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Webster Theater to reopen, but not just yet

This week, Gov. Kim Richards announced that restrictions would be eased for many businesses, including movie theaters. With several restrictions still in place, officials with the Webster Theater aren’t sure when they will open the doors to the public.

Kay Ross, a member of the HERO Board that owns and operates the theater, said the movie house won’t be opening anytime soon.

“It sounds like if we do open it would probably – emphasis on probably – be July or August,” she said. The board will be meeting soon to brainstorm ideas, strategize and to try to decide when to open again.

Ross said the problem with opening again now, is that the movie studios closed down all of the production companies and are not releasing much right now.

“Not everybody has opened their theaters (across the country) and the studios don’t want to have bad openings,” she said.

Many of the movies scheduled for release just before the shutdown, have been shown already on streaming services.

“We’ve talked about the possibility of showing some things that have come out in the last couple of years that we never got here, or maybe some golden oldies, some classics,” she said. But they are not sure if that will work. With people stuck at home during the past two months, many have passed the time watching movies.

“Basically, in a nutshell, we don’t know yet,” she said.

For the time being, the theater will continue to offer freshly popped theater popcorn on Friday nights from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

“We’ll continue to do that as long as we have volunteers and there’s interest,” Ross said. “That still helps pay the utility bills. Every little bit helps.”

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