The first such theater, the Cooper Theater, in Glendale, near Denver, featured a 146-degree louvered screen (measuring a massive 105 feet by 35 feet), 814 seats, courtesy lounges on the sides of the theater for relaxation during intermission (including smoking facilities), and a ceiling which routed air and heating through small vent slots in order to inhibit noise from the building's ventilation equipment. It was demolished in 1994 to make way for a Barnes & Noble Bookstore.
The second, also called the Cooper Theater, was built in St. Louis Park, Minnesota at 5755 Wayzata Blvd. The last film presented there was Dances with Wolves in January, 1991, and at that time the Cooper was considered the flagship in the Plitt theater chain. It was torn down in 1992. Efforts were made to preserve the theater, but at the time it did not qualify for national or state historical landmark status (as it was not more than fifty years old) nor were there local preservation laws.
The third super-Cinerama, the Indian Hills Theater, was built in Omaha. The Indian Hills theater closed on Sept. 28, 2000, as a result of the bankruptcy of Carmike Cinemas, and the final film presented was the rap music-drama Turn It Up. Despite an intensive grass-roots campaign by local preservationists, support by film actors and the movie industry including Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Ray Bradbury, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the American Society of Cinematographers, the owner, Nebraska Methodist Health Systems, Inc., went ahead with demolition on August 20, 2001, to make space available for a parking lot for its administration offices. (Ironically, on August 8, the Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission had voted unanimously to recommend to the Omaha City Council that the Indian Hills be designated a Landmark of the City of Omaha. The building was destroyed anyway before the council met to take action.) The demise of the theatre and efforts to preserve others throughout the nation are chronicled in Jim Fields's documentary Preserve Me a Seat.
