Springfield movie theater has new name

The Springfield Movie Theater, which was heavily damaged by a fire in July 2008, will reopen in July under a new name: Springfield Cinemas 3.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110513/NEWS02/705139875

Published May 13, 2011 in the Rutland Herald

Springfield movie theater has new name

By Susan Smallheer

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Movie Theater, which was heavily damaged by a fire in July 2008, will reopen in July under a new name: Springfield Cinemas 3.

William Morlock, executive director of the Springfield Housing Authority, a co-owner of the Ellis Block, which was also gutted in the fire, said Monday that the theater will reopen with three screens. The largest theater will be equipped with digital technology, which will allow the screening of first-run 3-D movies.

“This is a very important project. It will be an economic engine for downtown,” said Morlock.

Morlock said the Springfield Chamber of Commerce will hold the lease and that the chamber had hired movie-theater veteran Phil Meadows, of Keene, N.H., to run the theaters.

“If things go well, Phil can take over the lease,” Morlock told the Select Board.

Morlock came before the board to line up guaranteed parking for the tenants and employees at the Ellis Block. The Select Board agreed to rent six spaces along Valley Street, which Morlock said he would then swap with People’s United Bank for spaces the bank owns closer to the block.

In addition to the movie theater, the fire-gutted downtown block will house nine apartments.

Morlock said the construction project, which started last summer, would be “substantially complete” by June 30.

He said he expected the theater would open the second full week of July, “in time for Harry Potter.”

The last installment of the Harry Potter series is expected to debut in theaters in mid-July.

Morlock said he hoped there would be an introductory open house to get people to come tour the new theater.

The two smaller theaters will not have digital technology, he said, since it costs roughly $100,000 for a digital projector.

Morlock said pricing at the theater would be in line with the Claremont, N.H., movie theater.

“We will have all new seating and screens,” he said. “No sticky floors.”

Morlock said the Springfield Chamber of Commerce had formed a company, Ellis Block LLC, to hire the staff to run the theater initially. He said the chamber had “stepped up” to help get the theater project up and running.

Morlock told the board that the original art deco facade of the theater, which had been uncovered during the fire, would be restored.

The restoration of the theater and the Ellis Block is a joint project of the Springfield Housing Authority and Housing Vermont, a nonprofit group.