An island institution has worked hard to ensure it could reopen its doors following the COVID-19 shutdown in B.C.
Like all other movie theatres in the province, The Fritz on Salt Spring closed in March.
After major modifications to the cinema’s Central Hall space and adapting operations to the province’s COVID-19 protocols, The Fritz opened for the first time on July 31.
As owner David Paul explained, seating has been reduced to 44 to accommodate social distancing. Seats are arranged in pairs of two with at least six feet between the pairs.
“Attendance has been very slow and even with reduced capacity we are never more than half full,” Paul added.
The theatre has hand sanitizer stations, and touchless faucets and soap dispensers in the bathroom.
“The ticket booth and concession area have plexiglass shields, and the concession and ticket people are wearing masks and gloves,” he said.
Air in the hall is exchanged every two to three minutes through the HVAC system.
Upcoming movies and other information is available on the website: thefritz.ca, and weekly listings are on the What’s On page of the Driftwood. New movies will start rolling out on Sept. 1.
“We look forward to seeing you come back to our new safe environment and thank everyone for the support they’ve been giving us,” said Paul.