The theater inside of Yard Birds Mall closed its doors for the second time in less than a year, after a six-month trial to test the viability of showing English movies with Spanish subtitles.
“It turned out to be challenging,” said Scott White, owner of Cinema 3 Theater. “It was a bold move, but it didn’t go as we would have hoped.”
White cited the current economic conditions as the main culprit behind the closure this time. Previous owner Daryl Lund closed the theater in March, after the opening of the 10-screen Midway Cinemas at the nearby Lewis County Mall.
Attempting to resurrect the theater and appeal to a larger audience, White turned the movie venue into the only theater to show first-run movies with Spanish subtitles in the state.
But the crowds White was anticipating never came.
“Right now people are more concerned about spending money on food rather than entertainment,” said Bob Gilbert, manager of the Yard Birds Mall.
Between viewing and ordering movies on the Internet, the new theater and the relative inexpensive cost of renting movies, Gilbert said operating a small theater is an “extreme struggle.”
“Why pay $7 for a bucket of popcorn when you can get a meal with that money?” Gilbert said. “(Theaters) are pricing themselves out. Money is becoming to hard to get for a family of five to go to the movies.”
Gilbert said they will look at other methods to generate revenue from the recently remodeled three-screen cinema.
“It’s closed as far as Cinema 3,” he said. “But we’re not dead in the water. … we’re looking at different options.”
He said the movie theater will be open to public and private events. He said a Oregon film producer has already contacted him showing interest in holding an independent film festival at the theater.
“In this survivalist economy, you have to think out the box,” Gilbert said.
Marqise Allen: (360) 807-8237
