Published: July 01, 2009 07:25 am      

Cinema to reopen after renovations

ELK RAPIDS -- A labor of love for more than 36 years, Joe Yuchasz will debut the next iteration of the Elk Rapids Cinema Saturday.

He hopes.

With seven tons of new seats delivered Monday, if everything goes according to plan the art deco movie palace will reopen after about a week of renovations. Another step in the ongoing series of improvements to the downtown business he purchased in 1973.

Over the decades, the building's upgrades span the roof to the air conditioning, the sound system to projection equipment to the screen. As this latest major interior redo winds down -- including replastering, repainting, hanging decorative drapes, and installing 300 seats (replacing 362 dated ones) -- the process has been a saga in its own right.

"One summer we ran all the movies with an intermission and no movies more than two hours because we didn't want to have two intermissions," Yuchasz recalled of a time between projection equipment upgrades when he limped along on limited capacity.

A hoped-for happy ending is coming soon as Yuchasz is determined to preserve a solid structure that exudes character of a bygone era. A previous spell of renovation concluding earlier this year included repainting a black light ceiling so a dramatic forest pattern glows overhead when the house lights are off.

Perhaps foreshadowing the unpredictable path of renovations today, the original builders left a few surprises.

"We have the blueprints of the building -- like every building project things don't go exactly the way they were designed," Yuchasz said. "The original blueprints showed coal bins, coal chutes and a coal heater and there was never any of that."

A hands-on owner managing every detail of the business, Yuchasz believes that mega-theater complexes lose the personal touch of a small-town operation with deep roots in a community. In fact, many of the remaining single or small town screens in northwest Michigan are family owned and operated.

"The business is such it can't be operated by remote control," said Yuchasz, who taught high school in Bellaire during the 1960s and '70s and substitute taught and owned a music store in downtown Elk Rapids. "You can't afford to hire a manager, you do everything yourself with spurts of help or family."

Running year-round for 35 years, scrimping and saving for much-needed repairs and upgrades while competing with the slick new facilities, Yuchasz's heart remains firmly entrenched in his business. And, by extension, his community.

"It's still fun," he said, adding that his family moved to the area when he was six and that his father loved movies.

Built by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Loomis, the theater opened in September of 1940 as the Elk Rapids State Theater. The cavernous one-screen facility was situated on land purchased at a tax sale at the tail end of the Great Depression.

Howard Coddington was the second owner of the Elk Rapids Cinema, taking charge in 1960. Over the next 13 years, his retirement project became threatened as small-town theaters vanished at an increasing rate. Coddington previously ran five or six "circuits," operations featuring a projector and screen on a truck that traveled small town routes. The free films were supported by ads shown before the movie.

In 1973, Coddington decided to retire for real but wanted the theater to continue.

"He just came to the store one day and said he wanted me to buy it," recalled Yuchasz, noting that his lack of down payment or financing merely prompted Coddington to help him out.

Coddington believed -- correctly, time has shown -- that Yuchasz would care for and restore the theater, which had become run down.

"He was interested in saving it," Yuchasz said.

Fast forwarding through the years, the Elk Rapids Cinema remains a fixture in the small town. From passersby stopping in for some popcorn or candy to a night of entertainment just a short walk or drive away, the community appreciates Yuchasz's steadfastness.

"It's important to preserve a building like that because of it's architectural significance," said Dan LaBlond, president of the Elk Rapids Historical Society about the art deco structure. "We're really thrilled to see what he has done."

"It's a long-standing tradition in the community, (cinema) entertainment," LaBlond said. "Joe is just so knowledgeable of the history. "

For more information on the Elk Rapids Cinema, call 264-8601 or see www.elkrapidscinema.com.