Barton Creek Cinema 5

Photo from the William T. Parr collection

Barton Creek Square Mall Austin TX

Information for this tour was contributed by William T. Parr.

The General Cinema Barton Creek Cinema 5 was opened in 1983 on the outskirts of the parking lot of the Barton Creek Square Mall in 1983. This was the first theatre GCC built in Austin since the 1970s and was also the first of the generic GCC types built during the 1980s.

The theatre was only open a short time closing in 1991 due to structural problems. The theatre was built on a fill that was dumped into the Barton Creek Greenbelt. The foundation was poured directly onto this fill with out any piers being drilled into the fill for stability. Four years after the theatre was opened, cracks in the booth floor and exterior auditorium walls started to appear on the side that wet down the embankment into the greenbelt. Seven years after it opened, the southeast corner of the building had severe cracks on both the inside and outside of the building. The following year, concerns of the shifting of the building prompted GCC to close the theatre without any warning citing public safety in the building. Later on in the day, the mall had the city come look at the building trying to force GCC to reopen the building pursuant to their lease agreement. The city, instead of agreeing with the mall that the building was safe, agreed with GCC and condemned it. GCC would have to wait 6 more years to get into the building to strip the equipment out.

This theatre was the second built in Austin with THX and was the third in the GCC chain, which had the Highland Twin and Capital Plaza Theatres at the time.

Photos from the William T. Parr collection.

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