Formerly in the cinema on the Promenade: smoking and ordering popcorn during the movie

Do you remember the former cinema on the Promenade in the Stadshart? A visit to the Promenade cinema was a real outing. For Wednesday afternoon with friends, in the evening or during a children’s party. With the programming on posters in front of the windows and the sign on the facade, you knew exactly which film you wanted to watch.

Queuing for the entrance

As soon as the entrance doors opened, you first had to buy a ticket at the counter. Usually there was already a long line outside the cinema waiting. At McDonald’s across the street you could get fries before or after the movie. After purchasing your ticket, which paid in cash with guilders, you took the stairs and did not know how quickly you had to get up. Upstairs were three cinemas where different films were shown.

Movie and popcorn

Besides watching a movie, the best thing about the cinema in Zoetermeer was that you didn’t have to wait for the break to buy a drink or snack. In front of your chair was a small table with a telephone and a light. If you were in the mood for something tasty (and you had!) you picked up the telephone receiver and you were in live contact with that one nice bartender or bartender. You passed on your order and within a short time your coke and baking salt or sweet popcorn were brought to you and your contact settled. And what you can no longer imagine: you were allowed to smoke during the film!

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New cinema

Unfortunately, the special service (which Zoetermeer was famous for because it didn’t exist in other cities) in the cinema came to an end when a new cinema was opened in 1998 in the Stadshart. With no fewer than eight cinemas, Utopolis and later Kinepolis cinema was much larger than the previous one. The building on the Promenade closed and after that several catering establishments, such as a restaurant and a club, have been established.