Charlotte is about to lose one of its last two remaining art house movie theaters

Charlotte is about to lose one of its two main art house theaters — Regal Ballantyne Village is going dark.

After much speculation in the past year, Ballantyne Village management has confirmed the movie theater will close next month.

Jonathan Gould, co-managing member of Stonemar Properties of New York, which owns and manages the center, told the Observer Thursday that the theater will close the second week of February to make way for office space. The Regal website lists movie showings through Feb. 6.

The theater’s closing is a “tremendous loss” for the film community in Charlotte, said Jay Morong, director of the Charlotte Film Society. “It’s a sad day when any artistic opportunities are lost in the community.”

Gould said the decision to shutter the theater was a mutual one between Regal and Stonemar.

“Plans are to create a really fabulous office space and take advantage of the amenities at the center,” Gould said. The roughly 50,000-square-foot space on two floors will be available for one or two offices.

Regal Cinemas, based in Knoxville, Tenn., opened the five-screen theater in 2006 on the third floor of Ballantyne Village, 14815 Ballantyne Village Way. The theater shows mostly independent films.

Regal Cinemas has not responded to a request for comment.

It has five other Charlotte theaters, including Manor Twin on Providence Road. It is Charlotte’s oldest movie theater, and will be the last theater devoted to showing independent films on a consistent basis.

‘Sad end of an era’

One of the first signs of trouble brewing at Regal Ballantyne Village involved the annual Charlotte Jewish Film Festival, which had promoted it was showing the bulk of its films at the theater in February.

But 11 of the festival films are now scheduled to be shown at Regal Phillips Place from Feb. 8-23, according to the festival’s website.

Susan Gundersheim, director of the festival, said they were told Jan. 23 by a Regal representative the festival would not be able to be held at Ballantyne Village and they would help find another location.

“We’re just dealing with ... details and logistics changing and are incredibly lucky to find another location at the last minute,” she said.

Gundersheim said the festival has been held at the Ballantyne theater for at least a decade.

“It’s a sad end of an era,” she said. “It’s a really nice movie-going experience to be in a movie theater.”

She is grateful to Regal staff for managing “this difficult situation” as more than a 1,000 tickets have already been sold for the festival. “We will be on the hunt for a new home,” she said.

Dwindling art house options

In 2017, Regal abruptly closed Park Terrace, known for showing independent and foreign films. That Park Road theater was the second oldest in Charlotte. It had opened in 1964 and had underwent a $2-million renovation in 1996, the Observer previously reported.

After it closed, AMC bought the theater, made additional renovations and re-opened it last year showing mainstream movies on six screens.

In a tweet a few years ago, Ballantyne Village called its art-house theater a “rare gem.”

Morong, the film society director, said the area was already down six art-house screens when Park Terrace closed and now are losing five more.

Morong said the local film society has brought independent, foreign and art-house films to Charlotte for more than 30 years. “We will look to fill that void however we can and hope the community will support us,” he said.

While the Manor Twin will be the only theater to consistently show independent films on multiple screens in Charlotte, there still will be some choices for filmgoers interested in such fare.

For instance, the AMC Concord Mills 24 in Concord offers “AMC Artisan Films” among its choices of movies.

What’s next for Ballantyne Village

Ballantyne Village has several restaurants, fitness centers, child care, pet care and walkability, Gould said.

“It’s an exciting space and I can imagine a company name on the building,” he said. “It will be a fun place to be.”

Leasing efforts are already underway with JLL commercial real estate listing the site as having “distinctive characteristics” including large glass windows, 13-foot high ceilings and two-story lobby with staircase. No price is listed.

Other recent additions to Ballantyne Village, Gould said, include Giggles Child Day Care, Modern Pet Day Care, Yoga Six Studio, Down Dog Vet Clinic, Limitless Chiropractic, Mahana Fresh Restaurant, Nailed IT DIY and Code Ninja.

Staff writer Adam Bell contributed

This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 11:28 AM with the headline "Charlotte is about to lose one of its last two remaining art house movie theaters."