Century Cinema 5

2003 Photo from the James Hulsey collection.

464 E Fifth St N Heyburn ID 83318 (208) 678-7142

Information for this tour was contributed by Kacee Quintana.

The Century Cinemas was opened by Bob Harris, a local theatre owner, in the late 1970s as a twin cinema. The theatres were a decent size for a small town, and the seats were comfortable. The entrance to the auditoriums were on each side of the concession stand, which was in the middle of the lobby. The box office was in the middle of the concession stand. Auditorium #1 was on the left and Auditorium #2 was on the right. The entrances had no standard doors, rather, they had sliding, heavy canvas doors that one would have to zig-zag through when returning to the movie in progress.

Mr. Harris named his premiere hometown theatre "Century" before Syufy ever thought of calling his theatre chain that name. The marquee at the side of the road had a standard illuminated sign that just said "Century" on it. The building was recognized as a theatre by the illuminated block letters "Cinemas" on the top of the front of the building.

In the mid-1990s, Harris added three screens to his hometown complex and it is now called the Century Cinema 5. The two original auditoriums are intact, but now have a back wall and doors. The left side has two theatres (one being the original) with the right side having the original and two new auditoriums adjacent to it. The old sliding canvas doors are still there, but are now entrances into the hallways leading to the auditoriums. The old block letters on the building have been replaced with a blue awning and a modern neon sign that reads "Century Cinema 5".

The theatre now has a computerized box office separate from the concession stand and has made improvements to the seating and sound systems to keep pace with the times.

• Cinema Treasures

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

Last featured 10/7/2003. Last edited 3/4/2023.