FAIRFIELD, CT — The show’s over for Fairfield’s only movie theater. Fairfield Cinemas has closed after 26 years in business.
The Showcase Cinemas-operated theater shut its doors in March due to the coronavirus pandemic before deciding in recent weeks not to reopen. Rachel Lulay, a spokeswoman for Showcase parent company National Amusements Inc., cited “business reasons” as the cause of the closure.
“The theater industry is going through some changes, even pre-COVID,” said Fairfield Community & Economic Development Director Mark Barnhart, who noted modern movie theaters must compete with streaming services. “It’s definitely an industry that’s very much in transition, and then, you know, the pandemic hit.”
The closure follows the shuttering of the nearby Showcase Cinemas in Bridgeport, which closed in February, according to Westfair. Plans are underway to develop a 300-unit residential complex at the Bridgeport theater’s Canfield Avenue site.
With both theaters closed, the nearest movie options for Fairfielders are the Bow Tie Cinemas theaters in Trumbull and Norwalk. Showcase Cinemas no longer operates any theaters in Connecticut.
Barnhart hoped the reopening of the Sacred Heart University Community Theater would help to fill the void left by Fairfield Cinemas, he said. The downtown building was closed for almost a decade before being purchased by Kleban Properties, which is leasing the space to Sacred Heart as a venue for film, performing arts and educational events. As of last month, the Sacred Heart theater was under renovation and expected to open in the fall.
Barnhart also speculated it is possible the Fairfield Cinemas location could be used as an entertainment venue of some sort in the future. Showcase had previously been in talks with a commercial broker to fill 40,000 square feet of open space below the theater in its 40 Black Rock Turnpike building, and the company will continue to work with the broker to market the site.
“There’s a number of possibilities there,” Barnhart said. “… I wouldn’t completely rule out some kind of entertainment space.”
The structure is a former manufacturing facility and is also occupied by BJ’s Wholesale Club.
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