Gone but not forgotten: Knoxville area restaurants and retailers we miss.

[MAD]

The Kingston 4 was at what's now the back side of Rooms To Go. GE photos below from 2019 and 1997. That's Gallaher View Road on the left if you can't read it.

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I remember seeing so many movieshere , this was a new concept when it opened, having more then one film at a theater.

 

[Vjcvette]

The Kingston 4 was at what's now the back side of Rooms To Go. GE photos below from 2019 and 1997. That's Gallaher View Road on the left if you can't read it.

View attachment 277309

Knoxville is always on the move and you can never really go back, things will never be the same, thanks for posting the picture.

 

[Vjcvette]

I remember seeing so many movieshere , this was a new concept when it opened, having more then one film at a theater.

I saw Midnight Express there and The Rocky Horror picture show there.

 

[MAD]

I saw Midnight Express there and The Rocky Horror picture show there.

Midnight Express was a heavy movie, didn’t know what I was getting into, will never forget it.

 

[pismonque]

I saw Midnight Express there and The Rocky Horror picture show there.

Back in the mid to late 80s the Terrace Taphouse used to have late weekend showings of Rocky Horror. I used to enjoy those quite a bit. The fact that they sold alcohol probably enhanced the experience a bit.

 

[Vjcvette]

When I saw the Rocky Horror Picture show there, the guy I was with got mad with all the rice throwing etc. and threw his whole Coke up in the air.....lol

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I remember seeing so many movieshere , this was a new concept when it opened, having more then one film at a theater.

The Capri I and II might have been the only one before the Kingston 4 and Downtown West (6?). I don't remember if the Capris shared a lobby or if the were totally separate. It seems like they had separate entrances and there was a passageway between them that they could rope off. Terrace Tap (Capri Terrace initially iirc), West Town, Fox, and Park were originally single screens, but West Town might have been divided up later into more than one screen. I think that Cedar Bluff might have just been the single screen. The Twin Aire Drive-Inn on Clinton Highway was dual screens at opposite ends of the lot where Walmart sits today (again, iirc... haven't checked KGIS).

Black and Blue (Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath) was another midnight movie that the Kingston 4 played, as was Rust Never Sleeps. The Song Remains the Same was a good midnight movie that played at West Town Theater.

 

[DrRosenRosen]

Add Babalu a trendy taco spot in Knoxville to the list, permanently closed due to Covid 19

That might have the final nail but it was going out of business regardless.

 

[Vjcvette]

The Capri I and II might have been the only one before the Kingston 4 and Downtown West (6?). I don't remember if the Capris shared a lobby or if the were totally separate. It seems like they had separate entrances and there was a passageway between them that they could rope off. Terrace Tap (Capri Terrace initially iirc), West Town, Fox, and Park were originally single screens, but West Town might have been divided up later into more than one screen. I think that Cedar Bluff might have just been the single screen. The Twin Aire Drive-Inn on Clinton Highway was dual screens at opposite ends of the lot where Walmart sits today (again, iirc... haven't checked KGIS).

Black and Blue (Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath) was another midnight movie that the Kingston 4 played, as was Rust Never Sleeps. The Song Remains the Same was a good midnight movie that played at West Town Theater.

Its hard to believe, but I remember when people smoked in movie theaters

 

[Vjcvette]

Its hard to believe, but I remember when people smoked in movie theaters

The Capri I and II might have been the only one before the Kingston 4 and Downtown West (6?). I don't remember if the Capris shared a lobby or if the were totally separate. It seems like they had separate entrances and there was a passageway between them that they could rope off. Terrace Tap (Capri Terrace initially iirc), West Town, Fox, and Park were originally single screens, but West Town might have been divided up later into more than one screen. I think that Cedar Bluff might have just been the single screen. The Twin Aire Drive-Inn on Clinton Highway was dual screens at opposite ends of the lot where Walmart sits today (again, iirc... haven't checked KGIS).

Black and Blue (Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath) was another midnight movie that the Kingston 4 played, as was Rust Never Sleeps. The Song Remains the Same was a good midnight movie that played at West Town Theater.

Actually I remember when people smoked everywhere, even working on the sales floor and it is so hard to imagine now!

 

[Vjcvette]

Midnight Express was a heavy movie, didn’t know what I was getting into, will never forget it.

Oh it was a very heavy movie, and a true one too......

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Its hard to believe, but I remember when people smoked in movie theaters

In airplanes and high schools as well.

 

[Vjcvette]

Midnight Express was a heavy movie, didn’t know what I was getting into, will never forget it.

Its one of those where you go home afterward, lock your doors and no Disco tonight.....lol

 

[Vjcvette]

In airplanes and high schools as well.

Oh yes, I remember the smoke pit at Bearden High School

 

[pismonque]

The Capri I and II might have been the only one before the Kingston 4 and Downtown West (6?). I don't remember if the Capris shared a lobby or if the were totally separate. It seems like they had separate entrances and there was a passageway between them that they could rope off. Terrace Tap (Capri Terrace initially iirc), West Town, Fox, and Park were originally single screens, but West Town might have been divided up later into more than one screen. I think that Cedar Bluff might have just been the single screen. The Twin Aire Drive-Inn on Clinton Highway was dual screens at opposite ends of the lot where Walmart sits today (again, iirc... haven't checked KGIS).

Black and Blue (Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath) was another midnight movie that the Kingston 4 played, as was Rust Never Sleeps. The Song Remains the Same was a good midnight movie that played at West Town Theater.

West Town was a twin when I showed up in Knoxville in 1986... at least, that’s all I remember it being.

Downtown West was funny because it was originally going to be 6 screens and was called Cinema 6 but they initially built only 4 screens. There was space remaining on the lot behind the theater for the other two auditoriums but they never got around to building them. They did however continue to use the name Cinema 6 for like 10 years even though there were 4 screens. In the mid-80s they finally started calling it Cinema 4.

After Regal bought it in 1990, they decided to expand the theater but by then the industry had moved away from large capacity houses in favor of multiple smaller ones. They built 4 screens in back to make it an 8-screen.

But even then for years afterward, I still heard plenty of people refer to it as Cinema 6 out of habit. Always found that funny.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

West Town was a twin when I showed up in Knoxville in 1986... at least, that’s all I remember it being.

Downtown West was funny because it was originally going to be 6 screens and was called Cinema 6 but they initially built only 4 screens. There was space remaining on the lot behind the theater for the other two auditoriums but they never got around to building them. They did however continue to use the name Cinema 6 for like 10 years even though there were 4 screens. In the mid-80s they finally started calling it Cinema 4.

After Regal bought it in 1990, they decided to expand the theater but by then the industry had moved away from large capacity houses in favor of multiple smaller ones. They built 4 screens in back to make it an 8-screen.

But even then for years afterward, I still heard plenty of people refer to it as Cinema 6 out of habit. Always found that funny.

I found it funny that the Dixie Lee Drive-In played X-rated movies and I heard that there was a neighborhood behind it that had a sight-line to the screen.

 

[LampVol]

Its hard to believe, but I remember when people smoked in movie theaters

when I was at UT in the early 70s you could smoke in class, in libraries, at Neyland and Stokley during basketball games. During football games at Neyland, a huge cloud of smoke would rise from the stadium from all the people smoking. Times have sure changed.

 

[Vjcvette]

when I was at UT in the early 70s you could smoke in class, in libraries, at Neyland and Stokley during basketball games. During football games at Neyland, a huge cloud of smoke would rise from the stadium from all the people smoking. Times have sure changed.

They sure have.....

 

[Coug]

The Kingston 4 was at what's now the back side of Rooms To Go. GE photos below from 2019 and 1997. That's Gallaher View Road on the left if you can't read it.

View attachment 277309

I remember seeing Total Recall for the first time there.

 

[ArdentVol]

Wow it looks like Ole' Cas was a scrapper....lol

he loved that live wraslin.
and some of his political antics in late 60s proved useful in a required project for a poly-sci claass

 

[ArdentVol]

Oh yes, I remember the smoke pit at Bearden High School

same for west high, where a couple of teachers even lit up in class.
it could pretty smokey at halftime in stokely, too

 

[Vjcvette]

Anybody on here hang out at the Orange Tee in the late 70's?

 

[MAD]

Anybody on here hang out at the Orange Tee in the late 70's?

I have heard @Thunder Good-Oil mention it a few times, the driving range.

 

[MAD]

same for west high, where a couple of teachers even lit up in class.
it could pretty smokey at halftime in stokely, too

I went to Bearden Jr High and West High School.
The bathrooms were unbearable with all the smoke.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I have heard @Thunder Good-Oil mention it a few times, the driving range.

I went there a few times. Also ate at Alexander's once or twice. It was in a big white house that iirc was just east of the Orange Tee... kind of up on a hill. The house was the American Legion or something like that. Hanna's Restaurant was also just across Kingston Pike kind of back in the woods. I never ate there. It was on property that had been in Jack Hanna's family. The Colombus Zoo guy that used to be on Johnny Carson. I don't remember a whole lot else in that area. I think that Cedar Bluff Road was a narrow 2-lane in the 70s. CB had gas stations at the NW and SE corners with I-40. Regions Bank sits on one spot and the ramp to I-40 east sits on the other. I don't remember if anything was on the SW corner. The same hotel building is on the NE corner. It was a Holiday Inn.