The grounds of the once popular Harbour View Drive-in cinema. The property, which has been on the market since 2004, has not found a buyer. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

The Harbour View Drive-in cinema owned by Palace Amusement Company has not had any takers since being put up for sale in 2004, the same year it was severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan.

"It is still up for sale," a representative of Palace amusement told the Business Observer this week.

Efforts to get a response from managing director and principal shareholder Douglas Graham were, however, unsuccessful.

Palace Amusement Company, which runs a virtual cinema monopoly in Jamaica, is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with approximately 150 shareholders.

In early 2000, the company earned millions of dollars from the sale of its Odeon Cinema property in Half -Way-Tree to Government, which is now constructing a bus terminus and retail stores at the central site.

Shortly after placing the Harbour View drive-in on the market, discussions with a potential purchaser hit a snag over a government-owned water treatment plant near to the property, the Business Observer learnt.

Once a popular nightspot, the east Kingston drive-in cinema, built in the 1960s, saw patronage dwindling in latter years due to cultural changes and security concerns of Kingstonians.

Hurricane Ivan in 2004 placed the final nail in the coffin of the ailing cinema when it severely damaged facilities at the venue.

It has been closed since then.
Sited on approximately six acres of seafront land, it was envisaged by real estate professionals that the property could be ideal for a housing development, but when Hurricane Ivan devastated houses at nearby Caribbean Terrace developers grew cautious about beach-front construction at the location.

The future of the property, after three years, still remains uncertain and chances of the once popular cinema being reopened by Palace Amusement are extremely slim if not non-existent.

For apart from slow patronage, the operation of a drive-in ran contrary to the policy direction taken by Palace, that of operating multiplex cinemas instead of single-screen venues.

With Carib Five in Cross Roads as its flagship, the company has now consolidated its operations to four multiplex cinemas, the others being Palace Cineplex at Sovereign Centre in Liguanea, Kingston; Palace Multiplex in Montego Bay; and Odeon Cineplex in Mandeville.

Palace Amusement services cinemas in Grand Cayman, and represents United International Pictures, the source of motion picture products from the studios of Paramount, Universal, DreamWorks and Disney. Russgram Investments Limited, the major shareholder in the company, holds representation for Warner Bros, Sony, and 20th Century Fox.

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