Curtain to come down on Utah III Theatre
By Terry Orme, Tribune Staff Writer
Salt Lake Tribune, 25 March 1983, page M4
Salt Lake Tribune, 25 March 1983, page M4
The final curtain will come down on the Utah III Theatre, 161 S. Main, within the next three weeks, Ed Plitt, western division vice president of Plitt Theatres, Inc., confirmed Thursday.
Citing stiff competition in the downtown area, lack of parking space and the deteriorating condition of the theater, Mr. Plitt said the national chain would allow its long-term lease with the Bamberger Investment and Exploration Company, Salt Lake City, to expire April 30.
Speaking from his office in Los Angeles, Mr. Plittt said that the theater has been a money-losing venture for the chain in recent years.
"It has been losing money. It is an old theater, there is a lot of competition growing up in the area. There are no facilities for parking since they narrowed Main Street," said Mr. Plitt.
Plitt Theatres operates six other theaters in downtown Salt Lake City: three in the Crossroads Mall, Utah I and II directly across the street from Utah III, and the Centre Theatre, at the corner of State and Broadway. Plitt Theatres also operates the Regency, 2749 Parleys Way.
The fate of the structure which houses the Utah III is still undetermined. Plitt Theatres says it owns all seats, projection and sound equipment and the drapery in the building, and will remove all fixtures. If a new tenant were to occupy the building with the intentions of opening a theater, that tenant would need to re-equip the building with the expensive fixtures.
However, David Bernolfo of the Bamberger Company said Thursday that ownership of the fixtures remains a question.
"We are exploring possibilities now of what to do. We have two options: To put another theater in there, or to renovate the building and lease it as office space.
"We are not clear abou the fixtures issue right now. There was some language in the lease and some consideration given, and our position is such that we are saying that maybe some of those fixtures belong to us. We haven't resolved that situation yet. Obviously Mr. Plitt doesn't want another theater in there."
Mr. Plitt said that obstacles against running a profitable theater at that location are too large to surmount.
"I think anybody who went there to run a theater would be rather foolish," he said. "It wouldn't make any sense for a big chain to be pulling out if it could be run profitably by someone else."
Plitt Theatres has tried different approaches to lure film-goers to the Utah III. In the last two years it has run series of art films and retrospectives by such filmmakers as Woody Allen. Mr. Plitt claims that approach didn't work.
"There doesn't seem to be the demand for art films in Salt Lake as there is in, say, Los Angeles," he explained. "Of course we're dealing with a different population base."
The Plitt chain includes more than 500 screens and spans 25 states. Most of the Chicago-based company's theaters are in the Midwest.
While the company is vacating its Utah III location, Mr. Plitt maintains that downtown Salt Lake City is a lucrative area in which to operate movie theaters.
"If I had to make a comparison between downtown Salt Lake and any other situation in the country, I would have to say that Salt Lake is the best," said Mr. Plitt.
"I would say that, basically, the Utah III has outlived its use," continued Mr. Plitt. "It's an old house."
The Utah III has 318 seats. It was known as The Studio until the mid-1970s when Plitt Theatres Inc. acquired it along with several other theaters in the western United States from ABC Theatre Holdings Inc.
Citing stiff competition in the downtown area, lack of parking space and the deteriorating condition of the theater, Mr. Plitt said the national chain would allow its long-term lease with the Bamberger Investment and Exploration Company, Salt Lake City, to expire April 30.
Speaking from his office in Los Angeles, Mr. Plittt said that the theater has been a money-losing venture for the chain in recent years.
Growing Competition
"It has been losing money. It is an old theater, there is a lot of competition growing up in the area. There are no facilities for parking since they narrowed Main Street," said Mr. Plitt.
Plitt Theatres operates six other theaters in downtown Salt Lake City: three in the Crossroads Mall, Utah I and II directly across the street from Utah III, and the Centre Theatre, at the corner of State and Broadway. Plitt Theatres also operates the Regency, 2749 Parleys Way.
The fate of the structure which houses the Utah III is still undetermined. Plitt Theatres says it owns all seats, projection and sound equipment and the drapery in the building, and will remove all fixtures. If a new tenant were to occupy the building with the intentions of opening a theater, that tenant would need to re-equip the building with the expensive fixtures.
Ownership Question
However, David Bernolfo of the Bamberger Company said Thursday that ownership of the fixtures remains a question.
"We are exploring possibilities now of what to do. We have two options: To put another theater in there, or to renovate the building and lease it as office space.
"We are not clear abou the fixtures issue right now. There was some language in the lease and some consideration given, and our position is such that we are saying that maybe some of those fixtures belong to us. We haven't resolved that situation yet. Obviously Mr. Plitt doesn't want another theater in there."
Large Obstacles
Mr. Plitt said that obstacles against running a profitable theater at that location are too large to surmount.
"I think anybody who went there to run a theater would be rather foolish," he said. "It wouldn't make any sense for a big chain to be pulling out if it could be run profitably by someone else."
Plitt Theatres has tried different approaches to lure film-goers to the Utah III. In the last two years it has run series of art films and retrospectives by such filmmakers as Woody Allen. Mr. Plitt claims that approach didn't work.
"There doesn't seem to be the demand for art films in Salt Lake as there is in, say, Los Angeles," he explained. "Of course we're dealing with a different population base."
The Plitt chain includes more than 500 screens and spans 25 states. Most of the Chicago-based company's theaters are in the Midwest.
While the company is vacating its Utah III location, Mr. Plitt maintains that downtown Salt Lake City is a lucrative area in which to operate movie theaters.
"If I had to make a comparison between downtown Salt Lake and any other situation in the country, I would have to say that Salt Lake is the best," said Mr. Plitt.
"I would say that, basically, the Utah III has outlived its use," continued Mr. Plitt. "It's an old house."
The Utah III has 318 seats. It was known as The Studio until the mid-1970s when Plitt Theatres Inc. acquired it along with several other theaters in the western United States from ABC Theatre Holdings Inc.