Lou, KY R.I.P. Showcase Cinemas

If you grew up in Louisville and saw Star Wars as a child chances were you saw it at Showcase Cinemas. At one time it was THE place to see first run movies on the big screen. But time moves on and other newer theaters opened and Showcase closed down about 5 years ago. Demolition is now beginning and should be finished by the end of the year.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100929/NEWS01/309290112/Former+Showcase+Cinemas+complex+to+be+demolished

It's sad to see it sitting there empty and it's become something of an eyesore so I think we can all agree it's for the best. Still, many of us have some great memories of the place and seeing Star Wars there so I thought we might share some of those here.

So pour a forty on the curb and tell the rest of us what the Showcase Cinemas meant to you.

 

The Showcase Cinemas was the site of my first boy-girl date and interestingly enough it was to see "Empire". Of course I saw "Empire" several times that Summer of 1980 but when I returned to school that Fall (6th grade) I was asked out on a date by Sandra. I wasn't really interested in Sandra but she threw out that we could go see "Empire". Clever clever girl that Sandra. How could I say no to that? Up to now any "dates" were pretty much just sitting together on the bus with your "girlfriend" and maybe holding hands. This was the first real parents pick you up and drive you to the movies together and have ice cream after date. We ended up going with a small group of friends. It was also another first as the parents dropped us off to see the movies by ourselves. A PG movie without parental supervision! Poor Sandra. I like to think I was at least a polite date but I'm sure I paid more attention to the movie and my friend Richie than I did to her. I can only plead that I was 11 years old and totally clueless and a socially inept budding geek.

 

wow, i don't think I can pick just one. saw so many movies there. alas, she had a good life. too bad they won't use explosives, end it with a bang. that, somehow, seems fitting

 

Between showcase & village 8 thats the only place I saw movies growing up. The last movie I saw at showcase was Highlander:Endgame. While I was in middle school the place to hang out on friday nights was showcase or jefferson mall. That is also where I saw the special editions. It'll be sad to see it go, but it is for the best(I guess). Now I'm wondering what will be put in it's place.

 

While not originally from Louisville, I have my fair share of fond memories of Showcase Cinemas. When one of my old jobs moved to Bardstown Road and I didn't know that many people yet, I would leave work early to catch a movie before the price went up for the evening shows. Sometimes my coworkers would come with me or I would meet someone for a date there. The memory that really stands out to me was the opening night for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I was sad when they closed it down a few years back.

 

Wow... I have sooooooo many memories associated with this theater. We seen many, many movies there... All Indiana Jones opening nights, all of the Star Trek movies opening nights, (except this last one) The Highlander, Rob Roy, Brave Heart, Legend, The first Halloween movie, Water World, the Conan movies, Lady Hawk, The Crow, Predator, Last Action Hero, the Alien movies, Contact, the original Batman movies, Escape From New York, Braum Stokers Dracula, Interview With A Vampire, The Dark Crystal, Dune.... my gosh!! I can go on and on here. But of coarse... The one that stands out the most is "The Empire Strikes Back", because I was in labor with my daughter... and we all know that story, so I won't relate it again.

I truly have not felt the kind of energy at any other theater since, that was sparked in the lines of this one. People seemed to radiate when something big came out. I didn't feel that at Avatar nor at the New Star Trek movie... no. Not sure if it had to do with the design and layout of The Show Case theaters, which lent to that, or if its simply the times a changing..... sigh..

At any rate... Every single live action Star Wars movie I have ever seen, I seen at Showcase.... including the re-releases before the Phantom Menace and the rest of the second trilogy were released.

Yea, I know the animated Clone Wars is a Star Wars movie, but I refer to live action here. And when the animation came out, we seen it at a different location, over at the Preston site... it felt odd to me.. and not just because it was at a different local, but because the energy level wasn't there. I guess it was appropriate for us to see the first animation, at a theater which was also a first.

Now when they release the new 3-D Star Wars, we will also see them for the first time, in a new location.

There was something special about the lobby, and the design, and the way the building was layn out, that made you feel as if you had gone somewhere special.

Well, the Showcase Cinemas might be gone forever, but the legacy shall reign supreme.

 

I have to agree with Zannah. That location was something special. Heck, I even worked there for a time as an usher. I can remember helping to move film reels (yes kids, once movies came on large reels of what was called film,) and that was fun. You guys have no idea how many secret tunnels and hidden passages there were in that place. every projection booth had a secret way to get to it, so that patrons never had to see behind the scenes. There were even back ways to all the food counters, so that we didn't have to supply the counters by walking through the lobbies. Awesome place