The Loft Cinema's expansion: 'A great asset for the community'

Fans and patrons of Tucson’s iconic Loft Cinema will get a first glimpse later this month at its long-awaited expansion.

“We’re super excited. This has been the dream,” said Peggy Johnson, executive director of the Loft. “It’s taken us this long, but it’s going to be really a great space, and it’s going to be such a great asset for the community in so many ways.”

The Loft expansion was designed by Vint & Associates Architects, and is being built by Barker Contracting. Construction on the project started in July of last year, and the additions include a new lobby and concession area, updated restroom facilities, an elevator for accessibility, a fourth indoor theater, an outdoor, open-air screen and bar, as well as updates to the existing building.

The estimated price tag for the upgrades is over $5 million, Johnson said.

Because it is such a massive undertaking, the renovations are being completed in multiple phases, the first of which is the new lobby set to open to the public on Aug. 22.

“In the lobby will be a completely new concession stand with all new equipment, and a menu that’s going to feature a lot of really amazing local, local items,” Johnson said. “Don Guerra (of Barrio Bread) will be doing custom pizzas for us, which is really amazing, and we’re getting some amazing custom-made pretzels and lots of locally sourced stuff.”

Johnson said they are still unsure whether the new elevator and the rooftop deck — which they’ve named “the overlook,” as an homage to the movie The Shining — will be ready for the public by that Aug. 22nd opening. But plenty of exciting updates are coming soon.

“We’re shooting for Sept. 12 to open the fourth screen and to open the permanent open air theater,” Johnson said.

After that, the last phase of the plan is to update screen two, and transform the existing lobby into a lounge for guests. If all goes well, they are hoping to have all the construction finished by the start of the Loft Film Festival on Nov. 5.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“Everything’s so exciting, because there’s so much happening,” Johnson said. “I think that the impact on the audience is going to be really amazing.”

In particular, Johnson said the additional screening areas will enhance the movie-going experience at the Loft, and give guests more access to the films they love.

“We’ll be able to keep films that are doing well longer, we’ll be able to bring in more films, we’ll be able to do more, smaller festival projects, and it’ll be more accessible for the public to rent the space to do their own events,” she said.

That desire to bring more films to its audience, and expand the number of showings it could offer, was one of the driving forces behind the extensive renovations.

“We originally just had two screens at the theater. In 2012, we bought the garage and expanded the Loft, and turned that into a third screen. Then the dream was always to have a fourth screen, because we kind of outgrew the space that we had,” said Jeff Yanc, program director at The Loft Cinema. “With three screens, it’s constantly a juggling act, because we do special events as well as first-run films and series. So one more screen and an outdoor screen will just help give us more opportunities.”

“We often have to end movies before they’re done, because we have more movies coming in,” Yanc said. “It’s just gonna allow us to bring more of the kinds of films that we like to show here that don’t necessarily show at other theaters.”

Ron Barber, president of the Loft’s board, said the new developments are really a dream come true for everyone involved.

“It’ll open up great possibilities for additional services and additional opportunities for people,” Barber said. “I’m very excited about where we’re going with this, and I’m so, so appreciative of the support that our community and our patrons have given us to make it possible.”