The Villa Theater is a cinema now closed in Salt Lake City, Utah, located on 3092 S. Highland Drive. The theater was opened from December 23, 1949 to February 18, 2003. It now serves as a location for Adib's Rug Gallery.
Video Villa Theatre
History
Villa was first opened on December 23, 1949, after being built by current owners Joseph L. Lawrence and David K. Edwards - the first feature featured is "Prince of Foxes". The theater has 1,300 seats and is built using a stadium seating design that utilizes a raised seat on a steep slope. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, The Villa was known as the first Salt Lake City Theater that featured new widescreen formats, including CinemaScope, Technirama-70, and Cinerama. In 1958, the theater became famous for its 10-month-long show of the South Pacific, pulling Patron from as far away as Idaho and Nevada.
In 1960, Cinemiracle, a large curved screen installed, reduced the number of seats by about 300. A year later, Cinerama was installed, which used three projectors instead of one. It was used until 1964, when the system was replaced by a new version that used a single projector and 70 mm film. The expansion was expected to Villa in 1977 by Mann Theaters, although the project was eventually canceled.
Villa was acquired by Carmike Cinema in 1993. Repairs began in 1995 and in 1996 major renovations closed theater momentarily while the famous neon sign was restored, repairs were made to the auditorium chairs and carpets, and the Dolby Digital sound system was installed.
In 1998, Carmike Cinemas began construction of the building in the Salt Lake Valley, setting up five new multiplexes. This sudden expansion leads to the final destruction of many of the first cinemas built before 1998 in the area. The only theaters left after expansion are Carmike 12, Holladay Center 6, and 5 Star Cinemas.
Soon, Carmike Cinemas began to fail financially as a result of building too many multiplexes. In the fall of 2000, Carmike Cinemas entered bankruptcy and Villa was sold, for $ 2.4 million. Sales to Eddie Simatov, owner of the Simatov Oriental Rug Gallery, fell in 2001, and Carmike Cinemas was forced to hold on to the location.
In 2001, USA Today named the Villa Theater in a list of ten major classical theaters in the United States. This decision was criticized by some who said the theater was broken and not worthy of recognition.
Carmike Cinema responded by cleaning up and fixing the theater, even picking up an advertisement for Villa hypnotizing the summer blockbuster hit Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.
Even when ticket sales increased at Villa during 2002, a financial boost was not enough to take the theater from the market. Carmike considers simplifying or changing theatrical neon sign, which is expensive to treat and makes retaining earnings very difficult.
Wal-Mart sees the possibility of turning Villa into the surrounding market. Instead, Harmons Grocery, which operates a grocery store near Villa Theater, bought the property. Harmon offered to let Carmike Cinemas hire a theater, but they refused.
The last film featured at the Villa Theater was The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on February 18, 2003. Though today is a weekday and the movie is long enough, it attracts a lot of viewers for the last show at the cinema. The Carmike Cinema fixes the neon on board and theater tent during the last week of operation at the Villa so it will be the perfect condition for the closing night.
Maps Villa Theatre
Post Theater
After the theater officially closed its doors, Harmons began selling the theater to buyers who wanted to turn it into Club Villa, a nightclub with a high-tech dance floor. Harmon seemed more interested in turning the biggest profit, focusing on the historic heritage of the theater. Harmons received many offers to turn Villa back into theaters, although they did not accept any of this. Although the deal for nightclub groups seems almost certain, it ultimately fails.
In 2004 Villa became a carpet gallery with theater sales for Dr. Hamid Adib, owner of Adib's Rug Gallery. Adib wants to create a museum-like atmosphere, where people can enjoy the exquisite workmanship and elegant beauty of Persian and Oriental rugs and at the same time revive the Vila's history.
See also
- Movies
- Multiplex
- The buildings and sites of Salt Lake City
- Cinerama
- Theater Murray
References
External links
- Villa History
- The Movie Theaters Page
- List of news articles about Villa
- Photos of Villa Theater
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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