Reimagining a Classic
Phase II: Renovating the Balcony & Restrooms
In July and August 2024, the theatre will be closed for our phase II renovations, which will address the balcony and basement restrooms.
Balcony Renovations
The transformation of the balcony will be dramatic. Step one will be to demolish the projection booth and remove all of the old seats. The projection booth will be replaced with a much smaller, open-air booth in which our sound and lighting technicians will work. Thanks to the new booth’s smaller footprint, we will be able to add 27 new seats to the balcony! Additional balcony improvements will include new hardwood floors, new seats, and improved lighting. When finished, the balcony will have the same look and feel as the theatre’s beautifully renovated first floor.
Fear not, the loss of the projection booth doesn’t mean we will stop showing movies! We are going to purchase a new, $50,000 digital projector (our current projector is 10 years old and on its last legs) and insert it into the front of the balcony, which is hollow. The new projector will be as good if not better than our old projector, thus ensuring that we will still be showing movies for years to come.
Restroom Renovations
Our basement restrooms are being completely reimagined. Plans call for replacing the current, extremely cramped men’s and women’s rooms with up to seven private, single-person toilet rooms. This will nearly double the number of toilets we have. These toilet rooms will be unisex, meaning whoever is next in line gets the next toilet room (similar to our accessible, single-person restroom on the first floor). We are also pushing the facilities further into the basement, which will create a bathroom “lobby” and should greatly improve the flow of foot traffic in the restroom area. In addition to the toilet rooms, there will be four sinks outside the toilet rooms.
Adopt a Seat in the Balcony
The total cost to renovate the balcony and bathrooms is $600,000. To help fund the renovations, you can “adopt” a new balcony seat – we have 107 eager adoptees! The cost per seat is $600. If you missed out on our campaign for our first-floor seats in 2021, now is your chance to put your mark on a new balcony seat. You can help fund the renovation and have your name or business, a short message or sentiment, or the name of another person you wish to honor engraved on a plaque placed on a seat.
HOW IT WORKS
Complete this form to adopt your seat(s).
Soon after you submit the form, you will receive an email from Executive Director Andrew Smith that will have a pledge confirmation form attached. The form will contain all of the information you need to submit your payment and tell us what you would like inscribed on your seat plaque(s).
Please print that form, fill it out, and return it to the theatre with your check. Please submit your pledge within two weeks of receiving the pledge form.
We understand that sending us a check is slightly less convenient than making an online donation, but this helps us avoid paying exorbitant fees that the credit card companies charge the theatre.
To discuss a significant donation in support of Phase II renovations, including naming opportunities, multi-year pledges, and gifts in memoriam, please contact Executive Director Andrew Smith at andy@thenewtowntheatre.com or 267-884-6329.
The Newtown Theatre is a 501c(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Donations are tax- deductible to the full extent of the law.
Can’t adopt a seat but still want to help us fund the renovations? Please consider donating here!
A Successful Phase I
This second phase of renovations follows the theatre’s very successful Phase I renovations that were completed in the fall of 2021.
Those renovations transformed the theatre’s first floor and included new seats, a new hardwood floor, new paint, new acoustic panels, the addition of a sprinkler system, an expanded front porch with a wheelchair lift, and the addition of an ADA-compliant restroom on the first floor.
