COLUMBIA, Md. — A beloved movie theater in Snowden Square has been reduced to rubble to make way for a new warehouse.
Snowden 14, formerly known as Cinemark Snowden Square, abruptly closed in January leaving life-long customers like Autumn Roessler in a predicament.
“I’m dedicated, this is the only theater I would ever go to,” she said. “I think it takes away from the community, especially what Columbia was originally built for and stands for. We don’t have anywhere else to go other than the mall and parking there is a nightmare.”
Snowden Square movie theater demolished to make way for new warehouse
The theater tucked away on Commerce Center Drive behind the Home Depot and BJ's was a favorite of many, for its ample parking spaces, its stadium seating set up and its unique Screen X, a 270 degree viewing experience.
“It was really special,” Roessler said. “It’s very unfortunate.”
Roessler attended its grand opening as a teen and has spent countless times there with family over the years. It’s where her son saw his first movie.
She had hoped to prevent its permanent closure with an online petition.
“It was too late, and I think that was the thing that was kind of frustrating is that I wish I would have known sooner or maybe the community could have known sooner and maybe we could have done something,” Roessler said.
“It was an under performing movie theater and we’ve seen trends from movie theaters that have functional obsolescence throughout the region get re-purposed,” Aaron Carroll explained.
Carroll is the Vice President of KLNB, a commercial real estate advisement brokerage firm that is based in Columbia.
He says the space, which is right next to the Columbia Gateway, is hard to resist for logistics companies.
“We’re in the middle of the Baltimore-Washington MSA. Columbia sits right at the heart of it,”Carroll said. “We can access DC very easily. Access the Baltimore ports, access BWI airport and Baltimore. So it drives a ton of demand here historically and we’re continuing to see that trend.”
Sterling Organizations, the owner of the property, has shared its plans for a 189,267 square foot warehouse with 44 loading docs and office space. It’s unclear when construction will be complete.
While construction continues to make progress, Roessler feels like it’s a move backwards.
“Why take something away that can bring people together and is part of the community? For a warehouse?” Roessler asked.
