New Amphitheater and Arts Community Center Coming to Wilmington Delaware
A brand new amphitheater and arts community development center is coming to Wilmington Delaware in 2023. It will support non profits, and host a number of musicians and artists. The amphitheater is currently under construction in Wilmington, where the former Wilmington Police Department mounted-patrol horse stables were. The old stables will soon be home to local artists displaying artwork, and workshops. This will be known as the Urban Artists Exchange (UAE) – “an arts-based community development center that engages and employs young urban artists by offering hands-on education initiatives.”
Decades ago, the Wilmington Police Department hosted stables with active duty horses. Phase 1 of the new arts center project was the conversion of these horse stables into eight separate art creation and teaching studios, and a group/exhibition gathering area. This renovation was completed in Summer 2019. The open seating amphitheater is coming next. If you drive by the location site you can actually catch a glimpse of what’s coming. “It’s located at 1500 Walnut Street in Wilmington’s East Side Historic District, which is one of the city’s traditional African-American communities.”
Along with the new amphitheater and art studios, there will be an integrated wastewater management system in place, an outdoor public art exhibition, and environmentally sustainable landscaping according to CityFest.
Currently, the Urban Artists Exchange is offering Apprentice Programs for teens ages 14-19. Since June 2020, this program has been benefiting youth apprentices. Arts Work is a paid opportunity for young teens, especially youth who is at risk of delinquency and other problem behaviors, as well as economically disadvantaged youth. Arts programs help teens and children learn to openly express themselves in a safe space that builds confidence, kindness, and social skills. For more information please visit City Fest Wilmington.
Inside the Abandoned Cine'Mart Theater in Wilmington Delaware
In the late 60s and early 70s, movie theaters, drive-ins, and strip mall cinemas were popping up all over the nation. They were the new craze. Branmar Cinema had just opened their doors, along with Tri State Mall’s old theater. And then came the Cine’Mart Theater on Governor Printz Boulevard in Wilmington, Delaware. The first date of the box office opening at the Cine’Mart was January 20th, 1969.
According to the credited research that Edwin Graf Diemer contributed to Cinema Treasures for this story, “The shopping center [across the street from Cine’Mart] was built just following World War II and quickly became the most popular shopping destination in Wilmington.” The theater seated 984 people and there was only 1 screen, similar to Branmar Theater just a couple miles away. A newspaper released at the time of the closure stated, “The CineMart, Northern Delaware’s largest motion picture theater was closed over the weekend. Employees of the 984-seat theater on the Governor Printz Boulevard said they were notified of the closing just hours before it was shut down.”
The theater was steadily losing “$50,000 to $60,000 a year” and fell behind on rent. The owners did ask the owners of the Merechandise Mart to twin the theater, but they declined. At the same time of the CineMart closure, the Edgemoor Theater, which was only a few hundred yards up the road, would close when their lease expired.
Edwin cited that “The auditorium was completely in gold with wide rocking chair seating. The front was deeply curved to allow for the screen, with curtains that went to the rear of the auditorium.” According to local WJBR listener, Gary Rauso who has been to the Cinemart as well as Branmar Cinema, stated “It was the first theater in the area to have surround sound.” This theater, along with many others across America, actually were booking shows ranging from G-rated to explicit pornographic films. The theater was originally built to operate solely on X-rated pornographic films, but the Budco company acquired the theater from Hallmark Theaters of Massachusetts and started showing all varieties of films. The first film ever shown at the Cinemart was in 1968, titled “The Odd Couple”. The last ever film shown there was “The Exterminator”.
The downfall of the Cine’Mart was actually due to the Concord Mall on Route 202 in Wilmington. The Mall had been built with a theater of its own and sucked the life out of the Cine’Mart. This also resulted in the abandonment of the entire Merchandise Mart. Today, the Cine’Mart is fully abandoned, but remains standing with boards up on every possible entrance.
For a more-in depth read of the history of the Cine’Mart, I highly recommend reading Edwin’s full contribution on Cinema Treasures.
Hollywood Kyle is the Digital Content Producer and Production Director of Mix 99.5 WJBR. Being a Delaware local, Kyle takes pride in his hometown and has had a love for music since a young age. Hollywood Kyle joins the Mix Morning Show for abstract thoughts and ideas during "Hollywood Kyle" segment around 9:40am Monday thru Friday.