Old movie theater in the Windcrest area (Center, Wilson: houses, live)

[OzzyRules]

Does anyone remember a movie theater on Walzem near Windcrest? I think right now it's called "Habitat Home Center" on Walzem. I went by there and I am pretty sure it could have been a theater once before. The entry foyer area has a glass booth that looks like where the tickets would have been sold. On either side of this booth is a turnstile, like where a theater attendant would have taken your ticket, torn it in half and directed you to your screen.

The interior is completely open, though. Like a typical big box store, so I don't know how many theaters it would have contained. But it appears quite big. I can remember going to the movies once there as a kid (or somewhere close by), a place other than Windsor Park Mall Theater. I thought it must have been my imagination until I finally went inside this place.

I took some pictures of the exterior, but the attach feature is not working for me. But it's on the corner of Walzem and Charles Wyndham. You can't see it from Walzem because there is a Long John Silvers blocking the view. But if you turn right from Walzem onto Charles Wyndham you can see it better.

The address is 5482 Walzem Road.

[moeowo]

Is was a Service Merchandise before the Habitat store. Not sure if there was anything before Service Merchandise. I bought a TV from them right before the closed. The turn styles and glass booth was some of Service Merchandises security features. They had some tight security from what I remember lol

[OzzyRules]

Originally Posted by moeowo

Is was a Service Merchandise before the Habitat store. Not sure if there was anything before Service Merchandise. I bought a TV from them right before the closed. The turn styles and glass booth was some of Service Merchandises security features. They had some tight security from what I remember lol

Why would they need a security point for people *entering*? The only kind of place (of that size) that I think would need that would be a movie theater.

I used to shop at several Service M stores, and their security was just like any other retail store.

[moeowo]

Beats me but that's the way they had it. It might have been a theater before the Service Merchandise but that's what the building was before it was the Habitat Store.

[moeowo]

Here's an earlier post that describes what I've already said about it being a Service Merchandise ...Original purpose of the Habitat building on Walzem?

[ged_782]

To the best of my knowledge, there never was a movie theater in the building that currently houses Habitat for Humanity at 5482 Walzem.

I remember going to the Service Merchandise Catalog Showroom that was previously located there. That Service Merchandise location closed in 2002 when they shut down their brick & morter stores. Prior to Service Merchandise, it was a Wilson's Jewelry Catalog Showroom. Wilson's was bought out by Service Merchandise in the mid-1980s. I remember SM had an employee stationed in a booth just inside the door, and if you were carrying any packages with you, they had to be checked with the employee in that booth, probably because their jewelry products were prominently featured/displayed. The package pickup & checkout was in the front of the store, on the east side, and you had to exit a door that was recessed into the building on that side of the front.

The BCAD website shows that building as having been built in 1983. My back phone directories show Wilson's showing up at that address beginning in 1984. If there ever was a movie theatre there before Wilson's, it had to have been very short-lived.

[RGJ]

There was never a movie theatre in that building

[HillCountryHotRodMan]

It was never a theatre. The closest theatre near there on Walzem was at the mall down by the food court. I have a family member who lived over there in the 70s and 80s, they have confirmed this and they are quite a reliable source of information regarding that area of town.