HOULTON, Maine — It has been one of the most talked about transitions for longer than Temple Theatre owner Mike Hurley can remember.
But the digital transition is now complete at Houlton’s sole movie house as the Temple Theatre finished its upgrade from 35 mm film to digital projectors. The business reopened Friday to one of its largest crowds in recent memory.
“I had hoped to avoid the whole digital thing, but it just wasn’t possible anymore,” Hurley said. “I thought we would have had this done months ago, but I am just glad it is done and it looks and sounds terrific.”
Hurley said the last two months of lining up all of the pieces for the transition was “intense.”
“We had to bring in a digital theatre guy from Seattle to get us up and running,” he said. “It’s all pretty amazing.”
Removing the old equipment went as expected, said Patrick Blanchette, theater manager.
“I don’t think any of us were fully prepared for how much stuff we had in every corner of this building,” he said. “There were parts on those projectors that were built between 1918 and 1938.”
The conversion to digital would have been extremely costly had Hurley decided to finance it all on his own. The cost to upgrade was estimated at about $60,000 per screen for new equipment. But then, as fate would have it, Disney made a pair of used digital projectors available.
“Out of the blue, last spring, we were offered some used digital projectors by Disney, and thanks to Southern Aroostook Cultural Arts Project for providing a non-profit pass-through that made that important donation possible,” Hurley said.
Getting the two projectors was just one piece of the makeover, however. Hurley still had to invest a considerable amount of money for the all-new sound system and the computerized programming system to store the movies.
“The projectors were just a small part of the total expense,” Blanchette said.
The sound system received a major upgrade with the installation of 17 surround sound speakers in each cinema, along with subwoofers to provide a more immersive sound experience.
With the transition, ticket and concession prices have gone up slightly. An adult ticket now costs $8, while seniors over 65 are now $6.50 and children 12 and younger are $5.50. Matinee prices are also $5.50 for all ages.
Hurley said if he could have continued showing movies on 35mm film, he would have, but getting copies of movies was proving increasingly difficult.
“In this business, people do not go to the theatre, they go to the movie,” he said. “If you have the movie they want, they go.”
The theater business has operated since 1918 and there have been many owners and operators during that timeframe. The theater remains for sale, as Hurley states it has been his goal since he purchased and restored it to sell the cinema to a local resident.
For the 11th straight season, the Temple is offering its “Free Family Holiday Film Series.” The series offers free showings of films throughout the holidays thanks to corporate sponsors paying for those shows. For more information on the theater, visit www.templemovies.com or visit them on Facebook.
