Not so Grand now: Theatre closes

The Walt Disney movie “Up” ends, and a woman and two young children stand to leave the partially filled theatre, spilling a handful of popcorn onto the carpet.

Some say it’s the best popcorn in southwest Iowa.

“I hear that from everybody,” Grand Theatre owner Julie Bolton said. “I have folks come by just for the popcorn.”

Not anymore.

After Thursday night, Red Oak’s only movie theatre is closed.

A 60-Year Run

While unsure of the exact opening date, Bolton has a good idea when the Johnson brothers first opened the Grand in downtown Red Oak.

“I had a guy come in the other night and he said he had been going here for 60 plus years,” Bolton said.

The former site of the Murphy Calendar Company, the single-screen theatre opened in the 1940s and was owned by several individuals since.

Bolton came on board as manager in 1986, after working as the concession stand manager at the Red Oak drive-in for three years before it closed in 1985.

After purchasing it in the late 1970s, Associated Theatres owned the building, before selling it to Bob Fridley.

Owning a rundown theatre without many of the standard amenities, Fridley decided in 1996 to close for a year for renovations.

However, he wasn’t going to foot the entire $200,000 remodeling project. He asked the community to contribute $50,000 in the form of pre-sold tickets.

“Fridley never thought they would buy that many tickets,” Bolton recalls. “The town did it in two weeks. He was surprised and made the comment to me he never thought he would have to reopen this theatre.”

But a year later, he did reopen it with an expanded lobby, remodeled bathrooms, surround sound, new carpet, and a new screen.

Despite the new amenities, Fridley still wanted out of the movie business, and Bolton purchased the theatre in 2001.

“He was just going to close it and I didn’t want to see the town lose the theatre,” Bolton recalls.

“Legally Blonde,” starring Reese Witherspoon, was the first movie Bolton showed at the theatre.

Beginning of the End

While the business wasn’t thriving, Bolton and the theatre were doing fine for several years.

Then the bottom fell out when ROMACH, which employed about 500 people, closed in 2007.

“That’s exactly when I started having financial problems,” Bolton said. “I was fine until then.”

The 182-seat theatre would only have, on a good night, 30 people in it, Bolton said. And that just wasn’t enough to pay the mortgage.

She took on a second job at a furniture store across the street, and a third at McDonalds just to make enough money to keep the theatre open.

“At some point, you have to say ‘this just isn’t worth it anymore,’” Bolton said.

While Bolton concedes innovations such as pay-per-view movies, DVD players, and movie subscription services through the internet and mail have cut into her business, she doesn’t mask her bitterness about losing money out-of-town.

“People still can afford to go to movies in Shenandoah and Omaha. Why can’t they come and support their local theatre?”

Up Next

Bolton said the theatre has been for sale for more than nine months, and beyond a handful of lookers, no one has made a serious offer for it.

She’s not especially optimistic anyone will.

There is, however, one thing she is certain.

“I would not reopen this theatre, ever,” Bolton states. “Its just got to the point, physically and mentally, I just can’t do it anymore.

“I love the theatre, and if somebody reopens it, I’d be here the night it opens. I’d even be willing to help them … show them how to run the projectors, or whatever. But I don’t want to be tied to the theatre again.”

Beyond her “regulars” who faithfully attended, Bolton said the younger children would be the ones who miss the theatre the most.

“The ones I really feel sad for are kids between the ages of 8-13 years old,” Bolton said. “They are the ones who it will hit the hardest. They can’t drive out of town, and it’s a big deal for them to be able to walk downtown with their friends and go to the movies.”

The Final Show

There was no fanfare for what may be the final movie at the theatre. Just your ordinary Thursday night, with an ordinary Thursday night crowd of about 25 people.

The popular Walt Disney movie illlicits a mixture of laughter from adults and children alike as it comes to an end.

Once it does end, a photo album depicts scenes from the film, along with key production credits.

After the album closes, line credits start rolling, accompanied by lively music, appropriate for the animated film, but still eerie considering the circumstances.

All of the seats in the theatre are now empty as the final credits roll.

All that’s left to witness them is that handful of spilled popcorn.

They say it was the best popcorn in southwest Iowa.