Curtains come down on landmark Penang Odeon

GEORGE TOWN: Rising cost and changing consumer habits have resulted in the closing down of one of the two remaining standalone cinemas in Penang as the landmark Odeon Cinema screened its last movie today.
Current operator Datuk G. Mariadas said high rent, coupled with movie goers preferring to watch shows at malls meant that business was insufficient to keep the films rolling. He said rent had increased from RM12,000 to RM16,000 in the last four years and felt it could go as high as RM20,000 a month soon.
He added he was losing money monthly besides paying some RM7,500 a month in staff salaries.
Movie goers, he said, now preferred to watch movies at mall cineplexes as they could shop or eat before a show.
"I am sorry for my regular customers ... I really cannot afford to maintain this place anymore" he told theSun in a recent interview.
The art-deco building straddles Lebuh Leith and Lebuh Chulia on Jalan Penang and has been a favourite for movies when it was built in the early part of the 20th century.
It was previously known as the Lyric which changed to the King's Theatre then Veenai Odeon before Penang Odeon.
The other free standing cinema building left in the state is LFS in Butterworth which seats 926.
Mariadas has no idea what the owner, Cathay Screen Cinema Sdn Bhd, plans to do with the building.
He had plans to convert the place into a hotel but the Penang Island Municipal Council heritage restrictions prevented the move.
Meanwhile, Mokhtar Mukriz, 50, lamented the closure saying Penang had lost one of its charms. "I used to have my fill of Hindi movies at this place," he said.
His thoughts were shared by V. Arokiyasamy, 65, who felt sad at loosing a part of his memories from his youth. "It was actually convenient for me to catch a movie there," the retiree quipped.