New dollar theater

Local movie enthusiast opens discount theater

With the loss of the discount theater in Lynchburg, one local man with a great love for movies plans on bringing a beloved pastime back.

After the closure of the Cinemark Movies 10 in Lynchburg, the area no longer had a discount movie theater.

RENOVATE — Venue Cinemas will replace the old discount theater in Lynchburg. Photo credit: Cassandra Hernandez

RENOVATE — Venue Cinemas will replace the old discount theater in Lynchburg. Photo credit: Cassandra Hernandez

Robert Harrison Jr. plans on opening up a brand new theatre, Venue Cinemas, in the Lynchburg Plaza Shopping Center off of Memorial Avenue.

Harrison has been a part of the Lynchburg community since he was a child and said he felt the area needed a discount theater.

“I have lived in the Lynchburg area all of my life,” Harrison said.

“My family would always take me to the discount theater, and I would take my Harrison is not a stranger to being seen in a movie theater or owning one. The movie theater has always been a large part of his life.”

“I worked in a movie theater from 1990 till 2001,” Harrison said. “I left the theater when I graduated with an engineering degree. The funny part is, my brother and I both met our wives in a movie theater.”

With the closure of Cinemark Movies 10, Harrison said many local friends and customers voiced concerns about not having a discount theater anymore.

He said that after hearing those concerns, he wanted to open a new discount theater in Lynchburg.

Harrison said he and his family share a love for the theater. They often go to the movies whenever they have a chance to spend time together.

“Seeing those big climactic movies like ‘Star Wars’ on the big screen makes a huge difference,” Harrison said. “I want to make sure people still have that chance, but at a reasonable price.”

When asked about how his theater would run, Harrison mentioned that prices would be low and they would use “second-run movies” to play in the theater.

“Venue Cinemas will mirror what the Cinemark 10 theater did here in Lynchburg,” Harrison said.

“The price per movie will be low to attract college students and people in the community to come out and watch. We are in the process of doing promotions and advertisements now to get the word out.”

Harrison also said the ticket price for college students would be $3 per movie.

“We want to keep that price low in order to see an influx of college students come to our theater,” Harrison said.

“We are looking into other discounts that we can try and give them as well. Harrison’s daughter Tristan said how excited she was to see one of his big dreams come true.

“It’s really awesome to say that my family, who loves movies, now owns a theater,” Tristan Harrison said. “People will walk up and just ask us a ton of questions, and we are able to advertise this way.”

According to a report from WSET, the theater will be opening in November.

Robertson is a news reporter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *