BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The cinemas in Inez reopened Friday for the first time in almost two years with “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Downton Abbey: A New Era” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.”
“I’m very excited to be able to help provide this opportunity for our kids to have a safe space to hang out, a way that local families can get out and enjoy an evening without having to travel an hour or more,” Movies on Main manager Logan Fitch said.
Enthusiasts lined up to see the newly released movies over the weekend.
“Everything went well this weekend,” said Fitch. “I think we sold over 250 tickets.”
Now dubbed Movies on Main, the cinemas had two showings both Friday and Saturday nights and two matinees Sunday.
The former Main Street Cinemas closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, the Martin County Public Library District leased the Roy F. Collier Community Center that houses the cinemas in July 2021.
In March, the Martin County Fiscal Court voted to provide $28,600 in ARPA funding to the library district to use for equipment to reopen the cinemas. Judge/Executive Colby Kirk told the fiscal court that the theater would create 5-7 part-time jobs.
Kentucky Farm Bureau also donated $5,000 to benefit the theater reopening.
New management, leaders, and KFB representatives gathered at the theater for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday.
“I’m excited that new movies are back in Martin County,” Judge Kirk said during the ceremony. “I can’t think of a better use for some of our American Rescue Plan dollars than to bring this space back to life. I’m really excited to support it and see its continued growth.”
According to Fitch, two of the four cinemas can accommodate 200 people, another can hold around 75, and the smallest house can fit about 50 occupants.
“We will have new releases typically every week depending on what comes out,” said Fitch. “I really hope people of our county and surrounding counties will consider coming to our theater because, in general, we just have a great theater and will have some great movies to choose from with great prices.”
Ticket prices are $8 for adults, $5.50 for children, senior citizens and veterans, and $7 for students.
Hours are 7 p.m. Thursday, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday. The 9 p.m. movie start time on Fridays and the 7 p.m. time on Saturdays will depend on the length of the movies. See listings in this edition of the Mountain Citizen for more details. Follow Movies on Main on Facebook.