In a Year When the Film Industry Crumbled, the Texas Theatre Managed a $1.9 Expansion | Dallas Observer

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Due to the Coronavirus, the film industry is facing endless unprecedented challenges: Cinemas have to reduce public performances and private rentals, and temporarily close to prevent people from spreading COVID-19. Film studios have to postpone their biggest blockbusters or choose to release them on streaming platforms.

Even with similar setbacks, historical

At Oak Cliff, we managed to make some bold expansion plans. They say that downtime gives its owners and operators time to actually implement it.

"When COVID came out earlier this year, I thought,'Now that we are basically in a regressive state, how can we maximize our future here?'" Founder and co-owner of the theater partner company Aviation Cinemas Barak Epstein said. "So when the world shuts down, we put it high again."

The Texas Theater announced on Wednesday that it plans to turn its empty balcony into a 160-seat auditorium with a second screen and VIP mezzanine. Since the theater opened to the public at the end of March, the project has been in progress for five years and is in the planning stage.

"A lot of places are just dormant out of necessity, and we are doing this, but we think,'When we achieve this by increasing capacity, how will we make the most of this, we have all of this we want Something?" Epstein said. "Let us minimize downtime."

The downtime forced theaters to come up with new ways to provide screenings in a safe environment, such as online screening options and Sunset Drive-In Theatres, which are located in the parking lot behind the Sunset Boulevard building And need as many employees as possible. Epstein said that changes in operations, coupled with loans and tax credits, also gave them a way to save money to fund the $1.9 million expansion project.

Epstein said: "Basically, we are trying to save money by not operating." "We started a similar attempt, but we had to assume to the bank that this is a long-term process. This is not'let us solve it in 2020.' Everything.' This is, "How do we create long-term sustainability here? ""

Texas Theater

Since the 1930s, it has become the largest suburban theater in Dallas. It was arrested by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963 for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and became a city, state and federal one. Class city. Starting a new construction on a historically protected building is not as simple as hiring a contractor and demolishing a few walls.

"We have a trio of historical names," Epstein said with a smile. "For different reasons, we have to talk to these three countries. We are using the state's historical tax credit program, which helps complete the financing to carry out the work."

The new space is scheduled to be completed sometime next spring and will turn the theater’s balcony into the first usable space in 40 years. It is hoped that the theater will be able to be safely opened to audiences who are eager to see movies that are not eventually shown on their TVs, mobile phones or tablets.

Epstein said: "Basically, we will be able to do more things, including more movies, more live events, comedy events, rental opportunities, more everything." "In many ways, we Will return to the original usage of the theater in the 1930s and 1940s." 

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