Isetann Cinerama Recto

Isetann Cinerama Recto (also known as Isetann Recto) is a shopping mall located at Quezon Boulevard corner C.M. Recto Avenue and Evangelista Street in Manila, Philippines. The mall sits in the portion of Estero de Quiapo which became Roman Super Cinerama in 1964 and burnt down in the late 1970s. After the fire, the Roman and Rojas families sold their burnt theater to Isetann. The mall opened in April 1988 (although Isetann resurrected the Cinerama name after the mall was built). It also serves as the headquarters for Isetann after vacating its previous headquarters in Carriedo which remained operational as an outlet. (Isetann previously held its head office in Carriedo from the company's start in 1980 until the relocation to Recto in 1988.)

History

The mall began its roots in 1964 as Roman Super Cinerama, built in the portion of Estero de Quiapo.^[1] The theater is owned by the Roman and Rojas families,^[2] specifically Jose A. Rojas son of Victor S. Rojas. It was at that time the most luxurious theater, it was the first building in the Philippines to have an escalator and the first cinema to have carpet. During its time it was the biggest wide screen theater in the world, it had the capacity of having 1,500 seats. In the late 1970s the theater burned down due to a faulty wiring.

In 1981, The Roman and Rojas families demolished the theater and sold the lot to Isetann in 1985 to develop a shopping mall as response to rival SM City North EDSA, which was built on the same year as the first SM Supermall. However it was delayed due to the uprising of the government following their series of massive protests in the area and the People Power Revolution, which led to Marcos' power ousted from the office and stalled Corazon Aquino as president. The mall was constructed in 1986 in order to be finished by September 1987.

But on January 22, 1987, The Mendiola massacre occurred killing 13 people resulting another major delay to the mall's opening. The opening date was moved from September 1987 to April 1988. Construction resumed a week after and topped off in mid-1987. It was finished in December 1987 and was officially opened in April 1988. In 1994, Six year old Sarah Geronimo made her short concert at the mall.

References

External links

• Isetann Department Store & Supermarket. Official website
• Isetann Department Store and Supermarket. Official Facebook page
• Isetann Department Store and Supermarket. Official Twitter page