Westgate Cinema (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
no edit summary
Reschultzed (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
Reschultzed (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
Line 8:
| opening_date = May 29, 1968
| closing_date = September 24, 2006
| demolition_date = July 2017
| owner = B&G Realty, a subsidiary of [[Marcus Corporation]]
| developer =
}}
'''Westgate Cinema''', also known as '''Cinema I & II''', was a movie theater located at '''5101 [[Washington Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Washington Avenue]]''' in [[Racine, Wisconsin|Racine]], [[Wisconsin]]. Opened in 1968, the theater was originally operated by [[General Cinema Corporation]] and was built across [[Perry Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Perry Avenue]] from [[Westgate Outdoor Theatre (Racine, Wisconsin)|Westgate Outdoor Theatre]]. [[Marcus Theatres]] acquired the cinema at the end of 1986, and closed it in 2006 to be replaced by [[Marcus Renaissance Cinema]] in nearby [[Sturtevant, Wisconsin|Sturtevant]]. The building was demolished in 2017 and its former site is currently under development, partially replaced by [[5005 Washington Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Town Bank]].
==History==
Line 28:
General Cinema Corporation transferred control of all of its Wisconsin theaters, including Westgate Cinema and [[Regency Value Cinema (Racine, Wisconsin)|Regency Mall Cinema]], to [[Marcus Theatres]] on December 30, 1986. The deal gave Marcus, which already operated [[Marc I & II (Racine, Wisconsin)|Marc I & II]], [[Rapids Plaza Cinema I & II (Racine, Wisconsin)|Rapids Plaza Cinema I & II]], and [[The Park Theatre (Racine, Wisconsin)|The Park Theatre]] in Racine, a monopoly in the city.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48961327/the-journal-times/ "Business Today"], [[Racine Journal Times]], December 31, 1986, page 5B.</ref> The neighboring motel, then known as [[5005 Washington Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Apple Valley Lodge]], closed in March 1989 and was purchased by [[Marcus Corporation]] in May 1990.<ref>Holley, Paul J. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48963136/the-journal-times/ "Marcus buys Apple Valley Lodge: Group plans movie theater complex for site"], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 31, 1990, page 10A.</ref> Marcus demolished the motel and announced plans to expand Westgate from two screens to six, by splitting the two existing theaters into four and building two more.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48963463/the-journal-times/ "Expansion will boast 6 screens at Westgate"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 18, 1990, page 8A.</ref> The expansion was originally intended to be completed by March 1991, but the changes were delayed while the company focused on refurbishing [[Regency Value Cinema (Racine, Wisconsin)|Regency Mall Cinema]]. Marcus stated that it was pushing the deadline back to December 1991, and was considering leaving one of the existing auditoriums intact, creating a five-screen theater.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48964121/the-journal-times/ "Theater opening pushed back to Christmas"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 20, 1991, page 10C.</ref> The company ultimately decided to follow the five-screen plan, with construction beginning in October 1991.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48964497/the-journal-times/ "Westgate Cinema to add three screens"], [[Racine Journal Times]], October 22, 1991, page 4B.</ref> The theater reopened for business on December 20, 1991.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48964888/the-journal-times/ "A sackful of holiday fun"], [[Racine Journal Times]], December 19, 1991, page 1C.</ref><!--Note: Cinema Treasures states that the new screens opened on February 14, 1992, but there is no record of this (or any other specific date) in the Journal Times.-->
The cinema was robbed at gunpoint at about 1 a.m. on July 29, 1991, with the gunman taking $3,340.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48964288/the-journal-times/ "Racine County: Gunman robs theater employee"], [[Racine Journal Times]], July 30, 1991, page 4A.</ref> On September 8, 1997, Marcus began remodeling of two of Westgate's auditoriums to allow stadium seating,<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48968654/the-journal-times/ "Westgate remodels for stadium-style seating"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 12, 1997, page 3C.</ref> reopening them on October 24.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48968885/the-journal-times/ "Business Today: "Westgate theaters remodeling done"], [[Racine Journal Times]], October 22, 1997, page 4A.</ref>
Westgate Cinema closed on September 24, 2006, with a final showing of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywoodland Hollywoodland] that ended at 11:39 p.m. It was replaced by the [[Marcus Renaissance Cinema]] four miles west in [[Sturtevant, Wisconsin|Sturtevant]], which opened in November 2006.<ref>Anderson, Janine. [https://journaltimes.com/news/local/goodbye-westgate-cinema-closes-to-make-way-for-multiplex-in/article_213948b8-4fa6-53bf-8530-b313a2a167c5.html "Goodbye, Westgate — Cinema closes to make way for multiplex in Sturtevant"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 25, 2006.</ref> The theater building was demolished in July 2017.<ref>[https://journaltimes.com/former-westgate-theater-comes-down/article_8451ff35-9b15-5b9e-9900-b2fb019fdd8a.html "Former Westgate Theater comes down"], [[Racine Journal Times]], July 14, 2017.</ref> The first business to build on the Westgate site was [[Town Bank]], which opened a branch at [[5005 Washington Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|5005 Washington Avenue]] in May 2018.<ref>Burke, Michael. [https://journaltimes.com/business/local/town-bank-opens-racine-branch-office/article_ea487064-76cf-5e77-9d3d-56e3928be7c3.html "Town Bank opens Racine branch office"], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 2, 2018.</ref> [[Discount Tire]] announced in October 2019 that it planned to build a store at the site.<ref>Burke, Michael. [https://journaltimes.com/business/local/former-westgate-site-to-get-second-business-discount-tire/article_abc6d574-eae2-5e96-8ae0-ee5bf53864c0.html "Former Westgate site to get second business: Discount Tire"], [[Racine Journal Times]], October 14, 2019.</ref>
==References==
| |||