It’s time to raise the curtains and pass the popcorn. Park City Film is ready to debut brand new seating at the Jim Santy Auditorium atop the historic library building on Park Avenue. It took three weeks to demo and install the new seats. Executive Director of Park City Film Katy Wang said the project itself has been nearly five years in the making.
“We are expecting to open on time on Friday night and it is so exciting,” said Wang. “It's been a long time coming to get the seats in there.”
The goal of the renovation was to improve both comfort, thanks to ergonomic foam instead of springs in the cushions, and the viewing experience, by creating better sight lines throughout the theater.
“We’ve worked to offset the seats so you're looking between the seats rather than at the back of the seat in front of you. We have seats that are anywhere from 21 inches wide, which is what we had before, to 24 inches wide, and it's remarkably more comfortable,” Wang said.
People had asked about purchasing the old theater seats, but Wang said they were in such poor condition that it was best to recycle them with the new seat manufacturer.
The auditorium now has 424 seats, 22 fewer than before. The renovation added more accessible seating with new transfer arms and a total of six wheelchair spots.
Park City Film will reopen the theater this weekend with screenings of “Chevalier” on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 6 p.m. Wang said she hopes to get back into a pre-pandemic cadence of screenings inside the renovated theater as well as around the community. To that end, Park City Film is partnering with Summit County Health to host a free screening of “Charlotte’s Web” at the Coalville fairgrounds on Saturday afternoon.
A formal celebration to usher in the new and improved Jim Santy Auditorium is set for September.
“We didn't want to jinx ourselves by planning anything for this weekend, just in case,” Wang said. “But in September we're excited to bring in some fun films from the archives and really celebrate the joy of independent cinema and what Park City Film has brought to the community over the past 28 years, and bring our community together around film.”
For a full list of Park City Film screenings and events planned for the summer, visit: parkcityfilm.org.
