The two Cineplex theatres in Guelph will reopen Friday (March 26) with physical distancing, enhanced cleaning measures and reduced capacity, but a local independent theatre will not be opening its doors.
Only 50 guests will be allowed in each of the Cineplex buildings to comply with public health orders, said Jon Abram, general manager of Galaxy Pergola. The theatres are allowed to open once again now that the local health unit is in the Orange Level.
Abram suggests purchasing tickets online before heading to the cinema because of the low number of people allowed in the building at a time.
The two Guelph cinemas join other Cineplex locations opening Friday in North Bay and Orangeville. They will join eight other Cineplex locations across Ontario that have already reopened.
The two Guelph Cineplex cinemas had been open for about four months before closing in November because of the province's lockdown due to the second wave of the pandemic.
“We are very excited to finally welcome everyone back and very busy," said Abram of Friday's reopening. "We can’t wait to get our guests in the door."
Each cinema building will be limited to 50 guests. At Pergola Commons that means only four of the auditoriums will be open, with 10 to 15 people per screen.
Guests will be spread out throughout each auditorium, said Abram.
"The way the auditorium is layed out you can’t sit within six feet of another group of people, so we have lots of measures in place to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep us in Orange or better," said Abram.
Playing Friday will be the movies Nobody, The Croods: A New Age and Tom and Jerry.
Those films will set the stage for the opening next week of what would likely be a blockbuster movie in a traditional year.
“Starting Wednesday we are very excited for Godzilla versus Kong. That will be a big one for us," said Abram.
A strict cleaning regimen is in place, said Abram, as well as contact tracing and physical distancing.
“We want to assure everyone that we are doing everything to ensure they have a safe and comfortable visit," said Abram.
The Bookshelf Cinema in Downtown Guelph will not be reopening yet for a number of reasons, said The Bookshelf owner Ben Minette when reached by phone on Friday.
"We would like nothing better than to open the doors," said Minett.
The bookstore portion of the business is keeping the other parts afloat for the moment, said Minett, but there are no current plans to reopen the cinema.
"We just wouldn't want there to be an outbreak in the cinema because it is a higher-risk behaviour," said Minett.
