Cinemas reopen as province prepares to enter Stage 2

By Tim Kalinowski on June 10, 2021.

Herald photo by Tim Kalinowski - After six months, the Galaxy Cinemas Cineplex Lethbridge is finally set to reopen to patrons on Thursday as the province prepares to enter Stage 2 of the reopening plan.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com

The Galaxy Cinemas Cineplex in Lethbridge will be opening once again this week to offer a big screen experience to local residents.
“We have been closed for six months,” says Galaxy Cinemas Lethbridge general manager Warren Nagurny. “Obviously, we want to make sure everyone is safe and everyone is doing what they need to do. We want to be in compliance with that. That being said, being at the movie theatre is a safe place. There has never been at this point that we know of any confirmed case of COVID through any movie theatre.”
There will be a few changes in the way tickets can be reserved since the cinema was last open, confirms Nagurny.
Theatres will still be at only 30 per cent capacity to begin with, but local movie goers will be able to book the seats they want in the house, and, once reserved, those seats will be automatically bubbled within the computer to maintain social distancing requirements so no other patron can buy tickets too close. This will offer more seating choices to customers than was previously offered prior to the Galaxy closing back in December, says Nagurny, while maintaining all public safety protocols.
Nagurny says some more good news for movie lovers is come this fall the array of blockbuster movies coming out of Hollywood, many of which had been held up by studios for the past two years, will make this one of the best cinema seasons ever. He is hopeful the theatre capacity requirements will be lifted later this summer to allow more people to come out and see these much hyped movies.
“It was kind of beneficial the way that it happened; that Hollywood delayed opening some of these bigger films until more theatres were opened,” Nagurny says. “It allows us to get things in place so when we do reopen, we will be able to maximize the viewing.
“There is something about the experience of a theatre that just doesn’t compare,” he adds. “We are very excited some bigger films are coming out closer in the third and fourth quarter, for sure.”
Nagurny says the Galaxy will also have some great film offerings this week starting on Thursday, and continuing into the weekend. Check out the Galaxy Cinemas Lethbridge website for more details.
“We are really excited to be back,” confirms Nagurny. “We are really thrilled all the employees are coming back we haven’t seen them in quite a while. So they are thrilled to be back. We have had a lot of interest from our guests asking ‘Have you heard when you are opening? Do you know when you are going to reopen?’ So we are really thrilled ticket sales are already bigger than we thought they were going to be.”

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