Ed Steele
Audio By Carbonatix
Movie theaters may be open again, but the effects of the coronavirus shutdowns have caused permanent setbacks to cinemas. Just this year, North Texas saw its last “dollar movie” theater close its doors.
The Alamo Drafthouse DFW chain announced it will not reopen its North Richland Hills location. The theater has been closed for more than two years, and the owners have filed for bankruptcy for three of Alamo theaters, including North Richland Hills, Richardson and Lake Highlands, according to a statement released by the movie theater chain.
The company filed its claims in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas on Feb. 25, according to court records.
The petition regarding the North Richland Hills location states that “certain financial difficulties being suffered by the Corporation and the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus” contributed to its decision to make the filing.
The statement released by the Drafthouse also says that the inability to obtain modifications to its lease at the location caused them to cease operations at the North Richland Hills locations.
The other two locations under bankruptcy protection are still open as well as the Cedars and Las Colinas Drafthouse theaters. Further court filings included first-day motions to allow operations to continue “ensuring, most importantly, that employee wages and benefits are paid without interruption, gift cards and season passes are honored at all locations and that there is no interruption whatsoever for our film-loving guests,” according to the statement.
“It will also be business as usual with no interruption for the theaters in Richardson, Tex. and Lake Highlands (Dallas), Tex.,” the statement reads.
The national corporate owners of the Alamo Drafthouse chain filed for bankruptcy in 2021 almost a year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in a Delaware bankruptcy court, which did not affect the DFW chain since it operates as a separate entity under the Drafthouse brand name.
The North Richland Hills theater is the latest movie theater to close up shop as movie theaters attempt to bring people back to the movies after two years of limited public access. The Hollywood USA Movies 15 theater in Garland owned by Cinemark also closed after 30 years in operation, and the building has since been leveled.
