Bijou theater eugene how to#
Bijou theater eugene movie#

Past moviegoing attendees lamented the end of the business in emails to The Register-Guard , recalling fond memories of quirky films, dates that went wrong or led to lifelong partnerships, and more.ĬAFE 541: Lane County an emerging film industry destination 13th Ave., had been showing movies on its two screens since 1981. It closed at the start of the pandemic and never reopened.

Bijou theater eugene movie#

The Bijou, an independent movie theater in the Wilcox Building at 492 E. 'I feel privileged to have been a steward for this beloved Eugene institution for the past eight years, but the current circumstances make continuing our operations impossible.' 'It is with great sadness that I must announce the closing of the Bijou Art Cinemas,' theater operator Julie Blonstheyn wrote in a letter to its patrons on Friday. This again left the Bijou Theatre as the only independently owned theatre in Eugene until the David Minor Theatre opened in 2008.The operators of Bijou Art Cinemas announced they are permanently closing the iconic Eugene movie theater, following financial challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing disputes with its landlord, the management company Jennings Group. Unfortunatley Bove had no luck with The Mercury Theater which only remained open for approximately a year and a half and closed in mid July of 1989, due to what seemed to be lack of leasing payments and a lack of sufficient audience. His plan was to postpone any major renovations until the new lease in late 1989. Bove again showed films like the one's he showed in his Cinema 7 theatre.

Cinema 7 closed in 1987 leaving the Bijou as the only independently owned theatre and only theatre who's main films were independent, that is until Steve Bove opened another theatre this time in Springfield, The Mercury Theater, taking over the building that the last theater, The Fine Arts Theater on 630 Main St. Cinema 7 had a single theatre that sat 120 people and like the Bijou it often had showings of, 'a mix of foreign films, HollyWood Classics and occasional second-run and 'revival' features”(10).

When the Bijou first opened there was another independent theatre, Cinema 7 owned by Steve Bove, which opened in 1974. The Bijou Cinemas is only one of two independently owned theaters in Eugene the other being the David Minor theatre which opened up back in 2008. Lamont had been planning on adding another theatre from as early as 1982, but had trouble because of an appeal by a neighbor who thought the noise and traffic would be unbearable(7). Lamont again updated the Bijou in July of 1987 by investing $45,000 to add a second theatre that seated 92 people(6). Tickets prices jumped fifty cents after the update(5). In 1981 Lamont and his partner W.H Taft Chatham updated the theatre from a 120 seats to 142 and from a 16mm projection equipment to 32mm and they also updated the screen to a Silver-gio screen. The Bijou's first films were Get out Your Handkerchiefs(1978), The Rink(1916) a Chaplin short, The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour(1967), Beatles Tokyo(1966), and Flash Gordon(1980)(4). After discovering that the Wilcox building had space open, which was formerly a chapel, he opened the bijou in 1980 by selling his photography equipment(3).

Bijou theater eugene how to#

Lamont had always been interested in films and it was at the Waco Twin Cinemas on Franklin Boulevard in Springfield that Lamont learned how to use a projector. In 1956 it became McGaffey and Andreason Mortuary(2). It was originally the home of the first congregational Church, United Church for Christ. Wilcox who was the first dean of the architect school. The building the theatre had moved into was a old spanish missionary style church that was constructed in 1925 by The University of Oregon's own W.R.B. The Bijou theatre was opened in Octoby Robert Mcneely, who later changed his name to Michael Lamont, as a single screen 120 seat movie theatre that specialized in independent films.