For 30 years, the Downtown Centre Cinemas 7 has been a staple of the movie-going experience in San Luis Obispo.
“Personally, it's very important to my family,” said Bruce Sanborn of Sanborn Theatres.
The 100-year Sanborn family business is staying in San Luis Obispo with Bruce Sanborn, the operator of Downtown Centre Cinemas 7, agreeing to a lease renewal with landlord Jamestown L.P. for up to 20 years.
“I just think that it's a no-brainer that a small family business is able to continue in the arts in San Luis Obispo,” Sanborn said.
"We are thrilled to have Downtown Centre Cinemas continue to operate in downtown and make investments that the public will enjoy for years to come," said Greg Hermann, San Luis Obispo's Deputy City Manager.
Now, the real work begins with $2 million going toward improvements as soon as 2025. Replacing the worn and torn chairs and the sound system are top of the list.
“Replacing of the seats that were destroyed during COVID. That's number one," Sanborn said. "Then, upgrading of the sound.”
Even with the renovations, the theater will still be fighting an uphill battle with theaters nationwide still rebounding from the pandemic, streaming service releases and the recent writers' strike. According to boxofficemojo.com, the gross profit of theaters nationwide is almost $5 billion less than what it was in 2019 and down almost $2 billion from 2023.
“Change is happening in a really scary and sad way,” said Skye McLennan, Executive Director of the SLO International Film Festival. McLennan also helped usher in the new SLO Film Center which partners with and operates in the Palm Theater.
Film SLO CAL Film Commissioner Matt Halvorson explained that, “You really have to have a movie that people want to see in theaters,” requiring theaters like Downtown Centre Cinemas 7 and the Palm Theatre to adjust their strategies.
“It requires us to really promote why movie theaters exist and why that's a special moment,” McLennan said.
For Sanborn, lowering prices from $14.50 to $12 for an average evening ticket has been a strategy employed since the end of the pandemic to get more people in seats. He also said that re-introducing classical movies has been a cost-effective way to get more people to come to the theaters with far fewer theatrical releases now than in pre-pandemic times.
Meanwhile, McLennan and the Palm Theatre have been creating more events and interactions surrounding the movies they release in an effort to keep the tradition of going to the locally-owned theaters alive.
“It's on us to kind of explain and show just how fun and exciting that is and how unique it is to be in a room full of people crying and laughing together,” McLennan said.
Sanborn told KSBY that they’ll be offering parking vouchers for moviegoers who want to park at the parking structure across from the theater on Marsh Street during the day. Parking is free at the structure after 9 p.m. You'll be able to be reimbursed by the theater when you bring in your parking ticket.
