In what will be welcome news to some of you and a horrifying development to others, Capitol Theatre announced this week that the two upstairs theaters will be receiving seating upgrades later this fall: Reclining, luxury seating will be installed thanks to a grant from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. Installation will take place between September and November.
The Capitol is nearing its centennial celebration in 2021, with a lead-in slowed and complicated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Cleveland Cinemas announced last week that the Cedar Lee and Chagrin Cinemas will reopen in time for the debut of Christopher Nolan’s Tenent. The other three locations, including the Capitol, will remain closed indefinitely, however.
“Like most Americans, I’m excited to get back to the movies,” said Cleveland Cinemas President Jon Forman, in a statement provided to the media. “The magic of the movies is something that brings us together in the most trying of times. While the current crisis is on-going we know that going to the movies is an important part of our culture and we have taken steps to make our cinemas as safe as we can for our patrons and staff.”
Those steps include social distancing markers in the theater lobbies, touchless purchase options and plexiglass dividers at the refreshment counter, significant reductions in auditorium capacity and spaced out movie showings to reduce the size of crowds in the lobby and to provide for more thorough cleaning.
This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 1, 2020.
