{"id":1436,"date":"2009-12-13T19:50:11","date_gmt":"2009-12-14T01:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=1436"},"modified":"2014-09-06T14:56:44","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:56:44","slug":"flix-houses-nixed-in-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=1436","title":{"rendered":"Flix houses nixed in Normal"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the most part, the past few months\u2019 worth of posting here on C-U Blogfidential<\/strong> has been relatively free of snark, so we couldn\u2019t help but take a few moments (and a couple of arguable steps backward) to comment on this Pantagraph<\/span> <\/strong>article<\/a> from Friday, December 11<\/strong>, regarding the fates of two movie venues in Normal, IL<\/strong> \u2013 one on borrowed time, the other proposed \u2013 even though the logic behind certain decisions has nothing to do with watching films.<\/p>\n

While we\u2019re all breathing numerous sighs of relief that the Art Theater<\/strong> in Champaign <\/strong>will remain with us<\/a> \u2013 watch for our two cents on that <\/em>development later this week \u2013 CUBlog <\/strong>also considers the imminent demise of University 8 Cinemas, 1010 S. Main St., Normal<\/strong>. We already knew long-time operator Carmike Cinemas<\/strong> had relegated it to a second-run house, but The Pantagraph<\/span> reports that developers are actively pitching Normal\u2019s planning commission on rezoning the property for \u201cmedium-density residential\u201d use. As the valuable location is mere blocks away from the campus of Illinois State University<\/strong>, we can easily see where this is headed despite the complaints of residents with adjacent private property who want to retain peace and quiet in their immediate neighborhood.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

However, nowhere <\/em>in the piece is it clear that University 8 is still open! Carmike\u2019s Web site lists a current schedule<\/a> featuring ZOMBIELAND, JULIE & JULIA, G-FORCE, THE HANGOVER<\/strong>, and other titles, so it must <\/em>be true, no? One wonders if said developers have been jumping on the possibility because Carmike set a public time table for vacating University 8 and we simply missed the memo. (Like a big corporate entity would send memos to CUBlog <\/strong>in the first place \u2026 oh, wait a minute<\/em><\/a> …) Regardless, it feels like The Pantagraph<\/span> is inadvertently painting all this as a done deal given the commission\u2019s favorable vote; the article includes a picture of the University 8 with a clearly outdated movie selection (even for second-run) on the marquee while a Town of Normal \u201cland use matter\u201d sign lords it on the front lawn.<\/p>\n

As much as we like to complain about the sterile nature of today\u2019s mall-compatible Hollywood <\/strong>emporiums, the University comes from an earlier era of multiplex evolution when the places didn\u2019t seem nearly as unwieldy. Also, its geographic location in between ISU and Illinois Wesleyan University<\/strong> made it an ideal trip for students and residents who wanted to avoid the shopping-centric outskirts of Bloomington-Normal or, dare we say it, take a pass on the more esoteric offerings at the single-screen Normal Theater<\/strong>. Your humble editor also has a soft spot for the joint since it is the only place to date where he\u2019s snuck into a show, way back in 1992 for the opening night of BRAM STOKER\u2019S DRACULA<\/strong>. We\u2019ll be sad to see this one go.<\/p>\n

In less disheartening news, the article also discusses how residents from a different neighborhood thwarted the construction of a new Family Video<\/strong> and adjacent mini-mall at Linden St.<\/strong> and Raab Rd.<\/strong> in Normal. Didn\u2019t Urbana <\/strong>residents help put the kibosh <\/em>on a Family Video store off of N. Lincoln Ave.<\/strong> a while back? CUBlog <\/strong>actually isn\u2019t too broken up about this recurring theme. It has less to do with keeping corporate America and consumer commotion away from the homestead than about how \u201cvideoplexes\u201d like FV hype the obnoxious flavors of the moment and otherwise lump together their back catalogs indiscriminately \u2013 especially now that videos-for-sale and video games have eked their way onto the floor.<\/p>\n

When we have valuable resources run by knowledgeable staff to support such as That\u2019s Rentertainment<\/strong><\/a> and The Movie Fan<\/strong><\/a>, does it really <\/em>matter if oodles of \u201cguaranteed copies\u201d of ALIENS IN THE ATTIC<\/strong> and WORLD\u2019S GREATEST DAD<\/strong> are available within walking distance? You be the judge, dear reader.<\/p>\n

~ Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An article in The Pantagraph from Friday, December 11, 2009, tells of the Town of Normal’s votes to consider a rezoning plan to allow new construction on the current site of University 8 Cinemas as well as reject a plan to allow construction of a Family Video store.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,119,26],"tags":[326,325],"class_list":["post-1436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-coverage","category-sad-places","category-theatres-venues","tag-family-video","tag-university-8-cinemas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1436\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}