Movie theaters, venues set to reopen
But county restaurants won’t expand capacity
Movie theaters, concert venues and outdoor performance centers in Anne Arundel County can reopen nextweek, county officials said Friday, but restaurants will not follow a new state order to ease limits on indoor dining.
Almost simultaneous announcements from County Executive Steuart Pittman and Gov. Larry Hogan Friday expanded reopening from coronavirus restrictions.
In a statement released by his office, Pittman said he met with health experts, his recovery group and reviewed safety protocols, before deciding to re open movie theaters and indoor performance centers and outdoor performance venues — though he cautioned the public to continue social distancing guidelines and wear facial masks. The theaters can open Sept. 25.
“Like all other openings, this one has the potential to increase the spread of coronavirus at a time when we must reduce case rates to meet the school reopening metrics set forth by the state,” Pittman said.
Anne Arundel County will not, however, follow Hogan’s decision to expand
“Our plan is to start from the outside in. We’ll begin with some outdoor front stairs concert, then we’ll slowly start transitioning into indoor theater when we know we can gather people safely.”
— Katie Redmiles, spokesperson for Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts
indoor capacity at restaurants to 75%. He made the announcement after visiting bars and restaurants in downtown Annapolis, where many have expanded onto the sidewalks and streets to accommodate diners while their indoor operations are limited due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He made no mention in his announcement ofwhat public health metricswere considered in making his decision.
News that theaters would be opening up nextweekwasmet with mixed reactions.
The manager of the Bow-Tie cinema at Westfield Annapolis praised the decision Friday. The company clashed with the county lastweek after starting to sell tickets after Hogan announced movie theaters could reopen, but Anne Arundel did not.
“We are very excited and we hope to be reopened and back on Friday,” Jason Baker said.
At Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, the 100 person limit is only a small portion of its 725-seat theater, spokeswoman Katie Redmiles said. Indoor performances might not make sense forMarylandHall yet.
“Our plan is to start fromthe outside in,” Redmiles said. “We’ll begin with some outdoor front stairs concert, then we’ll slowly start transitioning into indoor theater when we know we can gather people safely.”
Maryland Hall also has a smaller venue, the Bowen Theater, which Redmiles said could host performances for smaller audiences that could also be livestreamed.
“We’re glad to have new guidelines,” she said. “Now that we have them, we’ll be ready tomove forward.”
Chris Trumbauer, a top aide to Pittman, said the county could not immediately follow the governor’s orders. Restaurants will remain at a 50 capacity in Anne Arundel County and Annapolis.
When the governor announced that movie theaters and other indoor entertainmentcould reopen earlier this month, Anne Arundel was experiencing an uptick of cases, so it didn’t seem wise to allow more activities, Trumbauer said.
“The last thing we wanted to do was open something else up and add to that increased risk,” he said.
In the weeks since then, other jurisdictions have not seen clusters of cases associated with movie theaters. After a discussion with the county coronavirus workgroup on Thursday, the decision was made to go forward with reopening movie theaters, Trumbauer said.
Under the new rules, indoor movie theaters and outdoor venues can reopen starting at 9 a.m. Sept. 25. Both indoor theaters and outdoor venues can reopen to the public at 50% capacity, or 100 people, along with the necessary health safety guidelines.
The change came as a shock to Mary Ruth Cowgill, Compass Rose Theater manager.
She and artistic directorLucinda Browne thought they wouldn’t be able to start performances until January at the earliest. Still, they’ll need much longer than a week to be able to get a show up and running, Cowgill said. And she’s still not sure if it’s a good idea.
“One of our biggestworries is that 75% of our audience is 60 and over. We are really worried if they are going to be willing to come back even with masks and social distancing,” she said.
Cowgill and Browne are in the midst of planning a play to be livestreamed in October. If they decide to open up, Compass Rose will need to find a venue to perform for what is usually a 60-80 person audience. Without a permanent home, the company was putting on shows in hotels before the pandemic hit inMarch.
”We’re really going to have to think hard about whatwe’re going to do,” Cowgill said.