One of the two multiple-screen, indoor movie theaters in Auburn has gone dark.
And information about whether the Auburn Movieplex 10 in Sennett will open back up is hard to come by.
The 10-screen theater on Grant Avenue was not showing movies on Tuesday, and signs were hanging on the front doors that said “temporarily closed.” Calls to the theater were not answered.
The Auburn Movieplex is owned by Cinema North Corp., of Rutland, Vt., which owns and operates movie theaters in New York, Vermont and Massachusetts.
Calls to other Cinema North theaters Thursday were either not answered at all or were answered with recorded messages saying the operations were temporarily closed.
Phone messages left at the company's headquarters in Vermont were not returned, and the Cinema North Web site contains a message that all information has been removed.
Late Tuesday morning, the doors were locked and the lights were off inside the theater. Movie posters were still hanging in the front, though only a few were advertising new films. Several canisters that appeared to hold film reels were stacked along a wall in the lobby.
The plaza that houses Auburn Movieplex is owned by Michael Wachs, who said Tuesday that he does not know why the theater is closed or whether it will open again.
In April 2008, Auburn Associates - a firm with the same Pennsylvania address as other Wachs-owned companies - was awarded a judgment of $186,432.34 against the Auburn Movieplex.
Kipp Mullin and Gerald Couture, both listed as executives of Cinema North, did not return phone messages for comment.
There are three other working movie theaters in the Auburn area: Fingerlakes Mall Cinemas, The Auburn Public Theater and the Finger Lakes Drive-In in Aurelius.
Kevin Mullin owns the drive-in, which holds multi-feature screenings during the summer months. Mullin said Tuesday he was one of the founders of Cinema North with his brother, Kipp, in the 1980s before he split from the company in 1993.
Mullin said the drive-in theater is not affiliated with Cinema North in any way and is scheduled to open next summer for a full season.
He also said he has been eyeing the Grant Avenue Movieplex recently and has been actively trying to find a way to obtain the property.
“I would be very interested in keeping that place open and keeping (the staff) employed,” Mullin said.
According to The Citizen archives, Cinema North converted the Grant Avenue building into an eight-screen theater in the 1990s. The company added two more screens and updated the sound system in 2001.
Cinema North also owned and operated the movie theater at the Fingerlakes Mall from 2001 until 2005. Before the four screens at the mall closed in June 2005, reports indicated that the Grant Avenue location was receiving more business, according to The Citizen archives.
The Fingerlakes Mall Cinemas reopened within months under the management of Rochester Theatre Management.
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
The 10-screen theater on Grant Avenue was not showing movies on Tuesday, and signs were hanging on the front doors that said “temporarily closed.” Calls to the theater were not answered.
The Auburn Movieplex is owned by Cinema North Corp., of Rutland, Vt., which owns and operates movie theaters in New York, Vermont and Massachusetts.
Calls to other Cinema North theaters Thursday were either not answered at all or were answered with recorded messages saying the operations were temporarily closed.
Phone messages left at the company's headquarters in Vermont were not returned, and the Cinema North Web site contains a message that all information has been removed.
Late Tuesday morning, the doors were locked and the lights were off inside the theater. Movie posters were still hanging in the front, though only a few were advertising new films. Several canisters that appeared to hold film reels were stacked along a wall in the lobby.
The plaza that houses Auburn Movieplex is owned by Michael Wachs, who said Tuesday that he does not know why the theater is closed or whether it will open again.
In April 2008, Auburn Associates - a firm with the same Pennsylvania address as other Wachs-owned companies - was awarded a judgment of $186,432.34 against the Auburn Movieplex.
Kipp Mullin and Gerald Couture, both listed as executives of Cinema North, did not return phone messages for comment.
There are three other working movie theaters in the Auburn area: Fingerlakes Mall Cinemas, The Auburn Public Theater and the Finger Lakes Drive-In in Aurelius.
Kevin Mullin owns the drive-in, which holds multi-feature screenings during the summer months. Mullin said Tuesday he was one of the founders of Cinema North with his brother, Kipp, in the 1980s before he split from the company in 1993.
Mullin said the drive-in theater is not affiliated with Cinema North in any way and is scheduled to open next summer for a full season.
He also said he has been eyeing the Grant Avenue Movieplex recently and has been actively trying to find a way to obtain the property.
“I would be very interested in keeping that place open and keeping (the staff) employed,” Mullin said.
According to The Citizen archives, Cinema North converted the Grant Avenue building into an eight-screen theater in the 1990s. The company added two more screens and updated the sound system in 2001.
Cinema North also owned and operated the movie theater at the Fingerlakes Mall from 2001 until 2005. Before the four screens at the mall closed in June 2005, reports indicated that the Grant Avenue location was receiving more business, according to The Citizen archives.
The Fingerlakes Mall Cinemas reopened within months under the management of Rochester Theatre Management.
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net
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Post your comment - click hereThere are 3 comment(s)
gman wrote on Oct 14, 2009 4:06 PM:
interesting wrote on Oct 14, 2009 11:16 AM:
liberal karl wrote on Oct 14, 2009 9:53 AM:
Anyone know what that $186,432.34 judgment against them was for/from? That sounds like it was the nail in the coffin here? "