Crews Begin Demolishing Historic Movie Theater in Minnesota

ROBBINSDALE -- Crews have begun demolishing a historic movie theater in Robbinsdale.

Officials of the northwestern Minneapolis suburb announced on Facebook Saturday that a demolition permit for the Terrace Theatre was obtained Friday, and that a contractor had already started to tear it down.

The Friends of the Terrace Theatre filed an appeal Friday after its request for a restraining order to stop the demolition was denied.

Hy-Vee had planned a 91,500-square-foot grocery in Robbinsdale where the theater stands. But the Des Moines, Iowa-based grocer put those plans on hold in July after a push to save the Terrace.

Robbinsdale officials said in August the city could not afford the millions of dollars required to restore the theater.

The Terrace opened in 1951. It closed in 1999.