VIRGINIA BEACH
The coming attractions are gone from Surf-N-Sand Movies.
The eight-theater complex near the Oceanfront closed this week.
Its phone number is disconnected. One side of its marquee on Laskin Road reads: "Thank you customers for 20 years of loyal support."
"I saw a U-Haul come by and take all the posters down" Saturday night, said Robert Paulsen, who works at The Purple Cow restaurant next door. Kendall Hunt, the restaurant's general manager, said he noticed Monday that the theater had closed.
The building, near Birdneck Road, carries the insignia of R/C Theatres, a management company based in Maryland. A woman who answered the phone at the company's office Thursday said no one there could comment on the status of Surf-N-Sand.
In June, a federal judge in Norfolk ruled that the theater's owner, Laskin Road Associates LP, could evict the tenant, Capitol Industries, and collect unpaid rent and property taxes totaling nearly $250,000.
Hunt said he expected to lose "a lot of our weekend business," including families stopping for dinner or dessert Saturday nights and a band of 15 teenagers who hang out at The Purple Cow on Friday nights, awaiting a ride from their parents. "I hope somebody buys it and opens up a theater," Hunt said.
Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com
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So Sad
That's so sad. That was my favorite theatre. It was close to my home:(
I hope someone else opens a theatre there.
Two Big Problems
If anyone wants to try to reopen it as a theater. 1) The Monday-Thursday off-season numbers are horrible. You're losing money. 2) The building design is poor: tiny lobby, small storage closets, numerous choke points, etc. I doubt it will be reopened as a theater.