Towne Theatre gets major upgrade, ready to debut first-run movie for grand reopening

The reopening event at 6 p.m. Thursday, which is already sold out, is the debut of the blockbuster movie ‘IF’ starring B.C.’s very-own Ryan Reynolds, which will run for two weeks. That will include five shows a day through the long weekend. For ticket info, visit the Towne’s website.

“This is a real outlier,” Thurston said. “Independent cinemas like ours do not get first-run movies like this. The studio (Paramount) has taken a really big chance with us here, and we are really looking to impress the community with all of the fun giveaways and all of the great sound that we’ve got in here.”

About $225,000 in upgrades have been made to the inside of the theatre which dates back to 1929 when it was first used as a dance hall and then converted into a cinema in 1938.

“You will definitely notice the changes,” Thurston remarked. “We’ve changed out all the walls, we’ve changed the sound system for both our live and cinema sides. Our cinema side will be in 7.1 Dolby.”

Robyn Thurston from the Towne Theatre after its renovation (Vernon Matters video)

Thurston said the venue still has roughly the same number of seats, with capacity for 325 people.

The non-profit Okanagan Screen Arts Society runs the theatre after saving it from closure in 2021.

Funding for the renos came from the Regional District of North Okanagan, BC Gaming grants, Kalamalka Rotary and from the society’s fundraising.

“We’ve been very lucky. Our community stakeholders have provided a lot of extra things, not necessarily financial. For example, Benjamin Moore provided the paint for the space, so some of the donations were in-kind,” Thurston said.

Marquee is ready for the grand reopening May 16 (Vernon Matters photo)

Now that the venue is set up for live events, the society plans on hosting a number of different shows featuring music and comedy in addition to second-run movies and local programming.

Scott John from the society said a survey done for the Greater Vernon cultural plan showed one of the local culture gaps was a lack of live music venues, and a demand for more events in the downtown.

“So that drove us to invest heavily in the live music and we’ve got some great concerts and big names coming up,” John told Vernon Matters.

The society will be announcing the first act of its summer concert series this Friday (May 17) at noon.

John said a concert by Jim Byrnes and some other live bands last year saw “very strong” ticket sales.

“So it seems to prove that people really wanted this. We sure noticed what an economic driver it is for the downtown. Since we’ve closed, we’ve have businesses say they can tell the difference in their business when were not bringing a few thousand people downtown every month,” John remarked.

Thurston said the theatre can also been used for private events like weddings and funerals.

“This is a real multi-purpose space,” she said. “There isn’t really anything of this size capacity (in Vernon).”

Thurston, who was born and raised in Vernon and came back here in her 30’s, said the theatre resurrection has been a “passion project” for everyone in the society.

“We love this theatre. And we know that theatres like this, if somebody doesn’t take the reins and find new ways to bring life to them, they die off. We have examples of great historic theatres in the Okanagan that just aren’t open anymore as theatres.”

John said they try to keep their movie admission prices affordable.

“Some of that is driven by the distributors — we don’t have a lot of choice — but our concessions are half the price,” he stated.

Renovated Towne Theatre (Vernon Matters photo)

by Pete McIntyre

Towne Theatre gets major upgrade, ready to debut first-run movie for grand reopening

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