Film bargain arrives in Meadville

The former Meadville Cinema, located at 960 Park Avenue, closed for more than three years and reopened this weekend as a second-run theater named the Park Avenue Cinema.

"I would say the opening was pretty decent. I was happy with it," said Jon Horning of Kent, Ohio, president of Park Avenue Theatre LLC. "Friday we had at least 600 people and Saturday we had around 850 people."

Friday was the theater's first showing since April 2006. The Theater is offering second-run movies at $3.75 a seat for evening shows on the theater's three screens, and $2.75 for Saturday and Sunday matinees.

The prices are a bit higher than the other bargain theater in the area, the Millcreek 6 in the Millcreek Mall complex.

It is, however, significantly cheaper than the prices at first-run movie theaters such as Tinseltown and the Movies at Meadville in nearby Vernon Township, where adult evening tickets are $8.

The theater did offer free admission for this opening weekend as a promotion to anyone with an original ticket flyer that was available at various Meadville locations.

The theater has undergone some major renovations since its closing. Movie screens have been replaced in three theaters (the fourth coming soon) offering a sharper picture, seats have been upgraded in three of the four, and the sound system also has been improved to include digital sound in two of the theaters. Upgrades of the ventilation system and lobby area are in progress also.

The theater will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, with matinees Saturday and Sunday; a staff of six part-time employees has been hired.

"We are only open those three days for now, we'll see how things go and possibly add days from there," said Horning. "In the future I would also like to introduce a college I.D. night."

According to the Meadville Tribune, in addition to bargain movies, the theater is exploring the possibility of showing vintage films, said Nancy Manning, Park Avenue Cinema's general manager. The theater also plans to offer birthday packages; fund-raising packages for nonprofit, school and civic groups; and rental of its theaters, she said.

According to goerie.com the current economy makes it a tough time to open any business, particularly when the unemployment rate has hit 11 percent in Crawford County and 9.9 percent in Erie County, but it is because the times are tough that theater owner Jon Horning, who bought the empty theater in May 2007, feels the region is ready for a business like his, said Manning.