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Movie Theater Open During Pandemic

Libby Crosby , , , ,
The front of the Strand Cinema located in Skowhegan, Maine.

SKOWHEGAN, MAINE – Since March 16th, Spotlight Cinemas at the Strand, also known as “the Strand”, hasn’t been the same. With the COVID-19 pandemic this small movie theater has been struggling to stay afloat. The Strand has always been known to be an affordable theater to go to with tickets priced at $7 but with new movies being released, tickets have gone down to $5 to watch already released movies. The price was lower in the hopes of attracting more people to attend and hopefully buy from concessions, which is what really makes movie theaters money. In May, the employees decided to come together and open for curbside concessions in hopes of making money to help keep the beloved business open. 

The theater was able to have customers back in the building to watch movies at the beginning of July. With that new rules were put into place such as sanitizing all surfaces touched along with every seat after every show, masks must be worn, and social distancing. Even though it is a small movie theater with only 3 screens, each theater can seat many. So when rows had to be taped off to ensure social distancing they were still able to have a good amount of customers. 

Katy Oliver, who has been working at the Strand for 10 years and is the manager, has never experienced anything like it. “It’s just weird, a little over a year ago we sold out every show the weekend Avenger’s: Endgame came out, and now we’re lucky if we have 50+ people for all seven shows we play”. Filling the theater that sits 450+ people is something she’d love to see again but is unsure if she ever will see it again. When asked if she thinks movie theaters will still be big after the pandemic she said, “probably not as big as they are now. I think they’ll still be around, but we are definitely going to suffer quite a bit”. Many other theaters are struggling to stay open with companies deciding to release movies on streaming services instead of theaters but Strand is putting lots of effort into staying open. 

The “Holiday Stroll” gift pass sale is an annual sale at the theater that is usually a hit with customers but this year is different.

Every year the town of Skowhegan has a “Holiday Stroll” which includes a parade celebrating Christmas and all weekend people are encouraged to shop at small businesses located downtown. And every year the Strand has a gift pass sale that is a hit around town as it makes a great gift. You are able to purchase a 10-pack of passes that includes admission, a small popcorn and soda for $65 or just the admission pack for $50. There we’re high hopes this sale would help bring some income in this year but with the Holiday Stroll not taking place and the movie theater not being open as often, sales haven’t been high like previous years. 

The Strand is one of the few attractions in the small town of Skowhegan and is typically a popular one. With the threat of it closing, many wonder if they’ll have to travel to a different theater, or if they’ll ever go to the movies again.