Goodbye to Spencer 3 Theatres

Such is the case with the closing of the Spencer 3 Theatres in downtown Spencer. The subject has been covered by the Spencer Daily Reporter (SDR), www.spencerdailyreporter.com. Like the Dickinson County News (DCN), the SDR is a Rust Publication. A couple of links to SDR online edition stories are provided as follows...

"The end of an era," Saturday, July 17, 2010
http://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/stor...

"The closing scene," Tuesday, July 20, 2010
http://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/stor...

After 40 and a half years, R. L. Fridley Theatres, Inc. is pulling out of the Spencer 3 Theatres.

The Solon Theatre was opened by Fred Moore sometime in the 1920's (exact year unknown), but the original theatre building burned in the infamous Spencer fire of 1931. Moore rebuilt, and when he reopened, he renamed the business the Spencer Theatre. Bob Fridley of Fridley Theatres signed a lease with Moore on January 2, 1970, over 40 years ago. In December 1979, second and third theatre auditoriums were added, and the business became the Spencer 3 Theatres. Moore passed the building on to his wife, Helen, who passed it on to her three daughters.

I'm pleased to know two of the sisters personally via connections that have nothing to do with the Spencer 3. I know Pat Burke because I've worked with her daughter, Katie, through the Pearson Lakes Art Center (PLAC), www.lakesart.org, and the Lakes Community Theatre (LCT), www.lakescommunitytheatre.org. I know Molly Scott because she's half owner, along with Barbara Mendenhall, of the Arnolds Perk Coffee House, a.k.a. the Perk, in Olde Town Arnolds Park, one of my "homes away from home," where I'm currently drafting this blog entry. (I've never met the other sister, Kate Ebinger.)

On April 2, 2004, Fridley Theatres opened the Southpark 7 Theatres in the Southpark Mall in Spencer, and the Spencer 3 began operating as a bargain-priced, second-run cinema.

According to the Fridley Theatres web site, www.fridleytheatres.com, the "Spencer 3 will close after the evening shows Sunday, August 1."

Sadly, there's nothing special being done to observe "the end of an era" this weekend. I image it's because business people are in charge at Fridley instead of artistic people. After 40 and a half years, the web site offers nothing more than a simple, single line: "Thank you for your patronage."

If you want one last look at the Spencer 3 Theatres while the building is still a cinema, your last chance may be this weekend, July 30 - August 1. The final round of movies and showtimes are provided as follows...

Toy Story 3 (18 June 2010, G, 103 min.), 1:10, 3:15, 7:10, 9:15 p.m.
Grown Ups (25 June 2010, PG-13, 102 min.), 1:20, 3:25, 7:20, 9:25 p.m.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (30 June 2010, PG-13, 124 min.), 1:00, 3:25, 7:00, 9:25 p.m.

While my parents probably took me to the Spencer Theatre as a pre-teen, the first movie I clearly remember my parents taking me to see there was the original "Star Wars." It was early summer 1977, I was 13 years old, the theatre had only one screen, and the movie had not yet been re-titled "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope." By the summer of 1980, I was 16, I had my driver's license, and I was going to the Spencer 3 on my own and with my peers. That summer, I remember going there for "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back," "The Shining," "The Blues Brothers," "Airplane!," "The Blue Lagoon," and "Smokey and the Bandit II," among others.

Every year since then, I purchased my theatre tickets from Jeri Langenfeld, the longest-tenured employee in the Fridley Theatres chain. Jeri started working at the Corral Drive-In Theatre on the north end of Spencer during Memorial Day Weekend 1978. For her first three years, until the drive-in closed, Jeri worked at the drive-in during each summer and at the Spencer 3 during the rest of the year. She's been at the downtown theatre ever since.

There's a possibility that a business entrepreneur may purchase the building from the three sisters and reopen it as a cinema in the future; however, from what I've been told by Molly and Pat, that possibility may be unlikely at this point.

On the other hand... The Riviera Theatre in downtown Emmetsburg was owned and operated by Fridley Theatres for many years, until Fridley pulled out this past spring, on April 26, 2010. Within a couple of months, the owners of Hughes Pharmacy, directly across the street from the Riviera Theatre, had purchased the building and reopened it an independent cinema with the same name and a new web site, www.emmetsburgmovies.com.

So there may yet be a revival for the Spencer 3 Theatres. One can hope.

Thank you for your time! I hope to see you at the movies! And please support the arts!