The three-screen Bronxville Theater on Kraft Avenue, which owner Bow Tie Cinemas was forced to close in March 2020 because of Covid, is due to be reopened by the nonprofit Picture House Regional Film Center.
The film center has been operating in the former Pelham Picture House at 175 Wolfs Lane in Pelham and now plans to expand its reach through the addition of the outlet in Bronxville.
The film center has arranged a 10-year lease with Bow Tie for the Bronxville facility and does not anticipate that renovations will be required.
Laura deBuys, president and executive director of The Picture House Regional Film Center, said that the organization and Bow Tie worked for about six months to make the reopening possible.
“Our nonprofit was formed in 2003 when the Pelham theater was scheduled for demolition. It seems so fitting that with the expansion to Bronxville we can rescue another 1920s theater and further our mission at the same time,” deBuys said. “We”™ll be extending Picture House programming to the Kraft Avenue location, exhibiting a wide array of films as we entertain, educate, and build community around a shared love of art.”
Ben Moss, CEO of Bow Tie, which is based in Ridgefield, Connecticut, said, “As a four-generation family-owned company understanding the significance of movie theaters to local communities, we as much as anyone wanted to find a way to keep movies alive and well in Bronxville.”
Bronxville”™s Mayor Mary Marvin is credited with starting the ball rolling to reopen the theater when she notified the Bronxville community that Bow Tie might not be able to reopen the theater and asked for suggestions on what could be done to preserve the venue.
“When we learned that the Bronxville movie theater was in danger of not reopening post-pandemic, we immediately put a call out to the community for a creative solution to keep the theater alive,” Marvin said. “We then heard that The Picture House Regional Film Center might be a possibility and we were absolutely thrilled. The way The Picture House brings communities together around film and cultural discourse is exactly what we were hoping for in Bronxville. We have no doubt that having a Picture House location here in Bronxville will not only strengthen our community culturally, it will also help attract more people to eat, shop and visit our downtown.”
The Bronxville Theater opened in September of 1926, and at that time had a single screen and a seating capacity of more than 1,100. It was remodeled in 1960. In 1980, former owner United Artists Theaters divided it into three auditoriums.
The Business Journal was advised that the film center hopes to reopen the doors of the Bronxville Theater in February.
