Teen screen scene
The younger set flocks to Oldsmar's AMC 20 on Friday nights, and not just to see movies. Extra security is added at the teeming social hub to ease concerns.
By NICOLE JOHNSON
Published February 13, 2005
OLDSMAR - While the blockbusters debut Friday night on screens inside the AMC 20 at Woodlands Square, tweens and teens live their lives in real time out front.
Here, on a chilly Friday night, the movies are a sideshow to the main attraction under the red fluorescent glow of the AMC sign and frequent brake lights.
Still deciding between seeing Pooh's Heffalump Movie or Boogeyman, Erin Foley's friends try to cram one more signature onto the 13-year-old's "last day" jeans, already filled with dozens of signatures in blue, purple and red marker. Friday was her last day at Carwise Middle School. Her crew of four is celebrating and saying goodbye by going to the AMC 20.
"On Fridays it's about the AMC," said Shelby Floro, 14. "It's new, it's big and it's close."
In the past year, hundreds of tweens and teens from Tarpon Springs to Clearwater have transformed the AMC 20 at Woodlands Square into their own social stratosphere. Some describe the scene in school-cafeteria terms: Goth kids in one part of the parking lot, preps taking center stage in front of the ticket booth, everyone else falling somewhere in between.
The theater's frequent show times and location, smack dab in the middle of stores like the Dollar Tree, Burger King and Taco Bell, provide an inexpensive one-stop Friday night.
"Some people just buy tickets, but don't actually go to the movies," said Greg Hoskins, 14, an eighth-grader at Carwise Middle School. "Just think back to when there were drive-ins and everyone would go to that. It's the same thing, just cooler."
But for others, North Pinellas County's lack of places for young people to congregate makes the AMC the only option.
"If we were in Tampa there might be something else to do," said T.J. Borawski, 16, a Dunedin High School student, who was going to see The Wedding Date with his girlfriend, Stephanie Villasuso, 16.
On this night, throngs of youngsters are scattered from the Tampa Road entrance of the shopping center to the Curlew Road entrance. The central location is the street just in front of the AMC ticket booths. Just before the 8:15 p.m. showing of Boogeyman, friends argue, piggyback rides are given and a girl walking around with black wings attached to the back of her shirt turns heads.
The problem is, it all happens "about a hundred decibels above normal conversation volume," said Steve Cassidy, 54, of Clearwater.
"They're noisy, and they run from theater to theater," said Cassidy, a security officer who said he comes to the movies almost every Tuesday and Friday night. "That's a distraction to the people who come here and pay $8 to actually see the movie."
Complaints like Cassidy's, along with the urging of city officials, have prompted AMC and management at the Woodlands Square Shopping Center to beef up security.
A sergeant will now be on hand to patrol the parking lot in addition to the two off-duty Pinellas County sheriff's deputies assigned to the shopping center. The deputies will monitor the entrance of Beall's Department Store and Kash n' Karry instead of patrolling the parking lot from their cars.
"The increase will hopefully get the kids to move elsewhere and not assemble in front of stores or the movie theater," said Kerri Taylor, marketing manager for Carter, the shopping center's management company. "It won't be anything drastic that they'll see at all, more to just alleviate their concerns."
In January, the spotlight was on St. Petersburg's BayWalk entertainment and dining complex after a fight between two 13-year-old girls spread, causing more than 69 police officers to respond. Seven juveniles and seven adults were arrested.
"People remember the BayWalk thing and they get concerned when they see the crowds," said Barbara Dillon, manager of Kash n' Karry in the shopping center. "For the most part they're good kids coming out here. There are just so many."
The AMC Woodlands 20 is the second most-attended theater in the St. Petersburg/Tampa market, according to ticket sales, said AMC spokesperson Pam Blase. The AMC Regency 20 in Brandon is the most-attended theater in the area.
Striking a balance between what tweens and teens see as a lively hangout and what many adults consider a relaxing experience is a constant issue for movie theaters, Blase said.
It means taking a proactive approach to security.
"We just make sure it's a safe, fun environment and a show of security is a part of that," she said. "The security is more of a presence to say to the younger people that we have people here and to make everyone feel more secure, including the families and older people."
The Florida Highway Patrol and privately hired security guards monitor the theater. Blase would not give details about how many officers and guards are there on Friday nights, but did say the numbers fluctuate depending on the movies shown.
"Every week we look at the movies coming out and determine the audience levels," she said. "If there's a movie like Boogeyman coming out, we may increase the levels knowing that it will attract a younger crowd."
In the past year there have been no large fights reported at Woodlands Square.
Traffic, loitering and pranks top the list of complaints.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office responded to 51 calls for service at the shopping center between Jan. 1 and Nov. 15, 2004, records show.
Of those calls, 21 resulted in written reports, including 10 citations for illegal parking and one for a minor purchasing tobacco. Four people were arrested, including a juvenile male who urinated outside.
"It's really not that problematic," said sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen. "It's the type of incidents that you have when there's a mall with a large group of kids that go there."
The teens don't bother everyone. Michael and Maureen Nowotarski frequent San's Pizza on Friday nights.
"I think they're fine; it's a place for them to have some entertainment," said Maureen, a program director for Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens. "What else are they going to do?"
Still, Dillon said she has found used hair dye in the bathroom of her grocery store. Shaving cream and whipped cream are often purchased for pranks, she said.
"If their parents drop them off and they have two hours of nothing to do, there's going to be some spillover into the stores," she said. "I schedule my younger people on Friday nights, because they identify better."
Dillon said the increase in security is a way to make sure those shaving-cream pranks don't get more serious.
Last month, city, movie and law enforcement officials met with the shopping center management company to discuss the issue.
"Presence is everything," said Oldsmar Mayor Jerry Beverland. "If you see a congregate of teens and you're elderly, you may be a little concerned. We think this will make everyone more comfortable all around."
The off-duty deputies who patrol the shopping center are contracted by the property management company. The newly added sergeant will keep the property management updated on activity at the shopping center, McMullen said.
The addition should not disrupt the average moviegoer's experience, McMullen said. However, officers will strictly enforce no parking in fire lanes, where parents often stop to drop off children.
"Should something happen, we have a sergeant on spot who can take charge and begin to allocate appropriate resources," McMullen said.
Nicole Johnson can be reached at 727 771-4303 or njohnson@sptimes.com