Historic Grand Island theater still closed but not forever

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) - Despite being closed for nearly nine months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show will go on at the Grand Theatre.

Craig Hand, president of the Grand Theatre Foundation board, said the 83-year-old theater has been closed since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As businesses were starting to close and notices were being sent out about how contagious COVID-19 is, the board decided to “err on the side of safety” and made the decision to temporarily close.

Hand told The Grand Island Independent the board expected the closure to be “a lot more temporary than it has been.”

“We have had discussions about when to reopen, but Hollywood has pretty much made that decision for us,” he said. “It is very hard to get any new films that are any good because the major markets are all still closed. Until those open - mainly Los Angeles and New York - there will not be any really good films coming out. There will be an occasional one here and there, but we cannot really open it for that; we don’t want to try it right now.”

Hand said it also does not make sense for the Grand to show classic films as the theater has to pay a royalty to show them and it is likely that not many people would attend these screenings, making it impossible to pay the royalty and make a profit.

He said that, when the Grand reopens, it will follow COVID-19 guidelines, informed by health experts, from the National Association of Theatre Owners CinemaSafe initiative to determine how to do so safely.

“I think once the vaccine hits the streets and people can get immunized, then people will be more willing to come out and see movies,” Hand said. “I am hoping when that happens, the theaters in big cities like Los Angeles and New York also will reopen and we will have a good market where the good movies will start coming out again.”

He said being closed for nine months is depleting the Grand’s reserve funds but that it “will be fine.”

Right before the pandemic hit, Hand said, the Grand was about to sign a contract to put new seating in the theater. It was expected to be a $400,000 project, but because the contract was not signed, the Grand was able to save the money.

While the pandemic delayed the project, Hand said the Grand still plans to add new seating.

Hand said the Grand tried doing curbside concessions like other central Nebraska movie theaters during its closure, but “it didn’t work out so well.”

“We have done some interesting things at the Grand to help people with taking care of people,” he said. “We have made popcorn to take around to the police stations and the fire stations to give them a little treat here and there. We also had our volunteers here for a free movie showing where we have had everybody social distance to show them appreciation.”

Hand said that while the Grand may be closed temporarily, as its marquee states, “We’ll be back.”