ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — After a long seven months of being closed, many movie theaters here in Western New York are officially able to reopen their doors today, with several restrictions and protocols from the state due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As long as the movie theater isn't in New York City, a cluster zone, or a place with a two-percent positivity rate on a two-week average, it was given the green light to reopen.
Click here to learn more about the guidelines from the state.
The Hamburg Palace Theatre is among those welcoming back movie lovers this weekend.
"I'm gonna be really excited to see the people come in,' said Todd Ruof, the manager at the Palace. He added, "As soon as we got the word that we could open up, I posted it on social media and a lot of people are just really excited and saying, 'Oh we're gonna come every week and we can't wait to support you guys again.' "
The Palace is starting off with showings of To Kill a Mocking Bird -- as a part of its 30 Days Of Free Films, what they describe as a 'thank you' to the community. It will feature a variety of different classic films.
View the lineup here.
Over at the North Park Theatre in Buffalo, the first featured attractions are Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The reopening of theaters brings a sense of normalcy but with safety still at the forefront.
Ray Barker, the program director of the North Park Theatre, told 2 on Your Side, "Social distancing is absolutely required as well as masks, and we will be seating people in a way that makes sure that they're socially distanced so that they can be in the auditorium safely."
Ruof said, "Obviously we're gonna adhere to all the COVID protocols. We'll all have masks. We'll all be social distancing. We have the glass barriers. We're gonna be blocking off some rows."
Governor Andrew Cuomo said theaters are limited to 25 percent capacity; no more than 50 people in front of each movie screen. However, both the Palace and North Park could typically seat around 600 people. So 50 for them is much less than 25%.
Barker explained, "It's very challenging. I think if you ask anybody, 'How would your life be without revenue for seven months?' That's a challenge and so when people come back and your revenue limited, that's another challenge on top of that. All we can hope is, get back open, hopefully, people will support us and hopefully over time the regulations will loosen a bit."
Overall the mood at both theaters is excitement and the people we spoke to are eager to welcome customers back this weekend.