The movie house.

--- been vacant for a couple of years. My concern is that it doesn't go the way of the Strand in Summit or Millburn Theater. There were actually three movie houses in Summit in the '30's.

Was it making a profit when it was running?

 Could it be run as a non-profit?  There should be support from Chamber of Commerce since the theater would bring evening traffic to restaurants.

I read in the Ledger that the theater in Basking Ridge just reopened.

Is there a lack of evening restaurant traffic in Maplewood?

I love going to the movies and I’m sad that the place sits empty. The question is whether the demand exists. I think if someone thought they could turn a profit running a cinema in Maplewood, they would be doing it. 

It seems that we are at a major inflection point for movie theatres (again). COVID killed the old model, which was pretty much “come see a movie in a big screen”. Big screens are now in many houses and you don’t have to deal with rude people, sticky floors and overpriced snacks.  It takes a mega-hit like “Barbie” or a unique experience like the Eras Tour movie to get people out of their finished basements these days. 

mrincredible said:

Is there a lack of evening restaurant traffic in Maplewood?

I love going to the movies and I’m sad that the place sits empty. The question is whether the demand exists. I think if someone thought they could turn a profit running a cinema in Maplewood, they would be doing it. 

It seems that we are at a major inflection point for movie theatres (again). COVID killed the old model, which was pretty much “come see a movie in a big screen”. Big screens are now in many houses and you don’t have to deal with rude people, sticky floors and overpriced snacks.  It takes a mega-hit like “Barbie” or a unique experience like the Eras Tour movie to get people out of their finished basements these days. 

I suspect there is a lessening of evening foot traffic in the village. I haven't come close to hitting anyone in a few months 

Second, I am not expecting a for profit use of the theater. There is enthusiastic support for the arts in Maplewood.

SOPAC? Enough of them. My last ticket to SOPAC allowed my to lose dialog due to a broken speaker. 

For what it’s worth, our visits to Cinema Lab at SOPAC have been very positive. The picture and sound quality have been great and the staff could not have been more courteous and pleasant. I’m sorry you had a bad experience. 

Or are you talking about the live performance space?  I’ll confess I haven’t been there in a long time. 

I think I can confidently say that I attended hundreds of movies at the Maplewood theatre. We used to go to Tuesday bargain nights almost every week before we came down with an acute case of parenthood. I miss it very much and wish it would find life as a performance space again. But the kind of nonprofit organization you’re talking about would take a lot of organizing and fundraising to get off the ground. 

Maplewood Theater is a huge space - it's going to take a lot of $.  There's been a few groups who have tried, but none have been able to figure it out.  I thought something like a multi-use entertainment space would be cool, for something like escape rooms as one of the features.

jamie said:

Maplewood Theater is a huge space - it's going to take a lot of $.  There's been a few groups who have tried, but none have been able to figure it out.  I thought something like a multi-use entertainment space would be cool, for something like escape rooms as one of the features.

escape rooms sounds fantastic…. We should also fit one of those “bury the hatchet” places in there also…

Jaytee said:

We should also fit one of those “bury the hatchet” places in there also…

I am unfamiliar with that.  Are you talking about axe throwing?  We have a place here near my house.  I went once before the pandemic and it was real fun.  Now that I am thinking about it, I think I will give it another go.

Don't know the specific $$$ but these guys seem to be making it happen, in fact we as members are going tomorrow for late breakfast and Priscilla at 11:30!

https://theclairidge.org/

The only redeeming qualities of the Maplewood theater before it closed were the location and the facade. The interior was rundown and dirty. It will take a LOT of money to renovate the theaters inside.

The owners of Roman Gourmet own the whole building. Who knows what their plans might be. They could decide to sell the building for redevelopment.

Perhaps someone could turn it into a pharmacy…there just aren’t of those for modern life.

rcarter31 said:

Don't know the specific $$$ bur these guys seem to be making it happen, in fact we as members are going tomorrow for late breakfast and Priscilla at 11:30!

https://theclairidge.org/

Much easier to make it happen when Stephen Colbert + Evie are generously giving more than $100k a year (I'm guessing closer to covering all staffing). 

yahooyahoo said:

The only redeeming qualities of the Maplewood theater before it closed were the location and the facade. The interior was rundown and dirty. It will take a LOT of money to renovate the theaters inside.

The owners of Roman Gourmet own the whole building. Who knows what their plans might be. They could decide to sell the building for redevelopment.

If it ever does open completely renovated you’ll know that I won the Power Ball. 

I don’t know what could be done with the theatre space. It was constructed as a single auditorium so none of the interior walls are load-bearing so there’s a lot of flexibility. But you’d also have to consider adding some natural light for any other use of the space. 

I can’t see them completely razing the building and redeveloping the space because that would mean closing the best pizzeria in town. I suppose if we find out they’re moving to a new location in town would be a harbinger of redevelopment of that space. 

We need a benefactor like Montclair has as Dave stated above.

Whenever Megamillions gets big enough I enter it and then dream of what I will do with the theatre. Nothing will happen with that theatre unless somebody offers them 2x more than what the building is worth. I guess it's possible. 

In a way we have to be thankful that Roman gourmet owns the building, or else that would have been torn down years ago. It is a special place to me… mice and sticky carpets and all. 

Jaytee said:

In a way we have to be thankful that Roman gourmet owns the building, or else that would have been torn down years ago. It is a special place to me… mice and sticky carpets and all. 

Been waiting for someone to mention the mice flavoured popcorn. They should have charged extra for that.  

GoSlugs said:

Been waiting for someone to mention the mice flavoured popcorn. They should have charged extra for that.  

there are mice running through every single building downtown Maplewood. As for the pop corn, there was never ever any mice served in a bucket. 
People just loved to knock the movie theater, it’s some weird fixation people have with others. Weirdos.

Jaytee said:

there are mice running through every single building downtown Maplewood. As for the pop corn, there was never ever any mice served in a bucket. 
People just loved to knock the movie theater, it’s some weird fixation people have with others. Weirdos.

I never heard it was in the bucket. My recollection was that it was in the glass tank they were scooping the popcorn out of.  Also, tell me more about the hatchet tossing. 

GoSlugs said:

Jaytee said:

there are mice running through every single building downtown Maplewood. As for the pop corn, there was never ever any mice served in a bucket. 
People just loved to knock the movie theater, it’s some weird fixation people have with others. Weirdos.

I never heard it was in the bucket. My recollection was that it was in the glass tank they were scooping the popcorn out of.  Also, tell me more about the hatchet tossing. 

I believe you are right. My sister actually saw it. She has passed away and cannot attest to it, but she was grossed out beyond her usual grossed-outed-ness. 

KarenMarlowe said:

I believe you are right. My sister actually saw it. She has passed away and cannot attest to it, but she was grossed out beyond her usual grossed-outed-ness. 

It really is a wonderful story.  Such a vivid image. 

I kept going to see the movies as I was never a consumer of movie popcorn.  Now that there aren’t any proprietors to be harmed, if it isn’t true, I don’t want to know. 

GoSlugs said:

It really is a wonderful story.  Such a vivid image. 

I kept going to see the movies as I was never a consumer of movie popcorn.  Now that there aren’t any proprietors to be harmed, if it isn’t true, I don’t want to know.