Daeshawn Armstead Staff
The Southland Cinema was opened in 1968 in the Southland Mall in Houma, Louisiana. It was originally a single screen theater but was converted to a twin theater which featured more than one movie screen. The cinema was opened by Gulf States Theatres, an entertainment company located in New Orleans. As the theater’s business expanded it was later converted into a quad.
“As a kid walking into Southland Cinema, I can just remember how big the space was,” says Kyle Crispino, who frequented the cinema as a child. “It was only four theaters but it felt like a maze.”
For more than 30 years, Southland Cinema was one of the only theaters in the Houma area.
In 2000, the theater was taken over by the United Artists Theatre Circuit, a motion picture company and later abandoned. The theater was then sold in 2004 to partners Kearson Levett and Barry Bynum of Houma. But declining numbers finally forced them to close permanently in 2007.
“It was one of the only fun places to go, so I was sad when it closed,” Crispino says.
"It was one of the only fun places to go, so I was sad when it closed."
But the new owners couldn’t afford the auditorium so they made it a discount cinema. Then in 2007, the cinema was closed permanently and what was left of the theater was transferred to the AMC Theater located in Houma.
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