remember in the '80s at SV they had a BIG B. Dalton, and I remember in the back you could go on computers and stuff - no internet stuff, but they were for other stuff I suppose.

Ahhh, I wonder when that Lyon's left Macy's? I may remember it ever so slightly if it were after 1986. It's funny you mention those skillet style plates because our Lyon's out in Antioch also had those plates, too.

Yes, and it's even more true when your a child and growing up, you see these places all the time, but you never quite imagine them ever really leaving - because as it is, childhood seems like it takes forever, and then once it's over you wonder where it all went! I look back on the towns that I've grown up in or around and see what's left and what's took the place of the former and I start thinking, okay, I am getting older!

Yeah, and to be honest I never got the chance to take a bus when younger (as you know, the '80s were all about the kidnapping stuff - so my mom was overprotective of me and stuff). But, yes, that would have been quite a process to just get to SV from where you were coming from. I hear ya!

I think I have seen that postcard, but I'll check that guy's blog again to see a bigger version. I remember B.Dalton. Those are obsolete as far as I know. I remember in the '80s at SV they had a BIG B. Dalton, and I remember in the back you could go on computers and stuff - no internet stuff, but they were for other stuff I suppose.


  When Lyon's left Macy's, couldn't tell ya for sure, but it was most definately history by '86...

  I think the only businesses to survive the decades in the vicinity of Sunvalley is Toy's R Us and the former Tower Records.  I remember when that mattress store on the corner of Willow Pass and Contra Costa was originally a Gap, offering wall to wall bell-bottom Levi's...

  The little town of Crockett, however, is stuck in a time warp, for the most part.  The old cinema still exists, but hasn't shown a movie since long before I was around.  My late grandfather, born in Crockett, told me of days spent at that cinema watching Tom Mix, while munching on snacks (popcorn and soda, I presume) all on a nickel.  The theater is a real estate office, now.  The tall marquee still stands.  I ought to take a piccy of that...

  By the way, I ran accross an entry on the Sunvalley Cinema...

  SunValley Cinema groove ;) on...

 

   When Lyon's left Macy's, couldn't tell ya for sure, but it was most definately history by '86...

   I think the only businesses to survive the decades in the vicinity of Sunvalley is Toy's R Us and the former Tower Records.  I remember when that mattress store on the corner of Willow Pass and Contra Costa was originally a Gap, offering wall to wall bell-bottom Levi's...

   The little town of Crockett, however, is stuck in a time warp, for the most part.  The old cinema still exists, but hasn't shown a movie since long before I was around.  My late grandfather, born in Crockett, told me of days spent at that cinema watching Tom Mix, while munching on snacks (popcorn and soda, I presume) all on a nickel.  The theater is a real estate office, now.  The tall marquee still stands.  I ought to take a piccy of that...

   By the way, I ran accross an entry on the Sunvalley Cinema...

   SunValley Cinema groove ;) on...

   


Hmmm, well, maybe I can ask my boyfriend if he remembers when it closed *Lyons* (I'm sure he does, as he was born and raised in Concord). Yeah, I did not know Toys R' Us had been around so long, next to Tower Records.

Is that Mattress store where the former Barnes & Noble was for some years? I may have the wrong building. So, I suppose Gap decided to move into the mall at somepoint, as there is one inside there now.

I don't think I've actually been in Crockett except around it and over the bridge. The former theatre you're talking about sounds really neat! I'll have to make a mental note to check it out when I'm out that way again. Heheh, Tom Mix - that's a real oldie! Yes, please send one if you'd like!

....and now, back to topic,  ;D

We used to have a "General Cinema" in Watchung, NJ on RT 22 in Blue Star Shopping Mall  but its not there anymore. I saw the movie "Blue Chips" with Penee Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal in that Cinema back in 1994. We also used to have a Cenima in Rutgers Plaza(shopping mall) on Easton Ave in Somerset, NJ which is just basically no longer in use anymore I don;t think.
Update-The former Cinema in Rutgers Plaza(shopping mall) on Easton Avenue in Somerset, NJ is now a "Stop and Shop" and has been for a few years at least. I'm not sure if the Cinema building which was built in December 1973 was modified or totally torn down for "Stop And Shop". I was just looking at the photo of the former Cinema and one of the entry double doors looks to be in the same spot as it is now in the "Stop And Shop". A "Stop And Shop" used to be 2 traffic lights North of the Cinema in another strip mall but in the early 1980's  but "Stop And Shop" pulled out of New Jersey all together so "Unclaimed Freight" occupied that building until a few years ago when it moved to East Brunswick. Now "Retro Fitness" occupies that building.

As for the current "Stop And Shop" when the Cinema was there there was a "Foodtown" across the way in the same mall complex(Rutgers Plaza) but "Foodtown" went out of that location somewhere in the 1989-1991 timeframe I think. "Foodtown" Locations are still down in the Northern Half Of the Jersey Shore Area.