Despite Stage 3 approval, most Ottawa movie theatres not opening right away
Posted Jul 14, 2020 09:00:00 PM.
UPDATE, Wednesday, July 15: The Mayfair Theatre has since announced that it is reopening on Friday, July 17, when the province allows Ottawa to move into Stage 3 of its economic reopening plan.
The provincial government has told residents they can go out to a movie theatre this Friday night, but the problem in Ottawa will be finding one that's open.
The ByTowne Cinema is the only one in the city that says it will be opening next week, although its owner Bruce White admits there are challenges still being worked out.
The Rideau Street theatre has a 650 seat auditorium, but Ontario's new rules mandate that only 50 people can be in one room at a time, physically distant.
“Doing the seating configuration where every other row is blocked off and three seats are unusable between people who are enjoying a movie… we have 110 seat capacity at this point,” explains White.
He hasn't attached a date to the cinema's opening yet, but plans to reopen next week with an online booking system in place.
“So that people can buy in advance, [find out] before they leave the house that 51 other people had the same idea.”
White says they may not run much of a profit right away, but he got into the theatre business to pull butts away from the couch and Netflix.
The Mayfair Theatre, meanwhile, has told its regulars to “stay tuned” for an announcement regarding its reopening.
The local Cineplex theatres are reviewing what's being proposed in Ontario, and have said via Twitter, “We don't have a timeline as of yet. We recommend keeping an eye out for any updates on our website or social media pages.”
Finally, Landmark Cinemas says, “We are looking at opening in ON once the health authorities have given us the go ahead and announced it it safe to open again. Hopefully soon.”
