HAMILTON — The lights have gone down for good at Destinta Theatres. The Independence Plaza movie theater shut its doors Dec. 31.

Instead of listing the latest blockbusters, the movie marquee facing South Broad Street now displays only a single message: “Theater closed.”

Owners of Destinta Theatres, a Lodi-based company, could not be reached yesterday, but sheets of paper taped to the theater’s door read, “As of Dec. 31, theatre closed.” The cinema’s former phone number now leads to a disconnected line.

Local residents and shoppers said they’re not surprised to see the theater shuttered.

As more and more moviegoers flocked to the mega-screens and the IMAX theater at the AMC 24 cinema on Sloan Avenue — or saved their money and stayed home — traffic seemed to dry up at Destinta.

“A lot of people didn’t really go there because it wasn’t as upgraded,” said Trenton resident Nicole Kraska, an employee at a nearby beauty-supply store. “It was good if you didn’t want to deal with the crowds. Now AMC is going to be crazy.”

Hamilton resident Nancy Martinez said she never went to a screening at Destinta, whose name means “distinctive” in Italian. She’s not much of a movie person, she explained.

“But whenever I passed by there, I never saw many cars in the parking lot,” she said.
It’s the latest in a string of closures for Independence Plaza, the shopping center whose $10 million renovation 10 years ago led to buzz that a South Broad Street business revitalization was in the works.

The 200,000-square foot shopping center counted Destinta as one of its anchor tenants, along with a Superfresh grocery store.

Now, Destinta lies empty, as do a pet store, a Hollywood Video, a furniture outlet and a discount store called Amazing Savings. Retailer AJ Wright, another Independence Plaza staple, is currently advertising a going-out-of-business sale.

“A lot of places are closing around here,” said Kraska.

Destinta, a 12-screen theater with 2,150 stadium-style seats, opened to much fanfare in April 1999.

Not only would it be one of the main attractions in Independence Plaza, the latest reincarnation of the old Independence Mall, but for the first time in nearly a decade, Hamilton would have its own movie theater.

That exclusivity was short-lived. Plans for an AMC 24 on Sloan Avenue were in the works at the same time as Destinta’s.

Only three weeks after the South Broad Street cinema opened, the 40-acre AMC Hamilton 24 theater opened its doors with 24 screens and 4,200 seats — double Destinta’s offerings.

It’s unclear whether the competition with AMC ultimately doomed Destinta, but the Mercer County region has no shortage of theaters.

Besides those in Hamilton, there’s the 15-screen Multiplex Cinemas at Town Center Plaza in East Windsor, the United Artists theater at MarketFair in West Windsor and the two-screen Princeton Garden Theatre on Nassau Street in Princeton Borough, not to mention other cinemas in Montgomery, Burlington and Langhorne, Pa.

Dave Eide owns the Sticky Wicket, a bar and restaurant located in Independence Plaza.
He used to do a “dinner-and-a-movie” promotion with Destinta, he said, but for the past two years, he’s been partnering with the AMC 24 instead.

The closing, he said, “kind of was inevitable when you saw the cars there, which were very few. Towards the last couple of years I don’t think they were doing much.”

But he dismissed suggestions the latest vacancy would have any effect on his business, or on Independence Plaza.

“The center, as far as I’m concerned, is vibrant,” Eide said. “There’s been a few closings, but we’re doing well.”