If you live anywhere in West Michigan, chances are you’ve been to Celebration! Cinema. West Michigan is pretty special to have a local movie theatre chain that started here and has played such an influential role in movie theater history. Today, there are 11 locations around Michigan, including its IMAX theatre north of Grand Rapids, its classic Drive-In theatre in Muskegon, and its newest location in the heart of Downtown Grand Rapids, Studio Park.
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For many, the theater they have fond memories of is no longer around: Studio 28, a massive movie theater complex that was once the largest multi-screen theater in the world, operated for 43 years until it closed in 2008 and was demolished in 2014.
But Studio 28 would never have been around had Jack Loeks not run a theater in Midtown for nearly 30 years, way back in 1944. It’s been demolished for nearly 50 years, but plenty of people will remember watching The Sound of Music at the Midtown Theatre.
The Midtown Theatre, From 1873 to 1972
Way back in 1873, the Powers’ Opera House was built by William T. Powers and operated as a theatre until Jack Loeks took over the building in 1944. Surprisingly, it wasn’t movies that were the first thing he showed there: instead, he showed wartime newsreels on repeat, hence why the theatre was called Foto News.…