Fairchild Cinemas halts ‘restaurant’ reopening minutes before first Tri-Cities show

Fairchild Cinemas planned to reopen its Richland movie theater on Friday, but halted sales late Friday morning about the time the first showing was scheduled.

Tri-Cities movie theaters are not allowed to operate under modified Phase 1 rules of the state’s reopening plan to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The Safe Start plan does not allow indoor movie theaters to reopen until Phase 3, and then with limited capacity.

But Tri-Cities restaurants are allowed to serve food, so Richland Fairchild Cinemas said it planned to reopen as a restaurant, according to a post on Facebook.

“Dine-in restaurant serving your favorite foods with a side of movies,” said its website earlier on Friday.

But by late morning a notice that all its theaters were closed was posted.

“There is some confusing about us being allowed to reopen at this time,” it posted of Facebook about 11:15 a.m. Friday. “We are postponing our re-opening until we get further clarification. Thank you for understanding.”

Refunds were being offered for tickets already sold.

The theater with 12 screens had announced it was expanding from offering traditional snacks like candy and popcorn to serving entrees. It also serves alcoholic drinks.

The theater complex already had a food establishment permit from the Benton Franklin Health District because it has served food since it opened.

However, the local health district is asking the state for clarification on reopening rules, it said Friday morning.

As of last week, Tri-Cities-area restaurants were allowed to resume indoor dining at 25% capacity.

The theater owners couldn’t be reached immediately Friday about their decision.

Only the Queensgate theaters in south Richland had planned to reopen Friday. Fairchild theaters, including those in Kennewick, Pasco and Moses Lake, had to close five months ago.

The online reaction to the news that the theater in Richland had reopened, before plans changed, was enthusiastic.

One commenter said her son would be able to go to the movies one last time before heading to Navy bootcamp.

“Love the creativity of finding a new way to open!!!!” said another person.

Three movies were initially scheduled: “New Mutants,” a fantasy horror movie; the international espionage action thriller “Tenet;” and another thriller mystery, “Unhinged.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 10:38 AM.