The Roxy's new auditorium

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The Roxy's new auditorium - 2002

In the picture at left, the theatre auditorium doesn't really look too bad -- but the seats were 20 years old, and time and lots of use had taken their toll. In November 2001 we undertook the largest remodeling project in our history -- not only replacing the seats, but rearranging them as well. We changed to a continental seating style, which means the seats are in one large group in the center, with the aisles down the sides. This break from Roxy tradition was done in the interest of presentation quality. With the aisles on the sides, nobody is walking in front of viewers as they go up the aisle. The continental style also allows for better stereo sound perception.

We didn't stop with the seats and the walls, either. We replaced the 20-year-old carpet with a patterned style more reminiscent of the Roxy's original carpet, and we gave a facelift to the concession stand as well.

MORE REMODELING PICTURES MAIN PICTURE MENU

	In November of 2001, a contractor began installing the new curtains and sound panels on the walls.	The curtains and panels were designed to fit around our surround speakers.
	In January of 2002, removal of the old seats began. These seats were 20 years old and were beginning to show their age (as was the floor!)	Each seat comes apart in four pieces. If not for our trusty DeWalt cordless drill, this job would have been a nightmare!
	As part of this project, we added a wheelchair seating area. Here, the level part of the floor is being constructed.	The last of the new seats are removed by March 8, ready for new flooring to be installed. A new plywood sub-floor was added as well.
	The wheelchair area, waiting for the new seats to arrive. There was a large snowstorm which delayed not only the truck carrying the seats, but the installers by a day.	Boxes of seats ready to be installed. The carpet has been removed; new carpet will go in when the seats are finished.
	Due to another factory snafu, we received double the number of chairs we had ordered. We didn't realize it until the truck was unloaded and the installers had far more seats than we had floor space for!	Getting close...the carpet is the last thing to be done.
	New seats face a growing pile of cardboard at the bottom of the auditorium.	The Roxy is the first single screen theatre in the state of Montana to have lift-up armrests.

The new seats made their debut with the premiere of the movie ICE AGE on March 15, 2002.

We did not keep these seats for long, however. Due to their high backs and inadequate offset between rows, we replaced them in 2004 with models that were better suited to our auditorium.

CLICK HERE to see the pictures from the 2004 project!