Earlier this year, the Romeo Theatre and the Village Florist announced that they were closing their doors for good. This was met with sadness from the community as both ran for 40 years. Today, we're going to look at the Romeo Theatre - the local movie theater with enough story for a 2-hour film.
The beloved movie theater opened in 1987, but its history began much earlier. It started in 1972 under the name the Lantern Theater on the east side of Van Dyke Road between 30 Mile and 31 Mile Roads. It was run by Dick and Gene Powers. The former was previously a major league baseball player who pitched for the Cincinnati Reds. By the early 1980s, the name had changed to the Romeo Towne Theatre, and by 1982, Lynn Spillum of Clarkston took over ownership. Jeff Fruchey worked at the movie theater while attending Romeo High School in the early 1980s. A Romeo Observer article from the August 25, 1982 issue mentions him along with Lynn and her children.
In March 1987, Jeff purchased the theatre when he was 21 years old. At the time, he mentioned that the newly named Romeo Theatre will "feature new seats, a new sound system and screen and at least 25 showings a week."
The new seats can be seen in the picture below, which was taken by Karen Hamilton for The Romeo Observer's story promoting the theater's grand opening on Friday, March 13, 1987. Jeff also said, "Community members have been very helpful in working on the renovations to the theatre."
Neal Andres co-owned the Romeo Theatre at first, but Jeff became the sole owner afterwards.
Jeff's goal was to cater towards families. As a result, the movie theater selected movies that would be suitable for those groups. He also promised that the theater will have "special showings for senior citizens and church groups."
He fulfilled this promise on many occasions. For example, when people had trouble sitting through Titanic, the Romeo Theatre ran special matinee showings of the three-hour-plus movie in February 1998. The response can be seen below.
The original theatre had one room that seated 300 people. This changed when a second screen opened, which also seated 300 moviegoers, on May 26, 1995. Jeff wanted to do this "to show two films simultaneously and to bring in new films more often."
In addition, Jeff renovated the theater's restrooms, convenience stand, and lobby around that time. This picture, taken by John Jamieson, was used for the June 7, 1995 Romeo Observer issue to promote the updates.
Furthermore, the renovations provided more accommodations for the viewers. Seating included areas for those in wheelchairs, and devices, like a Walkman, were available to those with hearing impairments.
Jeff also gave back to the community in a variety of ways. For instance, in 1999, he led a guided tour of the movie house for the Brownie Troop 815. He allowed them to visit the projection room and take home a piece of movie film. Romeo Observer Special Writer Jeanne Lerchen wrote about it for the February 17th edition, and it can be seen here.
In another instance, in 2004, the Romeo Theatre held a benefit showing of the flick Miracle starring Kurt Russell. It was a private affair for the family and friends of Stephen Kovalcik, an Armada native who appeared in the film. The proceeds went to the Rainbow Connection. Stephen's parents selected the Romeo Theatre for the movie to be shown. Regarding that decision, Stephen said, "This is the right place to do it - it's more of a hometown, relaxed atmosphere than one of the bigger theaters."
Additionally, the movie held a private showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest with actor Martin Klebba (Marty in the film franchise) attending in 2006. Klebba's cousin Annette McKinney was a longtime Romeo resident. Ryan Loftis took this photo of Martin signing items for fans with caption included for the July 19th Romeo Observer issue.
Moreover, the movie theater displayed pictures of the Macomb Orchard Trail before the main presentations when the trail was getting developed in 2007, and it sold "lucky charms" for the St. Baldrick's Foundation in 2008. It also sponsored events for the Samaritan House and the Romeo District Library.
While looking back on his time as owner of the Romeo Theatre in 2006, Jeff remarked, "We are the small-town theater, which is pretty cool and that is why people like us so much."
The Romeo Theatre will be missed.
Next month, we'll explore the history of the Village Florist.
To learn more about the Romeo Theatre, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. If you want to search for articles on that topic, you can find the Romeo newspapers like The Romeo Observer on the Suburban Library Cooperative's Local History Digital Collection website.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, June 22, 1972, p.1-B; June 25, 1980, p.8; August 25, 1982, p.10-B; March 4, 1987 p.5-B; June 7, 1995, p.4-B; February 21, 1996, p.2-C; February 4, 1998, p.3-A; February 18, 1998, p.3-A; February 17, 1999, p.4-A; August 21, 2002, p.9-A; February 18, 2004, p.1-A and p.2-A; July 5, 2006, p.1-A and p.10-A; July 19, 2006, p.2-A; September 13, 2006, p.3-A; May 16, 2007, p.1-A; April 2, 2008, p.3-A; and September 9, 2009, p.4-A