What Will it Take to Keep Cinema Spaces Alive?

Buildings being bought and sold and long-time tenants kicked out is not new, especially in Seattle. Yet, film exhibition spaces have become more fragile over the last decade. Streaming's near dominance of the market, combined with the box office decimation brought by the shutdowns and justified precautions taken by moviegoers during the COVID-19 pandemic, have pushed an industry constantly in flux to the brink of extinction.

Theater seating inside Grand Illusion Cinema

Grand Illusion Cinema

The cineplexes have suffered, yes, but it’s the neighborhood theaters and the art houses that are facing the brunt of the downturn. If people choose to see a film, they are more inclined to see it in a theater that provides an experience. It is not enough to be with strangers staring at a large screen. Now that screen has to be so big you have to turn your head, or the seats have to recline, or there needs to be a meal service and alcohol. People are searching for the nouveau riche instead of the walkable and homey.

They also seek what they know over what is new. If you look at the top box office earners of the last 15 years, you will see a mix of franchise films, sequels, legacy sequels, and films that represent an established and dominant intellectual property. It is not just the indies suffering, but the mid-budget comedy, the adult drama, or the original genre faire. Movie exhibition is becoming a race to see who can show the same five films in more formats and specialty experiences than any other. 

Theater chains push out films that deserve the exhibition space and need an audience to thrive and live on. It is now a risk to show people with relatable feelings and experiences rather than people in costumes punching their emotions. The bread and butter of the small theater is unique films that show a breadth of the human experience. With people choosing the intellectual property-backed epics, the landlords of the small theaters have leverage to consider the option for a more lucrative tenant.

In 2023, The Grand Illusion Cinema, a 50+ year old cinema space in the U District, announced that the owners of their building had sold the property and that their lease in the space would not be renewed after it ends in February of 2025. In July of this year, Ark Lodge Cinemas, a 10+ year old cinema space in Columbia City, was officially sued by the owners of their building for unpaid rent and are facing eviction. These spaces are not unprofitable, but cater to a niche audience in the case of The Grand Illusion, and a specific neighborhood in the case of Ark Lodge. A little over a decade ago, something similarly strange happened to a fairly large number of neighborhood theaters.

In the 2010s Landmark began to divest from its exhibition spaces in Seattle. Landmark Theatres, a small chain of movie theaters peppered around the United States, at one time operated eight theaters in the Seattle area. The first to go was the Neptune in the U District, which is now operated as an event space by the Seattle Theater Group. The Egyptian in Capitol Hill was let go and as quickly as possible acquired by SIFF, who had bought and revitalized The Uptown in Lower Queen Anne several years before. The Metro in the U District was sold twice before becoming a 21+ AMC Theatres venue.

The Varsity, also in the U District, was sold to local group Far and Away Entertainment and is still going strong on The Ave. The Harvard Exit in Capitol Hill was sold and in 2018 the Mexican Consulate took over the space. The chain still operates the Crest Cinema Center in Shoreline. Yet, the last two to go were abrupt and in many ways the hardest losses. The plans for their future, if any at the time, were vague.

Former site of The Guild 45th theater, Wallingford / The Evergreen Echo

The Guild 45th in Wallingford had a long, rich history as a neighborhood theater dating back to when it was the Paramount in 1921 before its closure in 2017. It was a unique setup with a pink building housing one screen. The second screen, added in the '80s, was just down the street with the original location of the Octopus Bar in between the two buildings. The interior style was old school with the auditorium dug into the ground instead of the modern tall stadium seating. The theater focused on indie and foreign films, but hosted the occasional repertory screenings.

There were attempts to save the theater. A group attempted to get it landmark status, but because of the alterations it had endured over the years, the building didn't qualify. Another theater group was in talks, but that was only that. In 2022, the last breath of the old movie house was exhaled and the two theaters were demolished. The current plan for the lot is a 70 unit, five story apartment building with retail below.

Former site of Seven Gables Theatre

The Evergreen Echo

The Seven Gables Theatre was a former American Legion hall before becoming a theater in 1976. Below the theater was Ristorante Doria, a cozy Italian restaurant, and south of that was Cinema Books, catering to neighborhood cinephiles and UW film students. It was a unique venue unlike any you may have encountered. At its one screen, there were two tiers, an upper and lower. The room was lit by a chandelier in the center and a cover over the screen had a stained glass-style scene on it. When it was showtime, the cover and the chandelier rose slowly and elegantly into the ceiling before deluminating. The building achieved its landmark status, but its owners let it fester. On December 24th, 2020, a fire of indeterminate origin gutted and demolished the structure. A fenced-off crater has stood in its place ever since.

A similar story began to play out downtown with the Seattle Cinerama. In February 2020, pre-COVID-19 lockdown, the theater's owners announced a closing and a laying off of staff to renovate the space. By May 2020, the Cinerama's owners had decided to close the theater for good. Just like in the late '90s when the theater was saved from being torn down by billionaire Paul Allen, SIFF was eager to step in and purchase the space to keep it going. In years-long negotiations, SIFF purchased the Cinerama and reopened it in December 2023, offering blockbusters, festival screenings, and repertory marathons in between. In both cases of the Cinerama being saved, it took a group within the city who cared about the history and property and valued a unique arts space.

In the case of the Guild 45th and the Seven Gables, people looked to outsiders and caretakers who had no real reason to invest. Often it is when we who love a place get involved that miracles happen. It is when we band against fickle, dollar sign-eyed landlords looking for the next tenant to gouge that those negative voices are silenced. It takes a lot of work, but it can be worth it.

Façade of Grand Illusion Cinema / Grand Illusion Cinema

As of now, The Grand Illusion Cinema is going to be closing its current doors early with the final shows on January 31, 2025. They are optimistic and determined to find a new home in the U District and are asking for donations in the meantime. They'll be partnering with organizations like the Northwest Film Forum for fundraising screenings as well. The Ark Lodge Cinemas is also asking for support in its effort to stay put and serve their community with a GoFundMe page with people chipping in what they can.

It may be that the only real way to completely solve the problem of the corporate landlord is to become your own. In Tacoma, The Grand Cinema (no relation to the Seattle theater) is a nonprofit, art house theater, and is doing just that. They've raised nearly all of the $5 million needed to purchase the building they reside in in order to preempt what looked like a sale of their building by its owners. 

Art spaces shouldn't be able to be snuffed out because yet another outrageously priced building is waiting to go up in that space. Seattle has been rebuilt so much that its sense of community is warped. Maybe the Seattle freeze is less about an aversion to new people, but an aversion to the idea that new people means something old and precious dies away to make room for them.