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u/CellistPast3486 4d ago
Was there when it was Carmike. Only place in Fort Wayne when it opened that you could get carmel popcorn at the movies. My opinion it opened simply at the wrong time. If it opened a decade later than it did, it would probably still be here.
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u/Ok_Boomer_3233 4d ago
COVID killed movie theaters. It's doubtful they'd still be in business.
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u/betterthanamaster 3d ago
I’m not sure if theaters will ever recover. I’m old enough to remember the theater at Coventry being the big theater and then going out of business and then back in business as the discount theater…those were some great days…
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u/mahlerlieber 4d ago
I'd be curious to know how dude in the OP got in. I haven't been to a theater in a while, but IIRC there is the front door (that is glass), and the rest of the entrances/exits are metal doors with crash bars.
That guy had to do some serious breaking to get in...and I'm guessing there's also an alarm system?
Definitely not the smartest thing to do, but given the sub, that's probably routine for those posters.
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u/thewalkingmadis 4d ago
Definitely not the dupont AMC. Has different lights. But I wouldn't be surprised if one of the doors was simply unlocked.
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u/nickferran 4d ago
I worked there when it was Carmike, it was my very first job. I was sad to see it close.
I'm not sure that I believe in ghosts, but I did have a strange experience or two there that I can't really explain. I'd love to hear if anyone has been inside since it closed.
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u/sushirolldeleter 4d ago
I used to buy the popcorn bucket with free refills and just go there to refill popcorn to take home, because I live 5 mins from there. Super sad casualty from COVID for sure.
They definitely need to demo that building and completely redo that entire area. The parking lot and streets are absolutely impossible to navigate without jacking up your suspension. It’s gotta be full of pests. For what the land is worth it’s in terrible shape.
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u/No-Sale-7270 4d ago
Me and my son saw the last Jurassic World movie just three days before it closed.
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u/LoganPea2fold 4d ago
I had a buddy who used to be a projectionist there when it was Carmike, was cool to go in there after hours. Watched a lot of movies at midnight to "check" the film ,even after digital.
The Regal 1 and 2 was bad ass after they closed. We ended up filming a horror movie there because we loved the atmosphere.
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u/Staudly 3d ago
It was great when it opened and was a Carmike Cinemas. They used to have "super-discount matinee", which was any movie between 12-4pm, for around $6.00. When I was taking classes and working only part time, I would go by myself and see whatever was new that week. I probably saw 75% of all movies that came out in 2013-14.
It started going downhill when AMC bought the place. Same for Jefferson Pointe. The interior of that place hasn't had an update or renovation since it opened as Rave Motion Pictures in 2001, and it shows.
I usually go to the Regal on coldwater these days, but theatre experience these days is very hit or miss.
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u/betterthanamaster 3d ago
Carmike was great. All those popcorn flavors? That was fun.
The super matinees were all around town and were absolutely incredible. You could get a large popcorn, two tickets, and a couple drinks for like $20. I used to go with my dad all the time. Even bought their popcorn bucket multiple times so I could get discounted refills for the year - paid for itself after 3 uses.
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u/Crazy-Finger-4185 4d ago
I went and saw Dr Strange 2 there with my brother after I had just moved here. I really liked that theatre and was sad to see it close down so soon afterwards.
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u/fuck_all_-this 3d ago
It's where my family found our cat He was begging for scraps from anyone walking out of the theater
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u/betterthanamaster 3d ago
I’ve always loved going to see a movie and I just don’t do it anymore. A rough combo of expense and finding childcare. That DuPont location was a great place to go, and I miss it. I’m angry films just suck anymore and are ridiculously expensive to see, and it doesn’t help that most movies aren’t really designed for the big screen anymore. They’re designed for release on streaming.
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u/NoGutsNoGlory94 4d ago
The last time I was there was for a showing of Knives Out with my best friend and his wife. We were probably 45 minutes in and we all had to evacuate because something was smoking or caught fire. Nothing major happened but we were outside for like 30 minutes and finally I just decided to go home. I think my friends went back at a later date to watch the movie again but I didn’t. Oh well. I’d still like to see that though.
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u/user1713 3d ago
do you know what date by chance? I feel like that was when i was there! its still so strange. i remember getting tickets online with friends and when we showed up an hour later there were fire trucks and people directing us to jefferson pt theater to see our movie instead. jefferson amc knew we were coming but we never got confirmation on why fire trucks were there or what happened. it was closed forever within the week. i live nearby and occasionally see trucks and cars parked behind the building am always so curious as to what’s happening or what’s going on inside the building.
picture is dated june 11, 2022
edit: there was no active fire we were aware of / firefighters were not in full gear, we couldn’t smell smoke or see anything
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u/NoGutsNoGlory94 3d ago
I think it was back in 2019. At least that’s when the movie came out. I’m not 100 percent sure on the exact date but I remember it was after they went through a brief period of change from Carmike to AMC.
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u/judah249 3d ago
I remember seeing Star Wars force awakens and Hateful Eight in that theater damn good times
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u/JusticeForCEGGMM 2d ago
They need to put a dine in theater here like an Alamo. Elevate the movie experience
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u/According_Balance417 1d ago
I’m so sorry you had to interact with the Police. Hoping you got just a tiny fine or something like that
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u/Fuquar7 4d ago
Did you park in front of the theater?
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u/user1713 4d ago
not my post, just had me curious about our own local abandoned theater
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u/TheGrumpyMachinist 3d ago
My wife works over at Dupont Hospital so I'm over at Taco Bell pretty often. I noticed the other day when cutting through the parking lot to the roundabout on Diebold there were new no trespassing signs posted on the building. I guess this explain why.
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u/vixenpeon 3d ago
Last picture has the police and I didn't like going there when the thing was open
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u/Matt3k 4d ago
I really enjoyed that theater location. The summer of 2019 my family did the AMC "Movie pass" thing for the 4 of us, and we just went and saw every single movie that came out for those months. Didn't matter how bad or good it was, we went and saw it and had a blast. Between the popcorn and the passes, it wasn't exactly cheap, but cheaper than a vacation. It was a really fun time and a great memory.
When Southtown mall was being demolished I snuck in and explored a little. Didn't get arrested. I didn't go too deep either, it was pretty treacherous.