Saint Anthony Main Theatre

2006 Photo from the Carroll H. Rasch collection.

115 Main St SE Minneapolis MN 55414 (612) 331-4723

Information for this tour was contributed by Steve Scott.

St. Anthony Main was constructed in 1984 along the Mississippi River, on Minneapolis' oldest street. The name of the theatre refers to the original retail & dining mall which the city opened that year, just north of downtown in the historic Old St. Anthony neighborhood. Prior to the mall's opening, Main Street was lined with warehouses, flour & grain mills and was only home to one restaurant. The new complex was mostly new buildings, but incorporated several existing historic structures in its stretched-out mall.

The theatre was designed by the city & built by Engler Theatres, who had bowed and closed the IDS Center Theatre, also in downtown, some years earlier. The theatre has two downstairs auditoria, three upstairs with lobbies for each floor. By the end of 1983, just before the theatre was slated to bow, Engler announced their bankruptcy & the lease was sold to UA.

UA inherited most of Engler's equipment from their other existing theatres, such was most of the equipment that originally made up St. Anthony Main. UA operated the theatre under the name The Movies at St. Anthony Main until the mid-nineties when they merged with Regal & the St. Anthony Main lease was sold to Reading Entertainment of New York City. Reading had intended to turn the theatre into an Angelika Film Center, but never advanced the location past anything but their City Cinemas name. Conflicts with Landmark Cinemas over contracts for Independent content set a deal in the late nineties when Reading agreed to allow Landmark exclusivity in the Minneapolis indie market in exchange for Reading's contracts in NYC.

Reading was unsuccessful at operating the theatre under the terms of the lease, leaving the theatre after staff issues in early 2003. At this time, mall owner John Rimarcik took over operation of the theatre with partner Bill Carter & manager Irv Braverman. The theatre became the only location for new enterprise Stone Arch Cinemas, named for the historic bridge, blocks from the mall. Since then, St. Anthony Main has beecome a seven-day-a-week, matinee & evening first-run theatre, occasionally hosting Atomic Midnights, several film festivals and local films. The mall has also transformed into an office complex with several varieties of dining.

Since its opening, the theatre has been transformed in many ways. The red on burgundy walls became green on red. Three auditoriums had seats replaced entirely. The large auditorium had an old Norelco AAII projector replaced with a Simplex XL and DTS-ES digital sound for The Phantom Menace. UA's old equipment has mostly been phased out for better performing components. Most of Engler's old equipment is still in service, including a Century C from the old Hopkins main auditorium in #2.

Current auditorium capacities are as follows:
1. 277 - DTS
2. 222 - Dolby Stereo
3. 229 - Dolby SR
4. 185 - Mono
5. 155 - Mono

September 2022 photos from the Kevin Fox collection.

110 KB · 469x625	113 KB · 469x625	116 KB · 469x625	101 KB · 469x625	81 KB · 469x625
58 KB · 469x625	64 KB · 469x625	63 KB · 469x625	73 KB · 469x625	70 KB · 469x625
75 KB · 469x625	76 KB · 469x625	79 KB · 469x625	77 KB · 469x625	66 KB · 469x625
46 KB · 469x625	75 KB · 469x625	97 KB · 469x625	78 KB · 469x625

August 2006 photos from the Carroll H Rasch collection.

73 KB · 625x469	89 KB · 625x469	85 KB · 625x469	98 KB · 625x469	100 KB · 625x469
94 KB · 625x469	70 KB · 469x625	83 KB · 625x469	100 KB · 469x625	66 KB · 469x625
99 KB · 625x469	76 KB · 625x469	80 KB · 625x469	75 KB · 625x469	81 KB · 625x469
94 KB · 625x469	102 KB · 625x469	84 KB · 625x469	87 KB · 469x625	72 KB · 625x469
123 KB · 625x469	124 KB · 625x469	118 KB · 469x625

• Cinema Treasures

Return to the top of this page   or   Return to the main page

Last featured 2002-12-27. Last edited 8/30/2023.