York Town News
After 78 seasons in the sun, the York Beach Cinema's days grow short
By Jennifer L. Saunders
The York Beach Cinema is one of only a handful of movie theatres left that use their projectors to show films. Above, Cinema Manager Troy Williams explains how the 1928 Peerless Magnarc projectors use carbon rods to light the theatre's screen from the projection room.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK BEACH - When Troy Williams closes the doors at the historic York Beach Cinema after the final showings of Labor Day weekend, he's not expecting to open them again.
That's because plans have moved forward for the demolition of the 19th-century building on Beach Street to make way for a new multi-use commercial building/function hall.
Williams, who attends college in pursuit of a degree in business, has managed the cinema for the past two seasons, after working alongside Bill Davies for the three years preceding the death of the man affectionately known as "the mayor of York Beach" in March of 2005.
"I learned so much from him," Williams said, adding, "I was lucky enough to always ask a lot of questions of Bill. He knew how to run the place really well."
Williams has worked to carry on Davies's tradition of keeping the lights on, the candy counter stocked - yes, such favorites as Junior Mints and special treats like Junior Caramels are there along with the classic movie popcorn - and the projectors flicking for residents and visitors alike who want to see the latest movies while capturing the ambience of that old-time theatre experience.
"It's been a movie theatre since 1928 and before that it was an opera house," Williams explained, standing in the foyer of the orange-and-white striped building.
Williams said he has discussed the building's history with members of the Old York Historical Society, including Librarian Virginia Spiller, in the hope of gathering as much information as possible in what is expected to be the final season of the cinema. Before its use as an opera house, he said, he has been told the building was used as an ice house in the 19th century.
With just one month remaining before the theatre is projected to close forever, Williams said he hopes locals who remember the York Beach of days gone by, along with visitors to the area and residents who have never stepped foot inside the York Beach Cinema, will come to experience this rare piece of movie history.
"We're one of only five theatres in the country that uses our projectors," Williams said, describing the vast changes to movie theatres in the age of technology.
And the cinema's two Peerless Magnarc projectors date from the building's transformation into a movie theatre back in 1928. To show a movie at the York Beach Cinema is a full-time job for the projectionist, Williams said, as reels must be changed - 11 in all for a movie like the hit "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," showing Thursday evening, Aug. 3, at the theater. Then there are the carbon rods that must stay lit and the heat of the projectors, which must be monitored to remain within an optimum range.
"You've got two carbon rods like a welding system lighting our screen," Williams said, showing the components of one of the two the 78-year-old projectors. "You have to be a mechanic to run these things."
Today, he said, most young movie-goers have no idea the work that goes into showing a film in this way.
"They're used to just dropping a DVD in and pushing play," he said. "This is hard work for the projectionist. You have to stay here the whole time. It's reel to reel. If there are six reels for a movie, that's six switches."
In the floor of the projection room, located at the rear of what was once balcony seating dating from the building's days as an opera house, is a small oblong door. Williams smiled as he pointed this out.
"This was the fire escape," he said, the way out in days of old, if a fire should spark in the cramped quarters of the projection room.
And, he said, the fire chief could refuse to allow an individual to serve as projectionist in those early decades of the cinema if he was too big to fit through that hatch.
The theatre currently seats about 300 on the lower level. In its heyday, there were up to 500 seats downstairs and another 200 in the balcony above. And, Williams said, those seats would be filled as this was one of the only forms of entertainment individuals and families could easily access.
The death knell for theatres like the York Beach Cinema is due in part, Williams suggested, to the onslaught of the technical age, the easy accessibility of DVDs, electronic games and computers.
And, he said, in a town with a significant population of upper-income families and individuals, there are even homes with their own theatres. That combination - and years where some of the movie offerings have been less than stellar - has made the tradition of seniors, teenagers and families flocking to the cinema a thing of days gone by, he said.
Then, too, there is the cost associated with running a theatre of this kind, Williams noted. Shipping prices of movie reels can be prohibitive, he said, so the York Beach Cinema tries to organize its showings with the nearby Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit and another projection theatre in Bar Harbor to reduce costs of canisters that can weight upwards of 50 pounds each.
As a local resident with strong familial ties to York, Williams said he will miss this part of York Beach's history and hopes that residents will come by in these final weeks to reminisce by watching a movie or to take in a flick here for the first time.
Williams thanked the theatre's owners, too, for being willing to update the projectors to include digital readers for sound to allow the past two summers of movies to be shown as the former system was obsolete.
"This theatre was designed to show silent movies," he explained.
Williams acknowledged there has been talk of closing the theatre in past years, but he said this time it seems clear the cinema will not reopen.
The town's Planning Board granted preliminary approval for the Union Bluff project to raze the theater in and replace it with a multi-use commercial building back in January.
The building, which is owned by the nearby Union Bluff, is in need of work, Williams noted, but the character of places like the York Beach Cinema are few and far between - and when new releases are shown in this theatre, the energy and enthusiasm of the crowds cannot be beat.
"You don't find people cheering and standing up to applaud at the end of a movie in most theatres," he said. "The audiences that come here can tell you it's not a regular movie theatre."
Town Planner Steve Burns confirmed last month that a final application has been received for the project, but has not yet been reviewed. The plan is not scheduled for the Planning Board's next meeting on Aug. 10.
Williams said he hopes the owners consider including a movie theatre as part of the new project. He said he is grateful for the years he has had to learn about and work in the cinema, for the lessons from Davies, and for the opportunity the current owners provided to keep the cinema open a few years longer than many in town expected.
With just over four weeks left in the 78th and final season, Williams said he wants to share this part of York Beach's history with as many people as possible before the doors close after Labor Day weekend.
And if his film booker can make it possible, Williams hopes to offer a classic as part of the final week of shows at the York Beach Cinema.
The coming attractions at the York Beach Cinema are listed weekly in The Independent's Dining and Entertainment Guide. For more on the cinema, call 363-2573.
