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Salem Twin Cinema closes doors
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
SALEM
Salem Twin Cinema closed its doors this week, leaving the city without a movie theater.
The two-screen theater in a plaza on East State Street was slated to close at the end of the year, but the owners decided to close earlier because the projector broke and also because of problems with the heating system.
A sign on the marquee Wednesday read “Closed. Thanks for your patronage.”
Attorney Geoffrey S. Goll and his wife, Kim, of Salem have owned the theater for about 20 years. But they were planning to close it at year’s end because of the prohibitive cost of purchasing digital projectors.
The movie industry has been gradually phasing out film in favor of digital projection for several years. This is the last year that film is an option for theater owners.
Theaters and drive-ins throughout the country have been switching to digital projectors, with small, independent ones generally waiting until the last minute because of the high cost.
A spokesperson in Goll’s law office said it would have cost $120,000 to purchase two digital projectors.
Salem Twin Cinema was not a money-maker, but the Golls kept it open for years as a community service, often giving out free passes for students. The theater dates back to at least the early ’70s.
The final movies to play at Salem Twin Cinema were the animated Disney movie “Frozen” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”