It could be a long summer for Silver City folks expecting to beat the heat by escaping into the dark environs of the Silco. The theater on Bullard Street will be closed for two months beginning in mid-to-late May while its owner, Mainstreet Silver City, continues its care and feeding of this grand old theater.
The Silco reopened in 2016 after an extensive renovation of the 103-year-old building. The present upgrades include renovations aimed at expanding its uses beyond showing movies.
Movie fans disappointed by the break will hopefully be consoled by the screening during the first two weeks in May of the highly anticipated blockbuster “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” says Silco programming manager Kim Ryan. “I expect a lot of people will be pleased to see it.”
And that works for Ryan, whose official title at MainStreet is “cultural coordinator,” but pleasing the people — all the people — is the real driver behind her programming picks.
When plans to restore and reopen the Silco were first announced in the early 2000s, “People wanted to know who the one-screen theater would be ‘for’," she says. "There was a lot of discussion about programming and that hasn’t let up.”
“It’s tough being a single screen,” Ryan acknowledges, “because sometimes two movies that people really want to see are overlapping. There’s a lot of rules around booking new movies, too. It’s not easy to show whatever you want whenever you want.”
Now playing
The original wish list of what the people wanted to see was a long one. Would there be Oscar-nominated, first-run movies like those available to larger demographics? Would there be matinees showing films appropriate for school kids? What about those who longed for an art house vibe, would their indie tastes be satisfied?
The answer was yes to all.
The theater shows first-run movies on the weekends, offers free matinees of age-appropriate films for students (courtesy of the Gila Regional Medical Center Beginning Years Program) on Wednesdays and Fridays, and on Thursdays, the venue is given over to the Silco Cinema Society with arthouse offerings from foreign films and science fiction classics to Hitchcock-era thrillers and Kurosawa masterpieces.
And Monday? The fare on Monday evenings could be anything selected from a full catalog of classic and well-loved films from “Back to the Future” to “It Happened One Night.”
The bottom line is always a concern in picking programming, but that works out okay, Ryan says, because “the movies that really keep us afloat are the first-run movies, which people are clear about wanting. Right now, we have ‘Super Mario Galaxy,’ and we’re selling out.”
The Silco averages about 920 visitors per month, Ryan says, but the theater is not self-supporting. “We need donations, we need community support to keep going. We’re lucky that we are a nonprofit, so we can accept donations and they are tax deductible for people.”
Summer to-do list
Mainstreet Silver City, and its connections to funding opportunities, is the Silco’s primary financial manager. It is funding this summer’s renovations through a $175,000 capital outlay grant from the state of New Mexico and a $100,000 grant from the Creative Industries Division of the New Mexico Economic Development office.
“We’re putting in a retractable screen,” Ryan explains, “which means the screen can raise up and down so that we can use the stage for performing arts. There’s quite a bit of space behind the screen, so they’re going to redo the flooring to be an all-wood floor. We’ll be able to accommodate theater performances and music, dance, or any of the performing arts and associated events.”
Additionally, beams will be installed in the ceiling to hold rigging for performances but purchasing the curtains and lights for that will have to wait until the next funding cycle.
There’s also a lot of conversation about expanding the concession stand offerings.
“Lots of ideas and choices on that,” Ryan says, but none that can be discussed as yet, including the possibility of the return of the hot dogs that old timers recall being served with a choice of red or green Hatch chilis.
One exciting development, however, is that when the venue reopens in August, concessions will include the sale of beer and wine (two-drink limit) during movies and events for the first time, thanks to a new licensing law exclusive to independent movie theaters passed by the state legislature last year
Ryan says the entire renovation to-do list will not be accomplished this summer.
“We won’t be able to get new curtains and new carpet and new seats until more funding materializes.” (There are 156 seats at about $50 apiece, if you’re feeling generous.)
Improvements to the sound system are also a priority.
“I get some complaints from mostly older members of the audience about inadequate sound,” Ryan says. “I run the projector sometimes, and we can’t push it into the red, but if somebody comes out and says, ‘Hey, will you turn it up a little bit?’, we will definitely do that.”
A grant to pay for a new projector and audio processor is pending, she says, and “we have a handheld listening device available for anyone who requests it,” adding that another possible solution would be to screen the first-run movies with a closed caption option on Sundays.
The Silco Theater is located at 311 N. Bullard St., Silver City. Call 575-956-6198 or see thesilcotheater.com for more information.
