Rumored to be closing for the past year, the Catalina movie theater is shutting down for good after today's shows.
General manager Jason Obral confirmed Sunday that AMC Loews Catalina 6, 2300 N. Campbell Ave., will close.
The theater, known for its selection of independent and art-house films, first opened in mid-1940s with one screen and was replaced in 1988 with a six-screen complex.
Neither Obral nor a representative from proprietor AMC Theaters' corporate communications department would elaborate on why the theater was closing, though it could be the result of an overall property sale involving a partnership known as Campbell/ Grant Joint Venture LLC.
Campbell/Grant, whose partners include local real estate firms CB Richard Ellis Tucson and Holualoa Arizona Inc., last June paid $3.6 million for the parcel of land at 1900 E. Grant Road that houses a Bookman's and a Walgreens and have since been trying to acquire the adjacent plot that includes the Catalina theater and a small shopping center that is home to a barber shop and a laundromat.
"It's under contact, but it isn't complete," said CB Richard Ellis Tucson First Vice President Bob Davis. "The deal is not closing (today)."
The Catalina briefly shut down in February 2005, and its impending close had "always been kind of an underlying thing," said 22-year-old Lindsay Eklund, who has worked at the Catalina since last July. But Eklund said she and her fellow employees were only notified about two weeks ago of the official end date.
Eklund said she only began telling customers this weekend, and was surprised by their reactions.
"A lot of people were actually very distraught," Eklund said.
Susan Wasley, who had just finished watching a 1:10 p.m. showing of "Friends With Money," with her daughter Megan and sister Anne Carlson, said she and Anne used to get dropped off at the Catalina by their parents when they were children.
"It's just a little bit of our history," Susan Wasley said.
Customers at the theater were unable to use pre-purchased gift cards, but they can still be redeemed at AMC's lone remaining area theater, AMC Lowes Foothills 15 at the Foothills Mall.
With the Catalina closing, the only large theater left in town for art-house film lovers is The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway.
Peggy Johnson, executive director of the Loft, said she is hoping to acquire anything from the Catalina "that is not bolted down," such as seats, poster cases and speakers. Johnson also said the Loft, which has only two screens, will do its best to show as many different movies as possible.
"The Catalina was an important resource to people who like art films, but we'll pick up the slack," Johnson said. "People do not have to worry about having access to those movies."
โ The Catalina theater is closing today after its shows.
Mid-1940s
Started with one, expanded to six screens in 1988.
CB Richard Ellis Tucson and Holualoa Arizona Inc. paid $3.6 million for the parcel of land on East Grant Road that houses a Bookman's and Walgreens. They have been trying to acquire the plot that Catalina 6 is on.
The only large theater left in town for art-house film lovers is The Loft Cinema at 3233 E. Speedway.
