The new Hippodrome theater is coming; Here's a peek inside

Image by Geoff Marshall/TheDigitelImage by hippodrome.jpg We recorded last week, so remember it opens today - Thursday May 7th (and not next Thursday!)

Update May 8: We went to opening night and have a few pictures on our Flickr photo set.

Star Trek was excellent, very impressed, especially as we were rather expecting it to be not good.


First reporting:

The peninsula will finally have a theater come tomorrow at 7 p.m. That's when the Terrace Hippodrome Widescreen opens and embarks on its 30-hour Star Trek marathon.

Picture palace

Here's some still shots to wet your appetite if the movie's slow to load.
the outside of the new terrace

from inside the ticketbooth!

fancy new logo ...

main lobby

big screen!Want more pics? Check out the Flickr photo set.

But it's not just the location and the films that have co-owners Michael Furlinger and John Brieger excited. The theater's main and only screen can expand to show films at whopping width of 74 feet. They note that most theaters average somewhere between 20 and 40 feet wide.

They'll happily tell you that it also means the Hippodrome has the biggest screen in all of Charleston.

Read more stories on this subject in our Terrace Hippodrome topic page.And if you never felt much love for the IMAX that occupied the space since 2000, you can breath a bit easier as they'll be focusing on your more standard blockbuster movies and not "A Bugs Journey Through the Rain Forest in 3D" -- or whatever craziness the old IMAX was all to prone to show.

"I think that the old IMAX movie did well when it had new pictures so I think that that business will automatically return and we have new stuff too," said Furlinger when asked about the theater's economic prospects. "New projection, new true digital sound, the screen is state of the art and we have a great base from James Island which certainly won't hurt us."

It also won't hurt that the theater is one of a few in town where you can drink beer and wine, all while watching a film in their BMW-made blue leather seats.

And it's not just moviegoers that are excited, the theater spot is an anchor destination in the building that houses gift shops, and numerous dinning spots. Those businesses have all expressed gratitude at the prospect of increased foot traffic.

If you're fretting about the likely chance of having to pay for a parking garage, they're working to reduce the sting by validating your parking so when you leave the garage you'll only need fork over $1. More expensive than a free suburbia lot, but it's better than $3.

Tickets will be $10 for general admission, $8 for students and seniors. And the first show of the day will be a reduced $8.

You can buy your tickets online or at the box office, which is already open. The theater is at 360 Concord Street next to the S.C. Aquarium.

And don't forget, they'll be doing ticket giveaways where you'll have a chance to go to the theater for free, for life.