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Family Center Trolley Theatre

1122 East Fort Union Blvd
Midvale, Utah

(1976 - 1997)

The four-screen Family Center Trolley opened on Tuesday evening, 21 December 1976, with a special premiere of "Joe Panther," a film made by Utahns in Florida. "The opening of the new theater drew a large number of civic, religious and educational leaders as well as theater-men, who said the theater is 'interesting because of the graphics' by Dale Christensen, manager of Trolley Square theaters, as well as lovely and comfortable."[1]

The Family Center Trolley was similar in design to the Trolley Square Theaters, featuring "nostalgia in decorations and has old-time film projectors and graphics of old-time film celebrities".[1]

The two larger theaters had 400 seats each, while the two smaller ones had 300 seats.  Groundbreaking for the $1 million theater was on 15 June 1976.[2]

The first regular engagements to show at the theater were "Bugsy Malone," "Baker's Hawk," "Shout at the Devil," and "Murder By Death."

In April 1990, Cineplex Odeon changed the Family Center Trolley from a first-run theater to a dollar theater.[3] The theater closed on 4 September 1997. It was later demolished and replaced by a Babies R Us store.

1. "Eight new screens added to theaters", Deseret News, 23 December 1976, page C7
2. "Theaters Plan to Expand", Salt Lake Tribune, 30 May 1976, page 10B
3. "Family Center Cinemas Becomes 'Dollar Theater'", Deseret News, 15 April 1990, page E10