Blockbuster news: Blind River movie theatre reopening

BLIND RIVER – The once popular Blind River movie theatre is expected to reopen in September if an upgrade in equipment is completed.

The Alain Auditorium was constructed in partnership with the Town of Blind River and the Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario when that school was built. An agreement allowed the town to have priority over other groups in the community for use other than the Board.

In 2010, council authorized a movie theatre to be erected in the facility under an agreement with the board and tender out the management of the service to Alex and Debbie Solomon.

The movie theatre agreement stopped when Alex Solomon passed away in 2021 and the town has been looking for a new operator. It appears to have found one.

Brad Beemer will be taking over the theatre operation under the name Maple Cinema.

“We are very excited to have this service return to our community,” Blind River CAO-clerk Katie Scott said at the town's Monday council meeting.

Beemer reportedly has ties to Blind River and saw the need for the theatre to resume operation.

Council decided Monday to transfer $20,000 from a reserve to cover the cost of the equipment and other associated upgrades with hopes of a completion for a September reopening.

“We hope to have everything installed for a September kickoff,” Scott said.

Scott said council will get a full report with the funding approved to cover current and future costs associated with reopening.

Council also decided to renew the agreement between the town and Maple Cinema to run from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, 2025.

Town Chamber of Commerce president Garnet Young said earlier this week that he was looking forward to a reopening of the theatre which on movie night attracted many people to local restaurants and shopping opportunities while they were waiting for their favourite movie to be shown.

The theatre would be the only one still operating along the North Shore.