Abby Cinemas, located at the Shoprite Shopping Center in the middle of West Milford, is closing for good.  Plans are underway to reinvent this retail space, ending an era dating back to 1976.

The theater opened up originally in 1976 and had the movies “Taxi Driver”, “Gable & Lombard”, “Bad News Bears”, and “Blazing Saddles” as its first showings on its opening weekend. Though there have been several owner changes since then, Abby Cinemas has been stalwart in the changing atmosphere of West Milford, keeping its place and delivering its fans a steady dose of the latest movies available. The cinema had four different showing rooms that allowed for a total seating of 1,400 persons. It was a popular meeting place for adults and teens alike, even offering a weekly date night on Tuesdays, when the second ticket purchased was half-priced.

However, attendance began to tail off with the construction of the AMC theater in Rockaway. Abby Cinema’s profit crumbled and it was forced to close down in 2009, making the closest movie theater Clearview Cinemas in Kinnelon. Despite the closing, many of the residents were still optimistic that the theater would once again change owners and be reopened, but it was not to be.

Inserra Supermarkets Inc., located in Mahwah, NJ, better known as the company that owns Shoprite, decided not to lease the property and has worked to finalized plans for increased retail space with the West Milford town council. While no starting date or actual finalized plan has been agreed upon for the new space, it is rumored that there could be a bigger Shoprite, more stores, or even a new drink shop. No matter what, Abby Cinemas will be a casualty to the expansion made by the biggest shopping center in West Milford.

While many citizens are upset about the project and destruction of the relic theater, Mayor Bettina Bieri has said that the town does not have enough citizens to keep the cinema running profitably, and is in favor of the new Shoprite replacing the old cinema. Nobody knows what could have happened if a new owner breathed new life into the project and rekindled West Milford’s passion for movies, but at this point it is too late for a renovation, as the building will be knocked down and turned into a new look center, where new generations of the people of West Milford will make their memories.