SOUTH HADLEY –  Tower Theater in South Hadley is working hard to continue helping families find ways to enjoy themselves throughout the pandemic and throughout the summer months.

Stacey Velez, who serves as the director of development for the theater, explained the business reopened their doors during the summer of 2020. “We’ve been open a couple weeks since movie theaters were allowed to open back in July. We waited a couple of weeks, checked out a couple theaters and decided we could do that,” she said.

Prior to reopening their doors she said the theater had closed completely during March of 2020 and opted not to do virtual programming like some other theaters chose to do during that time. When they did reopen to the public she said the theater had “reduced hours and capacity.”

She said the capacity restrictions and limits they followed were those mandated by state guidelines. To help with social distancing and to safely allow for reduced capacity Velez said the theater removed “every other row of seating” and “put in table tops in place.” Additionally, she said they “increased our social distancing to more than the required six feet.”

During this time, concession sales were stopped completely and new movie releases were slow. The elimination of concession sales, she explained, was “very difficult” for the theater as “just like most theaters, most of the revenues come from concession sales.” However, she said the sale of food and drinks was once again permitted by the state in September. “Our concessions are pretty much the same, [there are] a couple we haven’t brought back because we don’t have the traffic to sustain it, but all of that is available except for a few specialty chocolates and stuff,” she said.

To combat the lack of new movies being released within the film industry, Velez said that they did second showings of movies such as “Jaws.” “When we opened there were not a lot of new releases to show. We did second showings, we did ‘Jaws’ in August,” she said. This has now changed as the film industry picks up again and new films are being released for the public to view.

“Now new movies are starting to be released again,” Velez said. The release of new movies has also contributed to an increase in business for the theater again after a slow start to their reopening, she said.

“Business was extremely slow throughout July, August and September. It’s only been in the last couple of months it’s picked up significantly,” Velez said. She said one of the contributing factors in an increase in business was the release of one of Disney’s newest films, “Raya and the Last Dragon.” She said while they “got a lot of people from that” film, she has seen regulars consistently coming in to continue watching movies throughout the reopening.

“Regulars have been coming in to see movies on a dedicated basis week after week. The general public has been cautious about re-coming out,” she said.

To keep both customers and staff safe, the theater is “following all safety guidelines.” She said while the capacity restrictions have slowly been lifted and increased, social distancing requirements have not, which limits what the theater can do. However, they would not yet put rows of seats back in as they were proceeding with caution.

“We haven’t decided to put every other row of seats back in yet, we’re waiting it out and would rather be a little cautious and slower to bring people closer together,” she said. “The industry is pushing for three-feet social distancing, but I don’t know if any states have granted that yet.”

In addition to social distancing, Velez said those visiting the theater were “required to wear masks at all times unless actually seated in the theater and eating or drinking concessions.” Overall, she said there have been no issues and she feels “people feel better seeing people wearing masks.”

As for summer movie releases she said the theater would feature the film, “A Quiet Place 2” and “Cruella,” in the coming weeks. “The movie slate is filling up for the summer,” she said, adding that the theater would continue to “watch the CDC and state” guidelines for guidance and to determine their next steps.