Palace Amusement Co. Ltd. (Jamaica)

The Palace Amusement Company, located in Kingston, Jamaica, was originally established as Palace Wilcox Sanger before being reformed as the Palace Amusement Co. (1921) Ltd. in 1921. The company operated a cinema called Rose Garden on East Queen Street and later built the Palace Cinema, which was partly open-air and silent. They also operated other theaters in Kingston and out-of-town locations as cinema operators and motion picture distributors. In 1946, the J. Arthur Rank Organization (JRO) acquired a controlling interest in Palace and merged it with the Cinema Company of Jamaica, owners of the Carib Cinema in Cross Roads. In 1949, Russell Graham formed the Tropical Cinema Company and built the Tropical on Slipe Road. Rank Organization later took over Paramount and RKO's interest in Jamaica but lost the products of MGM and 20th Century Fox in the process. In 1963, Rank sold its interest in Palace to Russell Graham, who operated it until 1989. The company was then sold to the current managing director. Palace was listed on the Stock Exchange in July 1973. The company faced challenges such as the fire that destroyed the Carib Cinema in 1996, which was restored as Carib 5 with the support of DB&G. The rise of television and live entertainment led to the closure of older open-air theaters. Palace Amusement Co. (1921) Ltd. responded by building multi-screen establishments like Cineplex in Liguanea, Multiplex in MoBay, Carib 5 in Cross Roads, Odeon in Mandeville (which closed after eleven years), and Sunshine in Portmore. The company also faced the challenges posed by the COVID pandemic, resulting in a complete shutdown for over two years. They received support from Victoria Mutual Wealth Management during this time. One of the company's notable achievements was the restoration of Carib 5 cinema and its adoption of cutting-edge technological developments in the industry, including Dolby stereo, digital projection, and 3D laser projection. Looking to the future, the company is in negotiations to introduce 4DX technology, making movies more realistic. They are also actively involved in the development of clean energy, with plans to power their plants with solar energy. The company is currently in the initial phases of these projects.