Beloved Decades-old Movie Theater in South Jersey Abruptly Closes

A decades-old movie theater in South Jersey has closed its doors for good.

After more than 30 years of showing the latest releases from Hollywood and beyond, Regal Cinemas has closed its Cross Keys Stadium 12 theater in Washington Township, Gloucester County.

• A last look inside the theater is below

Attempts to buy movie tickets on Regal's website for that theater result in error messages and future dates can no longer be selected.

A company spokesperson told me, "Regal has made the difficult decision to close that location as we continue to position our company for long-term growth."

Luckily, Regal owns the United Artists theater complex over on the Cross Keys Bypass, which is only one mile away (I always thought it was odd that Regal had two separate theaters so close to each other, but they did for a very long time).

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A Theater Frozen in the 1990s and Proud of It

This theater, which was in an odd location behind Walmart, opened on December 9th, 1994, and had never really been remodeled.

For most theater-goers, that made going there an automatic no, but for diehard cinema lovers like myself, that was part of its charm.

Why Cinema Buffs Loved It Anyway

Walking up to it, it was always fantastic seeing all of that glorious neon glowing, but it felt liminal since no other stores were around it -- just a bright theater sitting out in the middle of nowhere.

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Once inside, everything was still stuck in the 1990s and it was fantastic... a long and dark hallway to get to the theaters, 1990s-era seats that were, admittedly, a little uncomfortable, and teal-and-cream-colored heavy curtains on the walls. But the movies themselves looked very crisp and that theater had some really incredible audio. And for as old as it was, it was incredibly well-maintained.

Now, I am a cinema buff. I saw 260 movies in theaters last year and I made a point to go to Regal Cross Keys once in a while just because it was so cool to step back in time.

But like many things these days, it has now faded into history.

Photos of Regal Cinemas Cross Keys 12

I was last there in September and took some pictures... have a look.

Chris Coleman, a South Jersey native, is the brand manager for WPG Talk Radio 95.5 FM and afternoon on-air personality on WPUR Cat Country 107.3 in Atlantic City, NJ. He joined the station in February 1998 and covers news, events, and stories of interest across Southern New Jersey for Townsquare Media. Story tips: chris.coleman@townsquaremedia.com