Milwaukee-area movie theaters that closed over the past decade, from the Downer to Fox-Bay

Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·4 min read
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The abrupt closing of the Landmark Downer Theatre was just the latest news of a Milwaukee-area movie theater fading to black.

Here are area 10 theaters that closed their doors over the past decade.

The Landmark Downer Theatre, Milwaukee's oldest movie theater, closed Tuesday night, after more than a century of showing movies on Milwaukee's east side.
The Landmark Downer Theatre, Milwaukee's oldest movie theater, closed Tuesday night, after more than a century of showing movies on Milwaukee's east side.

Downer Theatre

Where: 2589 N. Downer Ave.

Opened: The 1,200-seat, single-screen "photo playhouse" opened in December 1915. Landmark Theatres bought the theater in 1989; a year later, it split the space into two auditoriums.

Closed: Landmark closed the Downer in September 2023.

What is it now?: The building is dark.

Milwaukee's new Movies 10 theater built by Cinemark in 1993 featuresa checkerboard pattern in the lobby. Marcus Theatres acquired the theater, built behind Southgate Mall, in 1998 and renamed it Southgate Cinema. The theater was closed in September 2023.
Milwaukee's new Movies 10 theater built by Cinemark in 1993 featuresa checkerboard pattern in the lobby. Marcus Theatres acquired the theater, built behind Southgate Mall, in 1998 and renamed it Southgate Cinema. The theater was closed in September 2023.

Southgate Cinema

Where: 3330 S. 30th St.

Opened: Cinemark opened the 10-screen theater, called Movies 10, in 1993. The Dallas-based chain sold the property to Marcus Theatres in late 1998; Marcus renamed it Southgate Cinema, after the shopping center nearby.

Closed: Marcus closed the Southgate in September 2023.

What is it now?: The building is dark.

Moviegoers line up for tickets at Showtime Cinema in Franklin in 2008. The theater, built in 2003, was acquired by Marcus Theatres in 2011. Marcus closed down the Showtime in September 2023.
Moviegoers line up for tickets at Showtime Cinema in Franklin in 2008. The theater, built in 2003, was acquired by Marcus Theatres in 2011. Marcus closed down the Showtime in September 2023.

Showtime Cinema

Where: 8910 S. 102nd St., Franklin

Opened: As an independent 12-screen theater in 2003. Marcus Theatres bought the property out of receivership in late 2011.

Closed: Marcus closed Showtime in September 2023.

What is it now?: The building is dark.

Marcus Theatres opened its Saukville Cinema in March 2005.
Marcus Theatres opened its Saukville Cinema in March 2005.

Saukville Cinema

Where: 350 S. Riverside Drive, Saukville

Opened: The 12-screeen theater opened in March 2005.

Closed: Marcus closed Saukville Cinema in September 2023.

What is it now?: The building is dark.

The Rosebud Cinema, 6823 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa, has been closed since March 17, 2020, when businesses were shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Posters outside the building still promote movies that were scheduled to open in April 2020.
The Rosebud Cinema, 6823 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa, has been closed since March 17, 2020, when businesses were shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Posters outside the building still promote movies that were scheduled to open in April 2020.

Rosebud Cinema

Where: 6823 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa

Opened: The theater opened as the Tosa in 1931. Ben Marcus bought the theater (along with the Times Cinema) in 1940. Marcus Theatres sold the Tosa to developer Jay Hollis in 1999; Hollis overhauled the theater and renamed it Rosebud Cinema Drafthouse. It then went through a couple owners before being acquired by Neighborhood Theater Group at a foreclosure auction in 2012.

Closed: The Rosebud closed during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in March 2020. Although Neighborhood Theater Group has said it has plans to reopen, the theater hasn't. Exploratory conversations have begun to look at whether it could reopen as a nonprofit theater.

What is it now?: The building is dark.

The marquee of the Fox-Bay Cinema Grill shows what the theater was scheduled to show on Sept. 25, 2020. The Whitefish Bay theater closed that month.
The marquee of the Fox-Bay Cinema Grill shows what the theater was scheduled to show on Sept. 25, 2020. The Whitefish Bay theater closed that month.

Fox-Bay Cinema Grill

Where: 334 E. Silver Spring Drive, Whitefish Bay

Opened: Cinema Inc., the Milwaukee theater operator that also owned the Downer for several decades, opened the single-screen "atmospheric" theater (with stars painted on the ceiling) in February 1951. The theater closed in 1992 but later reopened as a Cinema Grill movie-and-dining operation with three screens, including two smaller theaters taking the place of the balcony.

Closed: After it went through several operators, the Fox-Bay Cinema Grill closed for the COVID-19 pandemic, then was the first Milwaukee-area theater to reopen in May 2020. The theater closed a second time in September 2020.

What is it now?: The building is still dark, although during recent summers, Pete's Pops has operated a stand out of the theater's old ticket booth.

iPic Entertainment

Where: 5750 N. Bay Shore Drive in Bayshore Town Center in Glendale

Opened: The six-screen theater opened in 2007.

Closed: The whole iPic complex, including a restaurant and bowling alley, shut down in March 2018.

What is it now?: An ACX Cinema opened in the former iPic space in July 2023. (The bowling alley and restaurant followed.)

A worker helps install 1,837 theater seats in the Value Cinema Oak Creek, 6912 S. 27th St., before the theater's opening in March 1994. The Value Cinema closed in 2017.
A worker helps install 1,837 theater seats in the Value Cinema Oak Creek, 6912 S. 27th St., before the theater's opening in March 1994. The Value Cinema closed in 2017.

Value Cinema Oak Creek

Where: 6912 S. 27th St., Oak Creek

Opened: The eight-screen budget theater opened in the spring of 1994. Marcus Theatres bought the theater two years later.

Closed: The Value Cinema closed in May 2017, after Marcus Theatres made a deal to sell the property to The Ridge Community Church.

What is it now?: The property is now the south campus of World Outreach Center.

The Budget South Cinema, billed as the first six-screen theater built to show second-run movies when it opened in 1986, closed in 2015.
The Budget South Cinema, billed as the first six-screen theater built to show second-run movies when it opened in 1986, closed in 2015.

Budget South

Where: 4475 S. 108th St., Greenfield

Opened: Billed as the country's first six-screen theater built solely to screen second-run movies, Budget South opened in June 1986.

Closed: Owner Silver Cinemas closed the theater in December 2015. (The company had closed a sister theater, Budget North, in 2000.)

What is it now?: The building was demolished; it's still a vacant lot.

Parents take their children to a matinee showing of "The Little Mermaid" in 1989 at Northtown Cinema. The multiplex on Milwaukee's northwest side was, at one point, Marcus Theatres' highest-grossing theater. Built in 1976, the Northtown closed in 2012.
Parents take their children to a matinee showing of "The Little Mermaid" in 1989 at Northtown Cinema. The multiplex on Milwaukee's northwest side was, at one point, Marcus Theatres' highest-grossing theater. Built in 1976, the Northtown closed in 2012.

Northtown Cinema

Where: 7440 N. 76th St.

Opened: Marcus Theatres opened Northtown in 1976 as a three-screen theater; it was later expanded to eight screens.

Closed: Marcus closed the theater in late 2012, citing declining attendance and outdated technology.

What is it now?: The building was torn down soon after it closed. Life Storage, a self-storage facility, currently occupies the site.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee-area movie theaters that closed over the past decade