Over the long weekend, some of my friends were talking about movie theaters that no longer exist in the South Bend/Mishawaka, Indiana region. Most of the drive-in theaters are gone as are most of the grand movie palaces in downtown South Bend. Along with this, most of the theaters from my childhood are now gone as well. I thought I would share with you some memories of theaters from days gone by.
Morris Performing Arts Center - Previously named the Palace Theater and then the Morris Civic Auditorium, the Morris Performing Arts Center is a wonderfully restored theater in downtown South Bend. Originally built in the 1920's as a Vaudeville theater, This is where I saw several traveling Broadway shows as well as the first place I ever went to hear a symphony concert. I only saw one movie at the Morris - Gone With the Wind. When I was in high school, they had a free showing of Gone With the Wind at the Morris and I went with my friend Diane to see it. It was a marvelous evening.
The State Theater - I did an Internet search and I don't think it exists as a movie theater any more. The most recent article I found on this theater was that it was being sold by the church that had bought it a few years earlier. The State was the theater that I remember going to for a Saturday morning matinee with my friend Tom when we were in elementary school. I think the movie was a black-and-white monster movie - Godzilla vs. King Kong - or something like that. What I remember most about the movie theater was that there was a bat flying around in the theater. It kept flying in front of the screen and I thought it was part of the movie until it flew out over my head.
The Tivoli Theater - The Tivoli was the only old movie theater in my hometown of Mishawaka, Indiana of which I am aware. I never knew it as The Tivoli while I was growing up. Instead, it was for most of my growing up years a pornographic theater. I never saw a movie there but I did see pictures of the old theater after it had been closed and neglected for many years. Shortly after this, they tore this once grand theater down. I'm sure the city is glad that the x-rated move business is gone from downtown; however, it's too bad that some rich investor could not have come in and rescued this theater. It was a part of my hometown's history and now there's just a CVS drugstore standing in its place.
The Forum Theater - As my friends and I were talking over lunch about old movie theaters, I realized that the theater where I first saw Star Wars and ET, The Forum Theater, is long gone. I don't remember when it was torn down and I'm not sure what is now standing in its place. I can still remember the wide-eyed awe I felt as I watched Star Wars for the first time. I also remember the tears that I shed as I watched the ending of ET with Kimmo, a foreign exchange student from Finland at my high school.
The River Park Theater - I only saw a movie at the River Park Theater one time that I recall. It was an old movie theater in the River Park neighborhood of South Bend. I went with my friend Mary in high school to see The Gods Must Be Crazy. It was an interesting evening. I think the humor went right over our heads and we found ourselves laughing at the movie but not for the reasons the writers and director intended. I think this theater is now a photography studio.
Town and County Theaters - One of my memories of this theater is that my cousin Susie worked there. I remember seeing her working in the ticket booth when we went to see a movie at this theater in Mishawaka. The Town and Country Theaters are where I saw a lot of movies when I was growing up including several Herbie the Love Bug movies. This is where my friend Sheri and I first saw the movie Grease. This is also the theater at which I attended the midnight showing of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on my very last day of high school during my senior year. The movie is not my favorite of the trilogy but I still think of it fondly when I remember that group of friends who stayed up late to celebrate the end of school together. I'm not sure if I could stay awake through the movie at that hour nowadays.
Scottsdale Mall Theaters - I don't remember seeing a lot of movies at these theaters in South Bend when I was growing up. In later years, when I was serving churches in South Bend, I went to the newer Scottsdale Theaters a lot. It was at these newer theaters that I was actually interviewed by a local television news reporter after seeing Batman Forever staring Val Kilmer on opening night. The entire Scottsdale Mall no longer exists. It's all been torn down and replaced by a big strip mall.
University Park Mall Theaters - I saw a lot of movies at this theater as well in my hometown of Mishawaka. This is where I first saw Raiders of the Lost Ark with my youth group after we had just returned from a week at summer church camp. Along with this, one of the most memorable movie-going experiences I've ever had happened at University Park Mall Theaters. This is where I first saw the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I went with a group of friends from high school who were all in drama. I think the movie started at midnight. My friends knew all the lines and brought all the necessary props. Several people dressed up as their favorite characters in the movie. I remember throwing toast around the theater and running down in front of the screen to dance the Time Warp. I think now how the theater employees must have hated cleaning that theater every week. However, what I really remember is having a lot of silly fun with friends.
I am grateful for the gift of movies in my life. I am grateful for the way they entertain me, inspire me, challenge me to think, expose me to places and cultures different from my own, and help me to understand the human experience in new ways. I am grateful for those theaters that no longer exist. It's amazing to think about how many theaters are only now a memory. In their day, they were places where I went to experience the magic that only Hollywood can make. I sat beside friends and family in those darkened theaters and for a little while was taken away to some truly amazing places and met some unforgettable characters.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!
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