Sacramento’s iconic Tower Theatre reopened its doors Thursday for the first time in seven months. “It’s pretty exciting to be back open,” General Manager Dave Parker said.When the novel coronavirus pandemic hit California, prompting officials to establish public health restrictions as a way to mitigate the spread of the virus, many entertainment industries, including movie theaters, were forced to close.Since the state shutdown, Parker has been the only staff member at Tower Theater. Now, the theater has been able to bring back about half of its staff. “I’ve been doing this for several decades, and I’ve never gone through anything like this,” he said.From the box office to the auditorium, guests will notice new safety protocols in place, including a mask requirement, plexiglass dividers at ticket sales and the concession stand and every other row in the auditoriums blocked off. Under state guidance, movie theaters in Sacramento County can only fill a quarter of their seats. “And there’s three seats in-between each person — so lots of space,” Parker said. As one theater welcomed guests back, another is shutting its doors. On Thursday, Regal Cinemas temporarily closed all 536 theaters across the country because of the pandemic.“That sucks for their business because that’s a huge movie theater company to just shut down,” said Carmen Thurman. Crystal Zamora works down the block from the Regal Cinemas at Delta Shores and said she worries for the theater’s staff. “I really feel for them. I know a lot of businesses are really suffering,” she said. “I hope when everything opens up, everyone will go out and they’ll recover any losses.” Meanwhile, as Tower Theatre celebrates its return, Parker said the future of cinema is unclear. “Is the theater going to stay open? Is the industry? Who knows what’s going to happen. So, you just kind of take it day by day,” he said. “I think we have a good advantage because our customer base is used to seeing older films, and so we don’t need all the new product that Hollywood is not providing right now. And so I think that’s going to help us out in the long run.”
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Sacramento’s iconic Tower Theatre reopened its doors Thursday for the first time in seven months.
“It’s pretty exciting to be back open,” General Manager Dave Parker said.
When the novel coronavirus pandemic hit California, prompting officials to establish public health restrictions as a way to mitigate the spread of the virus, many entertainment industries, including movie theaters, were forced to close.
Since the state shutdown, Parker has been the only staff member at Tower Theater. Now, the theater has been able to bring back about half of its staff.
“I’ve been doing this for several decades, and I’ve never gone through anything like this,” he said.
From the box office to the auditorium, guests will notice new safety protocols in place, including a mask requirement, plexiglass dividers at ticket sales and the concession stand and every other row in the auditoriums blocked off. Under state guidance, movie theaters in Sacramento County can only fill a quarter of their seats.
“And there’s three seats in-between each person — so lots of space,” Parker said.
As one theater welcomed guests back, another is shutting its doors. On Thursday, Regal Cinemas temporarily closed all 536 theaters across the country because of the pandemic.
“That sucks for their business because that’s a huge movie theater company to just shut down,” said Carmen Thurman.
Crystal Zamora works down the block from the Regal Cinemas at Delta Shores and said she worries for the theater’s staff.
“I really feel for them. I know a lot of businesses are really suffering,” she said. “I hope when everything opens up, everyone will go out and they’ll recover any losses.”
Meanwhile, as Tower Theatre celebrates its return, Parker said the future of cinema is unclear.
“Is the theater going to stay open? Is the industry? Who knows what’s going to happen. So, you just kind of take it day by day,” he said. “I think we have a good advantage because our customer base is used to seeing older films, and so we don’t need all the new product that Hollywood is not providing right now. And so I think that’s going to help us out in the long run.”