County of theater: Hardeman County
location of theater: 219 N. Main St. & Jefferson St., Bolivar
Theater built: 1948
Architectural Style: Art Deco
"BOLIVAR — Once a staple of the thriving downtown life in Bolivar, the Luez Theatre is reopening Friday after more than a year of renovations.
'"There used to be some old theater rules by the original owner Louise Mask," said Brad Grantham, manager of the Luez Theatre restoration project. "You couldn't hold hands or put your arm around your date, no drinks were allowed in the theater, and if the kids got too rowdy Louise would pause the movie and tell them to calm down before she resumed it."
"The Luez Theatre remained open until 2012, when every movie theater had to switch to digital. By then Louise no longer owned the theater.
"According to Grantham the owner at the time couldn't afford to put in a digital projector and had to close the theater down.
"It would have cost the theater $65,000 to put in a digital projector.
"Fortunately for Luez, in 2013 the Bolivar Downtown Development Corporation, or DevCo for short, bought the building for $125,000 to prevent it from being condemned and torn down.
"DevCo was created by the City of Bolivar to revitalize the downtown area. The corporation is given money each year through a sales tax rebate from the State of Tennessee. DevCo's board then decides how to allocate that money for different projects that help accomplish the goal of revitalizing the area.
'"To come here and see a horror film wasn't nearly as scary as if you turned on the lights and looked at the theater before it was renovated," said Darrell Teubner, co-chair of DevCo's committee on the Luez Theatre renovation.
"After purchasing the building, DevCo agreed to spend $250,000 to renovate the theater. They hired Grantham, who has a background in historic preservation and is on the Bolivar Historic Zoning Commission, to head up the project.
"Grantham was also able to secure another $190,000 in grants from various organizations. Teubner estimates that total cost for the project was about $615,000.
'"We're just trying to keep everything grand," Grantham said. "When people walk in, I want them to enjoy the entertainment but also look around (and) see this is someplace special. A lot of towns lost their old theaters."
"The original Luez Theatre opened in 1936 but moved in 1946 to its current location at the intersection of West Jefferson Street and North Main Street.
"The second location could seat close to 500 people but during renovations that number was shrunk down to 220 seats in order to put in more comfortable seating. The old theater had small, narrow seats common for the time period.
"Other renovations included adding a 21 and older luxury balcony seating, where the theater plans to serve food and alcoholic beverages once they're able to get their license.
"Grantham said he wasn't concerned about having the alcohol license for the grand opening this weekend. He wanted to get the theater open as quickly as possible. He thinks he'll get a license to serve alcohol sometime in January.
"Tickets for the balcony seating are $15. For lower level seating it's $8 for adults and $6 for kids and seniors.
"Grantham will be the theater's manager for the first two months but the theater is looking for a full-time manager.
"The theater plans to hire 10-12 part-time employees to run the concessions, ticketing booth and other positions around the theater.
"The concession stands, ticketing booth, interior wall and most of the outside Art Deco siding were all refurbished to give the theater its original feel.
'"If the theater ended up just breaking even, I think it would still be a positive for downtown Bolivar, because of the people it would bring to the area," Grantham said. "The downtown is right on the cusp of a big growth and I think the theater could be the fire to ignite Bolivar."
"The first showing at Luez Theatre will be "The Grinch" at 7 p.m. Friday.
"Grantham said for the first few months the theater will only show G-rated movies to attract families. Luez Theatre will have showings each week on Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night and matinees on Sunday." ~ Jacksonville Sun, by Adam Friedman, December 13, 2018