This has been on my mind for a few days and I just wanted to share. I've been a theatre owner (drive-in) going on 23 years and like all theatre owners, I notice things. My wife and I went on a double date on Saturday night to go see Solo Mio at our local 10 screen indoor theatre. Been a while since I've been inside, and I was very disappointed at the condition of the public spaces that everyone sees. I watched this place get built back in 2004, and at that time it was gorgeous. Went in on Saturday night and was greeted with an empty unstaffed boxoffice sales counter. The sales counter was still there, but the abandoned in place POS systems from 2010 or longer was just sitting there covered in dust. They did have two kiosks at the boxoffice counter, but one had a windows blue screen of death displayed, and the other a piece of paper taped to the screen that said go to the concessions counter. Had to go to the concessions sales counter to redeem or purchase tickets. Maybe that's a new thing, I'm not sure. There was a seating alcove in the front of the lobby that had several "ice buckets" placed on the floor in strategic places to catch the water that dripped through the holes in the drywall ceiling. There was literally gaping holes in the ceiling and drywall hanging down. Looks like it had been that way for a while.
Went to the men's restroom before the show and probably half of the ceiling tiles were missing. Light fixtures hanging by wires. In one section there was portion of the ceiling grid missing and a 1x4 piece of wood was zip-tied up in its place. Walked up to the urinal, and while standing there, I noticed the top of the porcelain fixture was covered in dirt, funk and dried tobacco spit. It was evident it had been that way for some time. Only the back plastic shell of a paper towel dispenser hung on the wall. Where the guts and cover of the machine were was unknown. My wife said the women's restroom was similar.
2 hours is all it would take to put the ceiling back together and clean it up. I know it's hard to spend money on things that don't make money, and I know my theatre isn't perfect... but still. I just hated to see this place in such bad shape.
Went to the men's restroom before the show and probably half of the ceiling tiles were missing. Light fixtures hanging by wires. In one section there was portion of the ceiling grid missing and a 1x4 piece of wood was zip-tied up in its place. Walked up to the urinal, and while standing there, I noticed the top of the porcelain fixture was covered in dirt, funk and dried tobacco spit. It was evident it had been that way for some time. Only the back plastic shell of a paper towel dispenser hung on the wall. Where the guts and cover of the machine were was unknown. My wife said the women's restroom was similar.
2 hours is all it would take to put the ceiling back together and clean it up. I know it's hard to spend money on things that don't make money, and I know my theatre isn't perfect... but still. I just hated to see this place in such bad shape.
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