Studio 28 in Wyoming, Michigan. May the grand old lady rest in peace. I will miss her.
http://www.mlive.com/movies/index.ssf/2008/11/studio_28_thanks_for_the_memor.html
Studio 28: Thanks for the memories
by John Serba | The Grand Rapids Press Friday November 14, 2008, 4:28 PM
John Loeks talked Friday morning about how Studio 28 is "symbolically important."
It's perhaps ironic, then, that Loeks Theatres Inc., Studio 28's parent company, erects faux lighthouses atop its Celebration Cinema locations. The beacon used to be emitted from Studio 28.
For many years, Studio was the mecca of movies in Grand Rapids -- and, at one time, in the United States. Brainchild of Jack Loeks, it was the country's first multiscreen theater complex and, from 1988 to 1995, the biggest with 20 screens.
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That's why it is no exaggeration to call the closing of Studio 28 the end of an era. During 43 years in business, it was an industry-changing business model copied by companies nationwide.
"She's a grand old lady," said John Loeks, president and owner of Loeks Theatres, with a melancholy tone during Friday's announcement of the closing. "We had a good run -- we wish it were longer."
Many may mourn Studio 28's passing and be nostalgic about their many memorable movie outings, but few should be surprised. We couldn't ignore the bleak signs of the past couple of years: Closed concession stands, dwindling crowds, a sparsely populated parking lot.
At one time, the massive, 8,000-square foot lobby was impressive -- my friends and I used to joke that it resembled an airport hangar. But when empty, it became a sad, cavernous place.
For years, Studio 28's Theater One was the place to see any new movie.
The room had the biggest screen, the best sound system, a majestic vibe, a general aura of hugeness. In that auditorium, even seeing an epic dud (I recall "Waterworld" and the 1998 "Godzilla" remake) felt like an event.
I don't remember the first movie I saw at Studio. But I do recall my mother obliging my requests -- read: caving in to begging -- to take me there to see the Arnold Schwarzenegger flick "The Running Man" -- and, speaking of epic duds, "Howard the Duck."
Yes. "Howard the Duck." With all those screens, Studio had the flexibility to show a movie no other theater wanted to book.
I have great memories of soaking in the majesty of "Titanic" -- twice -- in Theater One, pun totally intended. I fondly remember how the theater brought back prints of the original "Star Wars" trilogy in 1994, and how oodles of fellow crazed nerds, er, enthusiasts, crammed into the lobby to see George Lucas' special editions of the films in 1997.
There were plenty more: "Jurassic Park," "Independence Day," "Spider-Man," "Toy Story" a half-dozen viewings of "Pulp Fiction" in college -- all big movies made bigger because I saw them at Studio 28.
A close friend, who saw "Star Wars" in Theater One as a wee kid, flew back to Grand Rapids from his home in Maryland to see 1999's "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" in that same auditorium. And not just for nostalgia's sake, or necessarily to see it with his moviegoing buddies, but because no theater in the Washington, D.C., area compared. He later moved to Chicago and had the same complaint.
Loeks continues the grand presentation of films in its Celebration Cinema locations. Speaking as someone who has seen movies in many theaters all over the state, you'd have to travel fairly far and wide to experience such state-of-the-art video, sound and seating.
Yet the new theaters don't have the history of Studio 28 and Theater One behind them. Convenience and the allure of newer, shinier places have driven us to different movie houses. Thus, Studio's evolution from a profitable theater complex and top-shelf destination into merely a symbol.
And we all know symbols live on intangibly, even after they're ground up and discarded by the inevitability of progress.
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Studio 28
May 2005 photos from the Brad Miller collection.
1988 photos from the Jack Loeks Theatres collection.
1987 photos from the Jack Loeks Theatres collection.
1984 photos from the Jack Loeks Theatres collection.
1965 photos from the Jack Loeks Theatres collection.
Photos from the Jack Loeks Theatres collection.
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