2 Tri-Cities movie theaters reopening this week for the 1st time in three months

Tickets to see a movie in the Tri-Cities are going on sale today for the first time in three months.

The full listing of movies and their show times for the Friday, Feb. 19, opening were expected to be listed starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, at fairchildcinemas.com.

The family-owned Fairchild Cinemas chain announced it will be opening its theaters in Kennewick, Richland and Moses Lake now that the Mid-Columbia can advance to Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan.

The Pasco theater off Road 68 remains closed, but will reopen in several weeks, according to Fairchild’s Facebook page and website.

A spokesperson for AMC Classic Theater could not be reached Wednesday on when its 12-screen theater west of Columbia Center mall in Kennewick will reopen.

On Sunday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s office announced that the South Central Region was approved for Phase 2 reopening — including indoor movies theaters at a reduced capacity.

That region includes Benton, Franklin, Yakima, Walla Walla, Columbia and Kittitas counties.

Movie theaters were closed for seven months in 2020 and had just started offering limited showings in October when COVID-19 cases worsened in the state and region, closing down indoor service at traditional movie theaters, bowling centers and entertainment spots like museums, zoos and aquariums.

At the time, Kevin Fairchild of Fairchild Cinemas told the Herald he did not understand Inslee’s logic in shutting them down when “there have been zero known cases of COVID transmission from a movie theater anywhere in the world.”

“The reality is that when movie theaters take preventative measures, they are extremely safe, as we have demonstrated over the past month since we were allowed to open,” he said in November.

And, again this time, there is no guarantee that any of the regions won’t slip back into Phase 1 if infection and hospitalization rates increase.

The state Department of Health will make assessments every other Friday, and decisions will be announced the following Monday. The next evaluation is Feb. 26

The newest $10 million Fairchild theater at Southgate 10 at 2823 S. Quillan St. in Kennewick opened just a few months before the shutdown for COVID came last March.

A spokesperson for Fairchild could not be reached Wednesday about their reopening.

For more information at Fairchild Queensgate, call 509-627-4348, and for Fairchild Southgate 10, call 509-581-3200.

This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 12:14 PM.