New renovations and an updated menu have Okotoks Cinemas staff excited to welcome the community back to the theatre.

While shut down for several months, Okotoks Cinemas volunteers have been working hard to ensure the return to the theatre is a special one.

General manager Amber Wigg is passionate about the importance of having a local theatre.

"I think it's really important to keep a theatre in Okotoks, so much so that me and my family have donated a lot of volunteer hours to renovate."

A lot of work has been done renovating the lobby to prepare for their first showtimes on Friday.

New theatre seats are expected to be installed by mid-July.

"Okotoks Cinemas is going to be the place to see a movie. No need to go into the big city anymore for their comfy VIP seats because they're going to be right here in Okotoks."

They're also planning to be one of the recipients of the temporary patio program being organized by the town.

Wigg is excited to see the staff return to serving moviegoers as before.

"All of my staff are coming back after laying them off however long ago it was. All of them are coming back."

With capacity restrictions, Wigg says they'll be able to seat about 45 people per theatre and encourages customers to order their tickets online while seats remain.

With a new turbo oven, Okotoks Cinemas will be introducing some new foods to the menu.

"We're also introducing mixed drinks. So if you haven't tried, some people call it a dirty soda. Extra flavours in your pop, as well as some cream, create some really fun flavours."

During the shutdowns, they've been able to raise some funds through a drive-by popcorn pick-up and the advertising opportunities that they've made available for local businesses.

"We appreciate the popcorn sales, but it doesn't help pay rent for a building this size, so we've been taking advantage of government subsidies and things like that, and just scraping together the pennies that we get from those popcorn sales and anything that we can use to pay for renovation materials. And all of the labour is being done by volunteers."

 

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