October marks the thirtieth anniversary of both the Mission Viejo Mall and the long forgotten cinema that Edwards operated on the site for almost twenty years.
Opened in multiple phases, throughout late October of 1979, the Mission Viejo Mall was a $65 million project developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, to serve an increasingly affluent and expanding southern Orange County market. The nearly one million square foot center featured four department store anchors and 139 specialty store. Among these tenants was the three screen Edwards Mission Viejo Cinema.
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Typical of 70’s era mall theatres, the Mission Viejo Cinema was far from stellar. Accessed via a generic store front on the mall’s ground level, the theatre featured a small lobby, with three shoe box auditoriums located directly off of the somewhat dark, bland, space. Unlike most of Edwards’ cinemas of the time, but following the mall cinema model, the Mission Viejo Mall 3 was designed with more of a budget conscious approach; low end decor, economy fixtures, and mono sound being the standard. About the only unique feature of this cinema was a concession stand that had a sales point serving mall foot traffic. Despite the Mission Viejo Mall 3’s substandard amenities, the cinema proved highly successful throughout the early 80’s, catering to mall culture dynamics.
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By the 90’s, both the mall and it’s cinema began to suffer from increased local competition, changing consumer trends, and an ever dated setting. The mall, which had been built during a nation wide energy crisis, was poorly lit and generically designed, making for a less competitive facility as the area began to develop further shopping options. With ever decreasing traffic, the mall also began to see the quality of tenants slip, adding to the site’s decline. The cinema, which had once shared the area market with only Edwards’, early 70’s era, Viejo Twin, now had two modern theatres to contend with; each offering far more than the outdated mall cinema concept. Following the mid 90’s announcement, that Edwards would be opening yet another cinema at the planned Kaleidoscope shopping center, across the street, the Mall Cinema was living on borrowed time.
The Mission Viejo Mall 3 closed, with little fan fair, shortly after the Edwards Kaleidoscope 10 opened in the Summer of 1998. The cinema space was soon converted in to retail units, as part of a $200 million Mission Viejo Mall remodel. In a cruel twist of fate, the Kaleidoscope center never lived up to expectations and the new cinema has continuously struggled to find a stable movie going audience; meanwhile, the revamped mall managed to experience a bit of a renaissance in the new millennium.
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I’ve only been to this cinema a couple of times. I saw Hercules here, and frequented the concession stand window. The mall was very dark and empty before it was remodeled. The hallway that this cinema was in doesn’t even exist anymore, but the adjacent mall entrance survives as a covered area for the dumpsters.
I moved to Mission Viejo in 1976 and thank god the mall opened up 3 years later. We used to have to travel to the Laguna Hills mall to shop. The first movie I saw at Edwards was Friday the 13th. I walked out because it was too scary I was 10. The mall was great to hang out in and there was a pizza and popcorn place across from the Edwards that had a very distinctive smell. Good times! I moved to Temecula in 81 and when I visited we would go to Edwards the last movie I saw there was The Elephant Man? We still go to that mall when we are in town.. Love Mission Viejo and wish I was there still!