Getting ready to celebrate its two-year anniversary, The Ashland Theatre reflects on the reopening of its doors.
On May 5, 2023, The Ashland Theatre opened its newly renovated doors to the public.
Due to the inflation in the country, strikes in Hollywood, cost of materials and scarcity of materials, the theater had to postpone its reopening from the summer of 2022 to May of 2023.
“It was difficult for the first year just trying to figure out what to do because everything was upside down. The price of steel tripled overnight, the price of lumber tripled, we couldn’t even find drywall, so the $4 million that had been generously donated shrunk to about $1.6 million,” The Ashland Theatre’s Director Chris Skinner said.
Some of the donors include, but are not limited to: Bob and Jan Archer, Jill Sample, Scott Donley, the Fell Foundation and The Norma Foundation.
The previous Ashland Schine’s Theater was a home of many memorable moments. So, its restoration and revival bring hope for those looking to make long lasting impressions.
“The older folks like being able to reminisce and come back to the place where a lot of them spent their youth and young adult years. I met some people the other day that came here, he had brought her here the night he asked her to marry him”, and, “I’ve had lots of people tell me they came here on their first dates,” said Skinner.
The building is set up as a multiplex.
This multipurpose layout is a standard practice in small theaters to maximize the space used.
With a total of 424 seats, the Ashland Theatre has three smaller screens and one big one, where they play movies on 4K digital laser projectors. Each of the balcony seats, or smaller screens, hold up to 49 people.
While it is primarily a movie theater, part of The Ashland Theatre’s mission is to help entertain the community in many ways.
“[This is] a multifunction event center, being able to do live productions, first run movies, classic movies and additionally a mini conference space,” said Skinner when discussing what the theater was to become.
This includes the live shows they do such as the upcoming John Denver Tribute and their local collaborations with the Kroc Center and the Ashbrook Classical Theater.
While the theater struggled at the beginning to reopen, Skinner says, “it’s kind of smooth sailing now; we’ve got a rhythm and we’re frequently doing live events that are becoming well attended.”
Tickets are on the cheaper side to help families, couples, schools and just groups of friends afford the pleasure of seeing either a movie or a live event without having to worry too much about their budget.
“The premise behind this theater was, I believe, to make it accessible to everyone. People have families and want to go out of an evening and enjoy time with their family without going broke,” said Skinner.