Hey folks, Harry here. This is a story that many of us have known was coming for a very long time. The closing of the original Alamo Drafthouse location. I remember the first time I was in the place. I actually thought that it was the worst theater ever and that the owners were terribly rude. The feeling was mutual - as my father and I were sitting where we weren't supposed to and were being duly chastised. You see, the Alamo opened for a brief preview to help out SXSW. When it opened in this brief period - it was plastic folding chairs, no air conditioning and saw dust in the air from the exposed foundations of what would become the gradual stadium seating. It was a work in progress - but at the time, the Hay Bales behind curtains and more were all replaced. In its second week, I wrote my first review from the original location ( Click Here To Read It! ). Since then - the Drafthouse and I have shared many adventures - and Austin has seen it grow from that one location, to many others. And at each step, I've marveled at the improvements that Tim and Karrie League has implemented at each location. But the nostalgia for that original location is irreplaceable. It's like, every time we've redesigned AICN - people always seem to long for the original 1996 version - pre-talkback, pre-chat, pre-Zone. Pre-Moriarty, pre-Quint, when it was pretty much just me doing all the updating all the time. There is a part of me that misses that period too, but AICN is a lot more now. Moriarty & Quint have grown into amazing presences on the site, as has Hercules, Merrick, Scott Green, ScoreKeeper and so many more. But we're talking about the Alamo Downtown. This is it's 10th Anniversary year and it is a bittersweet thing that on such a momentous year of celebration, we will see it become... something else. I've no idea what is going to happen to that original location. I can't imagine it will become much of anything, but a spot to drive by and remember what it used to be. Like the old Americana locale, the Fox Theater, the Capitol Plaza and the Arbor. I hate seeing theaters close. Especially this Alamo Drafthouse location. However, I'm one of the few that isn't freaking out over this. Over the last 10 years, I've partnered with the Alamo to throw many events. The friends I've met, the night's I'll never forget and... hell - my last 8 birthdays have been some of the biggest events in my life there. But the first movie I saw with my future wife, wasn't at the Alamo Downtown, but the Alamo South. And the biggest memories with the Alamo have been with the Rolling Roadshow - which they've taken all over this great country of ours. The magic of the Alamo has moved from location to location - because the real magic of the Alamo for me is in the people behind the Alamo, Tim & Karrie League. Lars, Kierla, Mike, Justin, Karen, Daniel and all the others. And they'll all be working on the ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE AT THE RITZ. It's strange - just recently I was talking about THE RITZ - it was the original great Grindhouse location here in Austin -- but in 1929 - THE RITZ was the first theater built in Austin explicitly to be a SOUND MOVIE THEATER. And it was a small palace here in Austin. It played Betty Boop cartoons on first run.... It played BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN on it's original run. It played KING KONG on its first run. How do I know this? Well - in the Seventies - My father bought the Ritz's movie poster archive that was stored in its projection booth. In fact, there's a Silly Symphonies Window Card that we bought - that now finds itself in the ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURES ARTS & SCIENCES Archive in Los Angeles... straight from the Ritz. When I first started attending the RITZ as a kid in the Seventies - they were showing all manners of exploitation films. The projectionist was John Stewart - who is currently the projectionist at the Paramount Theater - very apt that he'll be the Projectionist for GRINDHOUSE's premiere. It along with The State, The Paramount, The Ritz and The Varsity and Texas Union were my original theaters with my earliest memories. The RITZ became a Porn house for a while in the seventies - and then became various incarnations of clubs and bars and currently - a pool playing joint. Long has that grand marquee out front come to symbolize anything but a Movie Theater to folks here in Austin. That is about to change. Beginning on April 1st (no joke) - construction and renovations will begin to make this location a palace again. People forget that Tim and Karrie League didn't begin here in Austin, but in Bakersfield, California in a Movie Palace there. They came to Austin as Theatrical Gypsies... carrying their projection equipment and seats with them. They made a building that wasn't meant to be a movie theater, a movie theater. My favorite movie theater. Now - they are going to re-convert a shell of a theater - and what are they going to do with it. I've had a couple of correspondences with Tim today. There will be 2 screens. A small one upstairs - around a 100 or so will be able to enjoy that screen... and the ground floor screen? It will be far bigger than the screen at the Alamo we've come to know and love. In fact as Tim stated to me, "We'll have a better sound system, bigger screen, better seats, stadium seating, plus we are going to do some cool design stuff to really accentuate the fact that this is a landmark Austin theater" Right now - Tim is off scouting locations for this year's Rolling Roadshow, which Yoko and I are treating as the Honeymoon appetizer. But Tim tells me he wants to meet with me and discuss the upcoming events... the closing event for the Original Alamo... the opening events for the New Alamo... The future of Butt-Numb-A-Thon and some other spectacles that I'll throw with the Alamo, wherever it may be. As for now - here's the official press release that Tim sent me to share... and keep your eyes and ears open - there's going to be some amazing Alamo fun to be had and Austin has reclaimed one of it's most historic movie locales. This is very exciting...
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown moves to the Ritz! ALAMO DOWNTOWN CELEBRATES TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY... Ten years ago, my wife Karrie and I opened the doors to the original Colorado Street Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. We had just finished the most grueling six months of our lives, working on the construction every day, 7 days a week about 15 hours a day. We worked at a feverish pace and did damn near everything ourselves, mainly because we had no money. With a paltry sum raised by hitting up our parents and friends and an assortment of credit card loans, we installed new plumbing, air conditioning, electrical, and fabricated the screening room that we've been enjoying for the last decade. On opening day, we had $20,000 left in the bank, and with our freshly-hired staff, our first ever employees, that was enough to last us for about a month if no-one came to the theater. It was a miserably naive business plan. Thankfully, Austin responded to us quickly and we stand looking back ten years later to happily see the concept of our original cinema still intact. In the next three months, we will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary by bringing back many of our classic events and guests. We hope you will join us many times in April through June as we celebrate and share some of our favorite movies of the past decade. Look for the red "10" logo in our printed guide for all anniversary screenings. - Tim League: founder, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema AND MOVES OPERATIONS TO THE HISTORIC RITZ THEATER! For the last 10 years, we have also seen the warehouse district grow up around us. As the neighborhood has become more and more upscale, we've seen many long-time businesses fall away: The Bitter End, Gilligans, Waterloo Brewing Co, and Ruta Maya to name just a few. At the end of June, 2007, our lease will expire and due to the high costs of rent, insurance and taxes, we have been not been confident that we would be able to continue occupying our current space. With the end of our lease looming, the Downtown Austin Alliance stepped in quickly and brought us together with the owners of the Ritz Theater on 6th Street. In a matter of weeks, we shook hands on a deal and are now moving full-steam ahead with planning for the next decade of Alamo Drafthouse Downtown programming: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at the Ritz. Renovation begins in April and we hope to be open as soon as possible, maybe as early as summer's end. This theater will prove to be the best Alamo Drafthouse yet. While retaining the intimacy and programming of the original location, the Ritz will have two screens, plush VIP seating, state-of-the-art projection and sound and the new experience of a remodeled and renovated landmark Austin movie palace. Please stay tuned to the Alamo website and blog for progress on the construction as well as updates on opening week programming and events. We would like to thank Larry and Mary Craddock, owners of the Ritz property who reached out to us and did everything they could to make this happen-we look forward to collectively reviving a lost Austin movie palace; the Downtown Austin Alliance for bringing the Craddocks and us together; Bob Woody, current operator of the Ritz for working with us to make the change; Danny Roth of Southwest Strategies for believing in a couple of kids with no money or experience 10 years ago-we are happy to still be working with you today; Karen Bartoletti and the gang at Graves Dougherty for making the process of jumping through legal hoops relatively quick and painless. We also thank our loyal and extremely hard-working staff, in particular man-in-charge Mike Sherrill for furthering and refining our original vision. Most of all, though, we'd like to thank the "Heroes of the Alamo" members and the entire city of Austin for continuing to support us and watch movies with us over the years. We love this city and we look forward to 10 more years of obsessive cinematic exploits. For more information about the 10 Year Anniversary screenings at the original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, check out our website. There are only a few months left to enjoy the original location, we hope to see you there soon and often! Every dollar you spend will be going towards the massive renovation overhaul of the Ritz. Also, stay tuned for information on the "last night at the Alamo" final screening and party!
