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For more than a century, movies in Marion, Indiana, were a shared ritual. The recent closure of the city’s AMC Classic 12 didn’t just mark the loss of another business; it ended a long local tradition that once made filmgoing easy, communal, and close to home. I’m not from Marion, but I still mourn its loss.

Marion once boasted a rich moviegoing tradition. Over the years, audiences flocked to theaters with names like the Airdrome, Crystal, Indiana, Luna-Lite, Lyric, Marion, Mecca, Paramount, and Royal Grand- not to mention the Hi-Way and Marionaire drive-ins. By the 1970s, though, the city’s theatrical landscape was beginning to change as single-screen palaces gave way to modern venues. The Plaza Cinema I & II opened on May 26, 1972, followed six years later by Movies at Raintree Plaza.

In 1999, Kerasotes Theatres announced plans for a new 37,000-square-foot, twelve-screen cinema just southwest of North Park Mall. Touted as the company’s largest theater between Indianapolis and South Bend¹, the complex was designed to impress! It featured two expansive 350-seat auditoriums, several mid-sized theaters seating 175, and smaller houses with room for 125. Stadium seating came standard, as did Dolby and DTS digital sound systems².

At the time, Kerasotes Theatres already controlled Marion’s movie market since the company owned both North Park Mall Cinema and the Raintree Plaza 4. As excitement built for the new Showplace 12, the Plaza 4 was repositioned as a bargain theater, luring budget-minded moviegoers with $2.50 tickets³. Initially, Kerasotes indicated it would keep all three theaters in operation- at least for a time⁴. Briefly, the company’s decision led to an embarrassment of cinematic riches in town.

Kerasotes’ Showplace 12 finally opened on November 5, 1999 with screenings of American Beauty, The Bachelor, The Bone Collector, Drive Me Crazy, Elmo in Grouchland, Fight Club, House on Haunted Hill, The Insider, The Omega Code, The Sixth Sense, The Story of Us, and Superstar⁵. 

The Showplace 12 was an instant smash. About the only grumbling came from neighboring Kokomo, where residents phoned in in a fury to wonder why their eight- and five-screen complexes hadn’t received the same treatment⁶! Ironically, the new theater’s success was so overwhelming that Kerasotes Theatres shuttered both the Raintree Discount Movies 4 and North Park Cinema just ten days after the Showplace 12 opened⁷.

AMC Entertainment purchased much of the Kerasotes chain in 2010⁸. Eventually, the cinema was renamed AMC Classic Marion 12. That era came to an end on August 12, 2025⁹ when the theater closed for good. With its doors shuttered, Marion residents were left without a hometown cinema.

Today, they have to drive twenty miles to the Alex in Alexandria, thirty miles to the AMC Classic Kokomo 12, or forty miles to the AMC Muncie 12. Unfortunately, I’ve heard the majestic Marion 12 has been heavily vandalized since I last visited. I hope local stakeholders chime in here.

Sources Cited
1 Smith, S. (1999, March 14). New Marion theater to open this year. The Marion Chronicle-Tribune. p. 39. 
2 Carson, C. (1999, November 5). Curtain going up at new cinemas. The Marion Chronicle-Tribune. p. 1. 
3 Kightlinger, C. (1999, September 18). Raintree becomes discount theater. The Marion Chornicle-Tribune. p. 1.
4 Smith, S. (1999, March 14). New Marion theater to open this year. The Marion Chronicle-Tribune. p. 39. 
5 Kerasotes (November 5, 1999). The Marion Chronicle-Tribune. p. 16. 
6 Reese, A. (1999, December 8). Moviegoers can request films for ShowPlace 12. The Marion Chronicle-Tribune. p. 1. 
7 Discount Movies 4 (n.d.). CinemaTreasures. Web. Retrieved December 29, 2025. 
8 Vaughn, M. (2010, July 18). Marion’s lone movie theater changes hands. The Marion Chronicle-Tribune. p. 25. 
9 Jentsch, S. (2025, August 12). Marion, IN: AM Classic Marion 12 Closed. The BigScreen Cinema Guide. Web. Retrieved December 29.