Maybe someday they'll put one in the Smithsonian. A replica of a no-frills theater, a prototype of the multiplex generation: thin walls, cramped seats, zero ambiance. A theater like the Douglas 3. Or the Plaza 4.

Or the Cinema Twin — "Summer of '42" on your right, ladies and gentleman, "Le Mans" to your left. A theater from the quaint and suddenly retro era of the 1970s. Theaters that are no more.

"These theaters are ready to go," Doug Kinney, city manager for the Douglas Theatre Company, said Wednesday.

"They've been ready to go for a number of years."

There's not much nostalgia for the old shoebox theaters with their outdated sound systems and Coke-stained carpeting. All three theaters will go dark tonight, on the eve of the premiere of the Grand — 14 screens of digital sound and stadium seating.

Kinney loves the movies. He was a high school senior when he started selling popcorn at the 84th and O Street drive-in. When the Douglas 3 opened in the spring of '73, he came downtown.

Back in those days, blockbuster movies would run for a year. "Towering Inferno." "American Grafitti." "The Sting."

Friday night was movie night. Downtown came alive. Lines wrapped around city blocks. When the Douglas filled, the herd would head west. At the Plaza, the phone would start ringing.

"Look out, the line is coming."

Back in those days when the house began to fill, employees would direct the crowd to cozy up so stragglers could get a seat.

"They'd tell jokes to entertain them," Kinney said. "Some customers would show up early to watch the employees."

One of the perks of the job was watching movies. Over and over and over.

Legend has it that one night a reel broke and employees went into the theater and acted out the rest of the movie.

Kinney laughs. "I heard it," he says, "but I never saw it."

But he can say for sure that the theaters weren't made for some of the tricked-up sound systems that came out over the years. They put in Sensurround at the Plaza 4 for "Earthquake" and it shook the walls.

"The people in the next theater were probably watching ‘Driving Miss Daisy' … they were probably wondering, ‘What in the heck is going on?'"

Working at the Douglas 3 or the Cinema selling tickets, taking tickets, dishing out Dots and Milk Duds was the best. "This was the greatest job you could ever have."

Many of the people Kinney, now 48, worked with have remained a part of his life, like family.

Wednesday afternoon, Kinney reminisced in his office with fellow longtime employees Pat Hruby and Margaret Proffitt.

A few moviegoers are mourning, Hruby said. But not many. And not one of the longtime theater employees bemoaned the end of the road for Lincoln's trio of once state-of-the-art theaters.

"They're ready to go to their final resting place," Kinney said. "To the big theater in the sky."

Reach Cindy Lange-Kubick at 473-7218 or clangekubick@journalstar.com.

When they opened, what they played

Cinema Twin: September 1971

Total capacity: 496

First films: "Summer of ‘42", "Le Mans"

Douglas 3: March 1973

Total capacity: 752

First films: "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The Sting", "Serpico"

Plaza 4: April 1973

Total capacity: 1,025

First films: not available