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Openings
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August 1, 2016
Indiana, PA - Palace Gardens Drive-In reopens with digital projector
From the Indiana Gazette: Equipped with an added piece of expensive technology, the Palace Gardens Drive-in Theater finally opened for the summer Friday evening.
But the technological upgrade wasn’t made just for the sake of becoming more modern. To the contrary, theater owners Clarine Beatty and husband Mike Hudzick made a significant financial investment in Palace Gardens to help preserve much of the 66-year-old drive-in’s tradition and nostalgia.
Making its debut at dusk Friday at the drive-in along Indian Springs Road in White Township was a 2007 model Christie digital movie projector. The addition of a digital projector means Palace Gardens will be able to continue showing new-release movies. About three years ago, movie studios started phasing out 35 mm film prints and began a switch to an all-digital distribution system. Theater owners who choose not to change with the times and acquire a digital projector will eventually be forced to screen only old movies that exist on celluloid.
The change to an all-digital distribution format left the future of Palace Gardens uncertain for the past few years. Beatty said the cost of a new digital projector approaches six figures — a hefty outlay for a business that only operates on weekends during the summer.
Because of the unavailability of movies on 35 mm film, Palace Gardens did not open this Memorial Day weekend as it has for decades. Beatty announced then that the drive-in might open later in the summer if she and Hudzick could “find a digital projection option that works for us.”
“This has been quite an endeavor,” Beatty said this week while preparing for opening night. She started early in 2016 — making a lot of phone calls, contacting other drive-in theater owners and her other movie business contacts — trying to locate a suitable projector.
“We’re a two-person business. … This is not the only thing we do,” Beatty said. She is a schoolteacher and Hudzick’s day job is as a contractor.
The search was complicated by the fact that Beatty and Hudzick not only needed a used projector, but a big one that could cast an image large enough to fill all of Palace Garden’s 92-foot-wide screen, one of the larger screens in the drive-in industry.
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July 28, 2016
Rutherford, NJ - Williams Center re-opens this Friday with ‘Bad Moms,’ ‘Jason Bourne’
From NorthJersey.com:
“The Secret Life of Pets,” “Bad Moms,” and “Jason Bourne” will be the first digital movies to be shown at the Williams Center. The movie theaters will re-open this Friday, July 29, equipped with new digital projectors courtesy of a community fundraiser.The reopening of the cinemas to first-run movies comes just over a year after the center stopped showing new movies. Community members and Board of Trustee members launched an effort to purchase digital projection equipment necessary to bring new titles back to the Rutherford theater, as trustees said obtaining first-run movies on its outdated technology was cost-prohibitive.
The Williams Center is operated by a non-profit board of trustees and the building is owned by Bergen County.
The concession stand and common areas have been revamped by volunteers and professionals, said Board Vice President Evelyn Spath-Mercado. Rug cleaning, painters and other touches are being done to make the cinemas “look fresh.”
“Of course we had the professional installers put in all three digital projectors, they are up and running,” Spath-Mercado. “It’s going to look pretty darn good.”
Over the past year, volunteers have kept the Williams Center active – hosting classic and second-run movie nights, a comic convention and other events – all with the goal of raising money to fund the digital upgrade. Can collections, a GoFundMe page, fundraising events held at the center, t-shirt sales, a municipal donation and donation by BCB Bank were some of the ways the community pitched in.
“Everyone who contributed from just a quarter, up to the big donation [from BCB Bank], are involved in the opening,” said Spath-Mercado. “Just the cans alone raised $1,100. It truly was a community effort.”
Center officials crossed the $22,500 threshold needed to make a first payment on the three, previously-owned projectors last month. Spath-Mercado said she is confident that the funds needed for the next $22,500 payment will be made, given the new revenue source.
Ticket prices will be $10 for adults and $8 for senior citizens and children. Weekend matinees will also be $8.
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July 23, 2016
Richmond, VA - Cinephiles plan first take along East Broad Street
From Richmond Biz Sense: Inspired partly by the closure of a West End movie theater, two Richmonders plan to open a film center in a recently redeveloped downtown property.
James Parrish and Terry Rea plan to open in August the Bijou Film Center at 304 E. Broad St. The pair have a short-term lease for the 1,400-square-foot space on the ground floor of the three-story building.
“We wanted to bring movies back to Broad Street,” Parrish said. “We see it as a starter home. We’re going to start with folding chairs.”
The Bijou Film Center will show movies and sell beer, wine, coffee, popcorn and other food. The August opening won’t be for a fully realized Bijou, but the single-screen film center will have limited screenings until the building is fully built out later this year.
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July 12, 2016
New York, NY - Bjarke Ingels’s Tetrahedron Will Get a Landmark Movie Theater At Its Base
From Curbed New York: Bjarke Ingels’s so-called “courtscraper” on Manhattan’s far west side—recently named the best tall building in the Americas—is getting a big addition: The Durst Organization, the developer of the ballyhooed building, announced today that Landmark Theatres will bring an eight-screen theater to the development. It’s expected to open early next year.
It’ll be more than just a screening room, though—the new theater will apparently have a private bar where Q&A’s and special events can be held, along with “unique design elements” like a video wall and a special light display. As is de rigueur for movie theaters these days, the theaters themselves will be equipped with plush leather recliners, plenty of concessions, and laser projection screens. Fancy!
Landmark’s only other New York City theater is the Sunshine Cinema on Houston Street on the Lower East Side. As of last year, that particular cinema was possibly being marketed for sale, though it’s still operating as of now.
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July 8, 2016
Muskegon, MI - Harbor Cinema to reopen after short closure; will show first-run films
From MLive.com: Harbor Cinema is back open for business.
Less than two months after the charming movie theater in Muskegon’s Lakeside District announced it would be closing its doors, owner Dan Taylor-Tubergen has made the decision to reopen. He said it was a change in policy by one of the film industry’s leaders that provoked the change of heart.
“We decided to reopen because (21st Century) Fox has dropped the issue of clearances which is what was stopping us from showing their first run films along with the Carousel before,” Taylor-Tubergen said. “So now we will be able to show some first run movies.”
The Harbor Cinema, 1937 Lakeshore Drive, has had a long up-and-down history in Muskegon. It has operated under several owners and names over the years. The theater had been closed since May 8 with owners citing “unwelcomed theater competition in the community by another corporate theater chain.”
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June 3, 2016
Washington, DC - Miracle Theater Opens in historic Meader’s Theater Building
From Washington City Paper: In early May, single-screen art-house theater Suns Cinema opened in Mt. Pleasant—the latest addition to D.C.’s recent movie theater boom. But a couple weeks earlier, another small movie theater quietly opened, this one on Barracks Row: The Miracle Theatre.
The building that houses The Miracle Theatre, which had its soft opening on April 22, hosted movies and vaudeville shows in a previous life as Meader’s Theater, which opened in 1909. Miracle, which is owned by the National Community Church, is intent on celebrating that history. “We knew we wanted to revive that history for the community,” says Miracle Theatre manager Juliet Main. When the NCC purchased the building in 2011, she says they begin researching its history and decided to furnish and decorate it like a 1920s movie theater.
In addition to showing second runs of new movies, Main says the theater will also host special film series, repertory cinema, and will be used as a live performance venue. “Since we’re setup with a stage, we want to do special events,” she says.
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May 20, 2016
Central City, NE - State Theatre Reopens After Four Years
From Nebraska.tv: In what could be a Hollywood manuscript, a community has come together to revive a historic theater that’s been family-run for generations.
Central City moviegoers were eager to see the inaugural showing of “Zootopia” four years after the marquee lights shut off.
The State Theater Foundation formed a year ago and began the process of restoring the nearly 60-year-old landmark. It now has a digital projection system, a new screen, and an updated concession area.
“I’ve been so excited of this first night!” exclaimed long time theater patron Rhonda Schulze. “I was a regular before when the original owners were here and I’ve been missing it. Like I said, there’s nothing like the big screen, popcorn, there’s nothing better than theater popcorn. Yeah, I’m just really excited!”
“It’s a good feeling because I just want people to come in and see it,” said State Theater Foundation’s Kasey Blodgett. “And like I said, it gives them something to do so it’s, I’m excited for tonight. I don’t know how to put it into words.”
The foundation hosted a ribbon cutting on Thursday evening prior to the theater’s opening. Show times will be Fridays through Sundays at 7:30 p.m.
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May 11, 2016
LaFayette, GA - Historic Mars Theatre to Reopen on May 13
From Northwest Georgia News: It’s been a long time coming, but local theatre company Back Alley Productions (BAP) finally has a place to call home as it’s set to re-open the historic Mars Theatre in LaFayette Friday, May 13, with the classic play “Death of a Salesman.”
It’s been about five months since the papers were signed and the BAP company began the task of revitalizing the historic theatre on N. Chattanooga Street, with the hopes of transforming the gem of a space into a new, thriving entertainment venue.
“The theatre will be fully ready this week right before we open, so that’s part of the excitement,” said Kaylee Smith, BAP’s executive director. “Not only is the building getting ready, but so is the cast, the sets and everything will come together when we finally open on Friday. It’ll not only be an opening for the show, but also an opening for the style of theatre we’ll be bringing here.”
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August 25, 2015
The Renovated Lamp Theater in Irwin, PA Reopens!
The doors of the Lamp theatre reopened today! The renovated Lamp Theater in Irwin, PA reopens following months of renovations by local volunteers, as well as work by previous owners, including the Westmoreland Cultural Trust.
“The excitment is intense,’’ Irwin manager Mary Benko, who is also a Lamp Theatre volunteer, said of next week’s long-awaited opening.
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January 18, 2015
“Cinema screens return to medieval town of Rye” From Rye, England.
A cinema has returned to the medieval town of Rye, in East Sussex, after a break of nearly 40 years.
Kino Rye has been built on the site of the former library and adult education centre at the top of Lion Street.
The historical site had been earmarked for housing, but after local opposition it was bought by a community group who pledged hundreds of thousands of pounds to ensure part of the building was saved from the bulldozers.
Read the entire article online at bbc.com