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A Message From the Rio Theatre

 

 

RIO THEATRE OWNERS RESPOND TO MOVIEGOERS: NO! The theatre is NOT closed permanently due to pandemic virus as so many other businesses are. 


Dear Friends In The Media, We would like you to help inform our community where we stand on re-opening of the Rio. We have so many of our dedicated customers that would like to have a night out or a place to take their children to forget about the virus, so we wanted to give everyone a little insight as to why we haven’t re-opened. We have been given clearance to open by the state, in a limited capacity, 50%, but we are finding out that most people are still not comfortable even with social distancing in a movie auditorium watching a movie with others, not knowing their health situation. Since the film companies know that fact, they are still holding back on releasing any new movies at this time.

 

Most of the new releases for this year have been pushed to late July or even later. When the movie studios have invested millions of dollars in making a movie, they want to be assured that when they release it to the theatres, it is going to pay them back on that investment. When the theatres have a limited capacity from which to operate, it’s difficult to give the studios what they require and also make a profit for the theatre. The larger cities are the ones that are still trying to figure out how to open with several auditoriums and no movies to play, so until they are able to get movies to fill the screens, we all have to wait. There are still some states that have not allowed their theatres to open at all. States like California and New York that have a high number of theatres with multiple screens, it presents a problem. Playing older movies seems like it would be an option to give everyone a chance to get out of the house, but it is really hard to get the public to pay for a movie that they can watch for free on TV.

 

Unfortunately at this time, as much as we would love to see our valued customers and also generate an income, with no new movies from the film companies, it is just not feasible. We want to make sure that when we do re-open, it will be in a safe environment for everyone as well as our staff. During this time of being closed, we have been doing maintenance work and cleaning inside the theatre and making sure everyone will be safe when they come back. We are also facing a problem on the Center Downtown Square, with the streets being closed for the facelift it is getting. We already have a parking issue on the square and having our streets closed for such a long period of time has created a hardship on the “mom & pop “ businesses that are struggling to make ends meet.

 

Hopefully when we get some new movies, we will be able to have parking that is convenient for our customers to park. We definitely do believe there is a pent-up demand for people to be able to get back out in the world and live our lives normally, but we don’t think right now is the proper time. We ask that you please understand that we are doing what the film industry allows when it is safe and the time is right for everyone to stay well. We miss every one of our supporters more than you know and thank you for being patient with us during this difficult time. Please pray for the families that have had to endure more than a financial loss at this time, because losing our loved ones or seeing them suffer with this devastating illness is more than we can imagine. 

 

Thank you for your support, Mike and Nita Adkison, Owners Rio Theatre Center, Tx. 
 

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