Local cinephiles marked another sad milestone in Burlington’s ever-shifting theater landscape last week when the former Ethan Allen Cinema on North Avenue in Burlington was torn down. Better known to longtime local moviegoers as “the cheap seats,” the four-screen movie house was long a venue where wallet-conscious film buffs could catch up on recent releases by simply waiting a few weeks until they’d cleared pricier first-run theaters.
Ethan Allen Cinema went out with both a bang and a whimper. Though the building was unceremoniously razed by a wrecking ball in a matter of hours last Friday, the theater sat dark and vacant for nearly a decade. For years, only a popcorn machine, visible through the front window, reminded passersby of its past purpose.
As Margot Harrison reported in December 2010 on the passing of Lucille Barrett Jarvis, for a time during the 1980s, the Jarvis families owned or operated nearly every movie theater in Chittenden County — a total of about 28 screens, reported her son Merrill Jarvis III, owner of Merrill’s Roxy Cinemas and others.
Jarvis says the Ethan Allen Cinema thrived for many years, with “lines around the building to get in” and only started showing second-run movies “at the end of its life.” He can’t recall exactly when the last films were shown there, but press accounts reported that screenings were halted there indefinitely in August 2006 due to declining ticket sales.
What ultimately doomed it? Jarvis suggests it was a combination of the usual suspects, including the neighborhood getting older and the elimination of the film studios’ six-month-or-more lag time between first-run releases and those movies being offered for rental and sale on VHS and DVD.
“People used to say to me, ‘Why are you closing the cheap seats? I used to go there all the time,'” Jarvis recalls. “Then I’d ask them, what was the last movie you saw there? and they’d say, ‘Star Wars‘!”
Jarvis doesn’t know what, if anything, will be built on the now-vacant lot. The property owner, Hauke Building Supply in Burlington, didn’t return phones calls seeking a comment.
Despite the theater being shuttered for nearly a decade, Jarvis still came out to watch it go down.
“It was a sad day to see it go,” he says. “We’d been there on the avenue for many years and we still miss it. I’m sure a lot of people have some fond memories of going there.”
Photos courtesy of Merrill Jarvis III.
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Took several photos to share with friends who also attended many great films, some just after a hot run, a few weeks after they initially showed in Jarvis’s other movie theaters. It was a sad sight this past Friday morning, watching be taken down. Lea Therune has a great photo of the mural on back that had been painted, a few years past. Its also on Facebook.
Wish there was a less-expensive alternative to paying almost $10 to see a movie in Chittenden County. How about bargain matinees or mid-week specials. Sure there is always Netflix and HBO, but going to the movies is still the best way to experience a film, but $20 with a popcorn and soda makes it happen less often.
Last movie I saw there was Alien vs Predator in 2005! Sad to see them go!
Don’t remember the last movie i saw there, but i have so many good memories of that place, including the time when the film burned or melted or something during Kundun. It was crazy when it happened but it’s a cool story now! I’d go there every week if it were open now, I wasn’t old enough to go on my own before it closed and it was just a little too far away from Shelburne. Thanks for many years of awesome cheap movies.
Sad! 🙁
Use to take my children there on Saturday’s as it was close by and a good price. I still miss having a place nearby.
Very sad. They should build a dollar general there.
I was the General Manager there from 97 through 99 when Silver Cinemas bought it from Hoyts. I was transferred here from New Orleans to run the theater. Some great movies we had come through were:
1. Titanic
2. The Postman
3. Harry Potter Movies
4. Goodwill Hunting (We sold more tickets than any theater nationally)
When I arrived I had the place remodeled, we widened the masking on the screens, we installed digital stereo in all four screens and we updated the game room.
I had a great staff of kids who wanted to work. We hired one bad apple who brought it all down.