Rome’s big screens staying dark but ‘We will be back’
♦ The Movies at Berry Square and Rome Cinemas will hold off on reopening.
The vice president of Village Theatres — consisting of the Movies at Berry Square and Rome Cinemas — said they’re going to wait a little longer before reopening.
“While Georgia has been granted permission to open movie theaters under certain conditions, the movie theatre industry is also a national one,” said Robin Miller, vice president of operations, in an emailed statement. “Until the majority of theaters in the U.S. are open and new wide release movies are available, we have decided to push our opening date out for a few more weeks.”
Gov. Brian Kemp recently lifted several restrictions in a statewide order that allows restaurants to resume dinein service, and permitted hair salons, tattoo parlors, movie theaters and bowling alleys to reopen. The order also bars local governments from imposing their own restrictions.
The order puts those decisions in the hands of local businesses, like Village Theatres.
“We all are very eager to open back up but the safety of our employees and patrons is what matters the most,” Miller said. “When we do open up it will be with strict cleaning protocols. We will be practicing social distancing, meaning that our auditoriums will be seated at half of their capacity, and our employees will be retrained to the new norm on how to perform their jobs.”
Miller asked that their patrons bear with the company and said they would open as soon as possible.
“Please keep check on our website romemovies.com for information on our reopening date,” she wrote. “We will be back.”
Kemp has said it’s imperative during the COVID-19 health crisis response to also mitigate deep economic suffering across Georgia. The state Department of Labor last week reported that 1.1 million workers — about onefifth of the state’s workforce — filed for unemployment since the crisis started.
Last week the governor issued a new executive order instructing people 65 and older — as well as those with medical conditions and residents of nursing homes and other care facilities — to stay in place through at least May 13.
But the governor said he was still examining data and consulting with Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey about what rules should apply to others.
Movie theaters in other states are also working through the same issues.
A large chain in Texas has also made the decision to stay closed as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday said that movie theaters would be able to open as soon as this weekend.
One of the state’s major theater companies, Alamo Drafthouse, had a clear message to patrons: “We will not be opening this weekend.”
The Austin-based chain, which operates about 40 locations in multiple states, said the company needs more time to create new procedures and retrain employees to keep them and guests safe.
That means the company won’t be opening anytime soon, despite the governor’s permission for certain businesses to resume as long as they maintain 25% capacity.