During the 20th century, Louisville was a city of theaters. Ornate auditoriums that hosted vaudeville, plays and movies dotted bustling streets. These time capsules can still be found throughout downtown, with a single block of Fourth Street being home to the Louisville Palace, the Brown Theatre and the facade of the Ohio Theatre — all of which screened movies at one point in their histories.
As the incessant march of time pushed forward, corporate multiplexes in the suburbs overtook the market. But some smaller theaters still found success, maintaining a quaint charm and neighborhood presence the chains didn’t offer.
Baxter Avenue Theatres in the Highlands filled this niche for nearly 30 years. But on Dec. 31, its time also came to end as the future of the Mid-City Mall hangs in limbo.
“It was one of those things that everybody felt a part of, it was part of the community,” said Matthew Kohorst, a consultant with Baxter. “You just can’t get that at a theater chain. It just feels like a cookie cutter. This place had personality. It just felt like this was Louisville’s.”
Before joining Baxter, Kohorst was the general manager at Village 8, another independent theater that shut its doors in 2022. Apex Entertainment operated both.
The parent company announced Baxter’s closure Dec. 22, just over a week before its final day.
“We're getting an influx of people just sending so much love to Baxter after the press release came out that we were closing, and a lot of them are mentioning Village 8, as well,” Kohorst said. “A lot of people in this community loved both theaters. I think a lot of people are sad to see it go, and a lot of people are angry. There's been petitions to keep it open, which I really love.”
Baxter held a special place in Louisville’s film culture since it opened in 1996. It was locally owned and within walking distance for many moviegoers, a rarity in an era dominated by the likes of AMC, Regal and Cinemark that are often several miles from city centers.
Kohorst said the indie status also allowed for a wider variety of films and more unique experiences, like midnight showings of “The Room.”
“I love the book that Greg Sestero, one of the stars, wrote about that film,” he said. “If you don't know, it's maybe one of the worst movies ever made, to a point where it's just hilarious. [Greg] was doing a book tour, and he chose Baxter. He came here, and I got to meet him, hang out with him and got to watch ‘The Room’ with him.”
Baxter only played a few trailers before movies, as opposed to up to 45 minutes at other theaters. Tickets were cheaper, and so were concessions.
That was one of the biggest draws for some people, like Beverly Scherer, who came on the last day even though she wasn’t seeing a movie.
“I’m here to get their fresh popcorn that’s freshly popped,” she said.
But for many, what made Baxter special was the time they spent with friends and family there.
Lyric Thomas said it’s been a part of her life for, quite literally, as long as she can remember.
“I have my first memory here for ‘The Princess and the Frog,’” she said. “I remember the end credits of Ne-Yo’s song, ‘The Best Thing I Never Knew I Needed,’ as my dad carried me out.”
It’s also the site of one of her final memories with her dad.
“Before my dad passed, he took me to see the SpongeBob movie that came out in 2015, and that was the last movie we saw together in a movie theater,” she said.
Others made new memories, this time with a new SpongeBob movie for a younger generation.
After it ended, Jessie Johnson-Hardison wrote farewell messages with her wife LaFesa and their three grandchildren using markers and posters the theater placed near the exit.
“We normally come on Tuesdays to check out a matinee movie,” Johnson-Hardison said. “We knew that Baxter was closing, so we wanted to make one last memory with [the grandchildren].”
The theater’s end is prompting concerns about the state of independent cinema in Louisville and access to lower-budget arthouse films. But there’s also uncertainty about the future of Bardstown Road’s reputation as a cultural hub known for its unique businesses.
Kohorst, with Baxter, pointed to closures and relocations of fellow Mid-City Mall occupants like the Back Door, Ramen House and, soon, ValuMarket, along with several others along the main corridor.
“For me, it kind of started when ear X-tacy closed,” he said. “It was kind of like this chain of events that’s led to a lot of these local places shutting down and Bardstown kind of losing that flavor.”
The building that once housed ear X-tacy, a beloved local record store, is now a Tacos D Amor restaurant. Until 2010, owner John Timmons sold albums and novelties and hosted live performances for more than 15 years.
“This is the first time I’ve stepped inside the building since we left,” Timmons said. "It’s unrecognizable to me from what it was.”
Timmons, who is also a longtime music host on WFPK, said he doesn’t feel the same attachment to his former shop after renovations ripped out what he called its “soul.” That feeling also increasingly applies to the entire corridor.
“There seems to be less and less draw for me to come to Bardstown Road now,” he said. “And with Baxter leaving, that’s one more reason that I’m not going to be coming over this direction.”
During ear-X-tacy’s heyday, Timmons launched the “Keep Louisville Weird” campaign, which eventually evolved into the Louisville Independent Business Alliance. Its goal was to promote the area’s many locally owned shops.
Those stores, along with the people who worked and shopped at them, are what made Bardstown Road instantly feel like home when Timmons moved here in the 1970s. When corporations replace them, he said it causes a domino effect that leads to increased rent prices that make it harder for small businesses to survive.
“It loses its local flavor,” Timmons said. “It becomes Anywhere, USA.”
Back at Baxter, Dave Conover arrived with his family for one final showing. He was an assistant manager at the theater for 12 years, starting when it opened.
Its loss will leave the neighborhood — and much of the city — without a local theater, something Conover lamented.
“It is a shame, because it seems now theater owners and operators only want to build on the east side of town, so far east I don’t even call it Louisville,” he said.
Conover described himself as a person who’s trapped in nostalgia, making “Cinema Paradiso” a poetic send-off. The Italian film tells the story of a man’s life and love for his aging local movie theater.
“That’s the movie you show when your theater is closing,” Conover said.
Those who came to say their goodbyes to Baxter expressed a mix of emotions. Some were frustrated, some were sad and some were thankful for the time they had.
It’s a sentiment “Cinema Paradiso” reflects in one of its poignant scenes with the line, “Life isn’t like in the movies. Life is much harder.”
