Without so much as a stuttering "Th-th-that's all, folks," the New Meadowdale 3 Theater in Gardnerville has closed.
The phone is disconnected, the marquee is empty and many Valley movie-goers will now have to travel across town to see the latest films.
David Lyons, marketing director for Wallace Theaters Corp. II in Portland, Ore., said the company policy was not to disclose specifics on theater closings, but he did say Carson Valley movie buffs shouldn't look for a re-opening with Wallace at the helm.
"What I can say is that we do not plan to re-open or remodel," Lyons said. "We played through Labor Day, and we've also closed a couple of discount theaters that were at the end of their lease."
Lyons said that Wallace Theater Corp. II also owns the New Northgate Movies 10 in Carson City and an eight-plex theater in the Horizon Casino Resort at Stateline.
"No, we aren't closing down all the Wallace Theaters," he said.
The company is opening new theaters in Hawaii, Texas and Arizona, he said.
"Our focus is on 100 percent stadium seating and 100 percent digital surround sound in medium-sized markets," Lyons said.
Area businessman Bill Tomerlin built the Meadowdale Shopping Center in 1977, adding the theater at 1267 Highway 395 as an idea to fill an empty retail space.
"We had this dead corner in the shopping center, so I built a twin theater in 1978, and it's been a theater ever since," said Tomerlin, the building's then-owner, in 1999, when Wallace took over. "There hadn't been a theater in town for some time, so the the little theater did well."
Through the years and three different theater operators, Gardnerville's Meadowdale Theater stayed in operation, entertaining Valley movie-goers as the only theater in town.
Wallace Theater Corp. II took over the Meadowdale in early 1999, five months after the $5 million state-of-the-art Ironwood Stadium Cinema 8 theater opened in Minden.
Tomerlin sold the building to Joann and Douglas Roderick of Yerington in February, according to county records.
