Arbor Theater to be torn down (Austin, Murchison: lease, middle school, food)

[bufo]

Originally Posted by upswept

I just read it in the paper. The Arbor and all the businesses around it are being torn down and high density apartments will replace everything. Bummer. The Arbor is our #1 theater because of the independent and foreign films that they show. Now what? I'll bet that the Alamo Drafthouse will "absorb" all these film showings. That will mean higher costs for tickets and paying extra for already overpriced meals and drinks that they serve there because millennials think it's cool. True movie goers really don't like to go to the Alamo and pay so much extra to see a movie. This is really bad news for movie lovers.

Which businesses around the theatre are being torn down? I can see the theatre itself being torn down, but there have been a couple of new restaurants that just opened in that shopping center... Modern Market, Honest Mary, Menchies.

Nevermind, just found the article http://www.statesman.com/business/pl...6lBLWfYxLzdAO/

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by upswept

Very interesting, Nerd. I never knew that there was an original Arbor Theater in the Arboretum. Where was it located? Maybe at the corner of Great Hills and Research where the Italian restaurant and bakery are located?

FYI, you can still see the remains of the GCC 8 sign on the wall of the current Arbor that faces the Firebowl.

As @bufo mentioned, it was where the Cheesecake Factory is now. If you are walking from the parking garage to the Cheesecake Factory, you will pass by a gate that used to be the exit to one of the theatres, then a few of the spots that they would hang movie posters (it looks like covered windows with the old Presidio P above it) followed by another theatre exit. Brings back memories of the "thunderstorms" that would roll through the lobby clouds and waiting in line outside the theatre for the latest THX hotness. Def a nice change from the cookie cutter formulae of most modern theatres.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by austinnerd

As @bufo mentioned, it was where the Cheesecake Factory is now. If you are walking from the parking garage to the Cheesecake Factory, you will pass by a gate that used to be the exit to one of the theatres, then a few of the spots that they would hang movie posters (it looks like covered windows with the old Presidio P above it) followed by another theatre exit. Brings back memories of the "thunderstorms" that would roll through the lobby clouds and waiting in line outside the theatre for the latest THX hotness. Def a nice change from the cookie cutter formulae of most modern theatres.

Yeah, but when they built it, true movie goers probably did not go there, because it WAS the most expensive movie theater in town, I suspect. Only 'Yuppies' likely went there .

I did see 'Aliens' there, which was the first movie I went to with THX surround sound. The demo thing at the beginning likely did hearing damage, but was pretty cool for the day....

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Yeah, but when they built it, true movie goers probably did not go there, because it WAS the most expensive movie theater in town, I suspect. Only 'Yuppies' likely went there .

Guess it depends on what you mean by "true movie goers". IIRC, it was THE place to see a first run, at least up north.

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

I did see 'Aliens' there, which was the first movie I went to with THX surround sound. The demo thing at the beginning likely did hearing damage, but was pretty cool for the day....

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by austinnerd

Guess it depends on what you mean by "true movie goers". IIRC, it was THE place to see a first run, at least up north.

Sorry, was being sarcastic

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Sorry, was being sarcastic

Your "yuppie" statement threw me off because it actually was a yuppie/teenie bopper haven

[ScoPro]

Well phooey! When we go SB on the 183 service road to Manuel's on JV Road, we use that driveway "alley" behind La Madeleine's & the Arbor as a short cut. Guess that'll go away.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by austinnerd

Your "yuppie" statement threw me off because it actually was a yuppie/teenie bopper haven

The word 'Yuppie' was eluding me (must be my age). I had to google 'Kelso' 'Tug of War' and 'Lake Austin', and sure enough, I found the word I was looking for .

https://www.austinchronicle.com/feat...austin-secede/

For good measure, the article mentions 'Cedar Choppers', as well as Bubbas and Yuppies.

[ScoPro]

A lot of Austinites have no clue that NW Hills & the Arboretum area was Cedar Chopper Central up until the '60s & early '70s. Not to mention the entire stretch along what is nor 360 & the hills west of it. $40/acre goat country. The site of Murchison Middle School was an abandoned quarry. I used to go parking with the girlfriends by the squirt top road above it, as there was no traffic on Saturday nights.

[pop251808]

Because it is now, for better or worse, Austin's "art house," the theater where limited release and special interest small movies are shown. The bricks aren't sacred and "the old Arboretum" theater wasn't ever old or of any historic interest. What matters is the content and the current Arbor has it, month in, month out. There were other art houses before the Arbor but now it's the place, for Austin.

What's wrong with the Alamo Draft Houses? Too small. So, to see almost any movie that's a bit popular, you almost certainly need to make reservations first. The food and the hipster servers moving in and out are kind of annoying, too, once you've been a couple of times. Sometimes you just want to roll up to the front door, buy a ticket and plop yourself down to watch a movie without a lot of advance planning. Doing the internet hokie-pokey and shelling out 80 bucks for you and the significant other to see a movie and eat cheese fries with beer is not always what you want when you want to see a movie.

Let's hope that going to a movie doesn't become a big deal, like going to a major league ballgame has become. And hopefully, another crappy suburban multiplex will become our next art house.