A permanent outdoor movie theater is in the works for central Tucson.
The Loft Cinema will begin construction on an expansion at 3233 E. Speedway in the spring and add an outdoor theater, rooftop lounge and a lobby with a new box office and concession stand.
“Right now, we get so busy the line goes out the door and around the building,” said Peggy Johnson, executive director of The Loft. “We’re very excited.”
The $3 million project is being funded by patrons and some corporate donations.
The outdoor theater, which was popularized during the pandemic, will be a regular feature.
“It’s like a drive-in, but you’ll be sitting,” Johnson said.
It will be built between the existing buildings, theaters one and three.
During the day, the space will be available to rent for events.
The current lobby will be cleared out and turned into a lounge, and the second floor will have a rooftop bar for guests that will overlook the open-air theater.
The mix of movies will remain the same at The Loft, which opened at its current location in 1991.
The locally-owned, nonprofit theater screens independent and foreign films and documentaries, classic art films, interactive events and monthly short film contests, sing-alongs and cult favorites.
The Loft has received access to some bigger commercial films that help subsidize the smaller, independent films, Johnson said.
The concession stand will feature the standard movie snacks and possibly add items, such as mini pizzas, when the project is complete.
The open-air theater will broadcast the sound via headsets to block out the noise from traffic on Speedway as well as to not disturb the neighborhood, Johnson said.
“My mantra now is that we have amazing world class programming, our building needs to be brought up,” she said. “Our building and our programming don’t match.”
The Loft got its start near the University of Arizona campus, on Sixth St. and Fremont Ave., in 1972. The university’s expansion pushed it out, and it moved to its current location in 1991, Star archives show.
Johnson bought it a decade later, established it as a nonprofit and has been expanding its programming since.
The Loft will remain open during construction, which is expected to last about a year, and all 35 workers will remain employed.
The theater has already raised $1.7 million for the expansion and is accepting donations at loftcinema.org/support-the-loft, via email at info@loftcinema.org or traditional mail, The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway, Tucson, Ariz. 85716-3933.
Photos: 50 years of the Loft Cinema in Tucson
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The audience at the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" cover their heads as rice is thrown at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., in January, 1981.
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Doyne Hill strikes the pose as "Magenta," while waiting in line for the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont, in June, 1978.
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A couple posing as Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, characters in the "Rocky Horror Picture Show," walk to their seats as the crowd calls out and throws rice at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., in January, 1981.
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People standing in line for the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., on the edge of the University of Arizona campus in June, 1978. The building was demolished in 1997 and Fremont Ave. was eliminated north of 6th Street for a parking garage.
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Charles A. Brown dressed as Dr. Frank N Furter from ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
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Undated photo of the Loft Cinema box office
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Exterior of the Loft Cinema on Fremont Ave.
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Tucson firefighters at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont, on April 9, 1977. The co-owner of Earthly Endeavors, the restaurant in the basement below the theatre, was changed with arson. The fire destroyed the restaurant. About 60 theatre patrons saw the flames from below and evacuated without incident. The theatre suffered heavy smoke damage. Newspaper listings show the theatre was showing films again in early May.
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New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave. in 1991, after it was purchased by the University of Arizona.
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Students remove seating from the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., in 1991, after it was purchased by the University of Arizona and converted into a studio theatre for the UA Drama Department.
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Work on a new studio theatre for the University of Arizona Drama Department using seats salvaged from the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., in 1991, after the UA bought the building.
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The crowd watches Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray and One Wilson in a scene from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou at The Loft Cinema, Tucson,.
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Pedro Robles-Hill, Projectionist and Assistant Manager at the Loft Cinema, reads the tail on a reel of 70 mm film in the projection booth in 2015. The 70mm Showcase began with Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey."
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Allie Vega gets the projector ready to show Parallel Mothers in theater #2 at The Loft Cinema on February 16, 2022.
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A couple orders drinks before the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., in January, 1981.
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Alyson Hill, the assistant manager at the Loft Cinema, serves up some candy, drinks, popcorn and more to Max and Mia Ramirez during a photo for the Children's Film Festival in 2012.
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Nancy Sher, general manager, left, and Bob Campbell, program director, at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont, in Tucson, in 1973. Sher's father, Louis Sher, owned the Art Guild Theater chain of 35 small, art movie houses, purchased the Loft, which was then known for porn movies. Nanch Sher was studying for a PhD in Art History at the University of Arizona. Her father, Louis, died in Phoenix in 1998.
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Demolition underway at the Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., and several other homes and buildings along 6th Street in 1997, as the University of Arizona clears the land for a parking garage.
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Volunteer Fritzi Redgrave directs a couple of patrons through the gates during a soft re-opening as The Loft Cinema on May 01, 2021. Thirty-six reservations were taken for donors and guests in the main theater, which pre-COVID-19 seated 370.
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The Tucson premiere of "Bonanno: A Godfather's Story," at the Loft, Cinema in 1999. Joseph Bonanno, is escorted into the theater. On the right is Bill Bonanno, his son.
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Madeline Porta, left, and her friend Oscar Jimenez who goes by the drag name of "Heather Boa," sing out loud to an Abba music video at the Loft Cinema in 2007. The videos were part of a sing along presentation of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."
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Theatre patrons watch the 1am performance of Rocky Horror Picture Show in 2006. Heavy Petting Stage Show and the Loft Cinema Hosted The Queen of the Deserts 31st Anniversary Convention of The Rocky Horror Picture show in Tucson. Performers from all over the US came to perform and participate in the convention.
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A handful of patrons watch the opening minutes of The Truffle Hunters, the first time in more than a year for indoor movie viewing at The Loft Cinema during a soft re-opening, May 01, 2021. The 36 reservations were taken for donors and guests in the main theater, which pre-COVID-19 seated 370.
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Customers in the lobby at the Loft Cinema in 2015.
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Pedro Robles-Hill, Projectionist and Assistant Manager monitors the digital projector, center, at the Loft Cinema in Tucson. The Loft's 70mm projector surrounds the digital system. The system actually consists of two projectors which flank the center digital projector which pulls out and away from when the 70 mm projectors are in use. The film is shown one real at a time alternating between the two projectors left and right.
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Steve Lee moves across the stage during a costume contest at the Loft Cinema in 2007. The contest was part of a sing along presentation of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."
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The Loft Cinema's Lead Projectionist Haley McFeely (left) and Marcel Jeanisse, an assistant manager at the theater, set up for the outdoor showing of "Clueless" behind the theater at 3233 E Speedway Blvd, on Sept. 18, 2020.
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Movie goers at the outdoor viewing of "Clueless" at The Loft Cinema at 3233 E Speedway Blvd, on Sept. 18, 2020.
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Scarlet Letter does a dance during the opening credits of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at 1 am on October 15, 2006. Heavy Petting Stage Show and the Loft Cinema Hosted The Queen of the Desert 31st Anniversary Convention of The Rocky Horror Picture show in Tucson. Performers from all over the US came to perform and participate in the convention.
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A couple head into the theater past the Jessica Gonzales mural on the building's wall just before the evening screenings at The Loft Cinema on February 16, 2022.
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General manager Kyle Canfield gets the all digital projections system up and running for an afternoon showing of Miami Connection at The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway, in 2012.
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Peggy Johnson, Executive Director of the Loft Cinema, talks with Deputy Director Zach Breneman, Joel Miller, with NW Projection & Sound of Portland, and job superintendent Don Vigil of Tofel Construction, in the Loft's remodeled Theatre One in Tucson on July 6, 2017. The walls are covered in new insulation and the floor and stage are refinished and awaiting new chairs.
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Workers have installed the cleaned and refurbished original draperies in the Loft's remodeled Theatre One in Tucson on Thursday, July 6, 2017.
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The marquee sign at The Loft Cinema on June 6, 2019.
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Mark Zwolinski, in a Zissou-red beanie, is one of the first in the theater to see his favorite movie, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, at The Loft Cinema, February 16, 2022.
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Program director Jeff Yanc introduces the night's feature, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zussou, on the main screen at The Loft Cinema, February 16, 2022.
Local Tucson artist, Jessica Gonzales paints a mural on the west side of The Loft Cinema located at 3233 E Speedway Blvd, on Sept. 9, 2020. Gonzales originally created the design for the theater's film festival.
