Nickelodeon to Open 2nd Theater April 14
March 30, 2015
The Nickelodeon Theatre Plans “First Night” to Open Renovated BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Theater April 14
COLUMBIA, SC – The Nickelodeon Theatre, South Carolina’s only non-profit art house theater and a leading voice for media arts, will soon complete construction and renovations to its second-floor theater and staff offices at the theater (1607 Main Street). The Nick invites members of the public to join them at the grand opening, “First Night,” on Tuesday, April 14 at 7 p.m., on the eve of the kickoff for Indie Grits, the theater’s annual art, film and tech festival.
First Night, a ribbon cutting and grand opening of the new BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Theater, is a ticketed event. Tickets are available for $100 or paired with an Indie Grits Festival Pass, tickets are $150. Attendees will be a part of history on Main Street and enjoy a preview of Indie Grits films in the new theater, live music, special walking tours of Indie Grits installation art on Main Street, food and a whiskey tasting by Crouch Distilling as well as special gifts to commemorate the opening of the theater.
“In some ways, we’ve been working for a decade at the Nickelodeon to get to this point. It’s exciting to know that with this theater opening, we’ll be able to fully realize our goal of being more than just a movie theater,” said Andy Smith, Executive Director of the Nickelodeon Theatre. “With even more media literacy education opportunities and more room to screen first-run films, we’ll also be able to delve deeper into more programming that you just won’t find elsewhere.”
When The Nick moved up Main Street in August of 2012, the organization completely renovated the downstairs theater lobby and created a state-of-the-art 100-seat theater as well as more dedicated media education space in the building. The second phase of this campaign included renovating the second upstairs theater, which will have more seats than the downstairs theater and digital surround sound. The new theater has retained the original art-deco moldings in the space. The renovations will also add more offices for the Nick’s staff and include an elevator to ensure that the building is ADA compliant.
Additionally, with another theater at its disposal, the Nick will have more flexibility in screening films. Successful films can screen for a longer period of time, while the theater will have more room to expand its community film series and talkbacks as well as host more experimental programming. More offices for the Nick’s staff members also means that the Helen Hill Media Education Center will be able to expand its media education lab and its media literacy opportunities for students. The Nickelodeon Theatre’s relocation to the heart of Main Street in 2012 has been widely credited as a major driving force behind the revitalization of Columbia’s Main Street, and opening the second theater will allow the Nick to attract even more patrons to the theater.
The Nickelodeon Theatre has worked with architecture and interior design firm 1×1 Design, Landmark Builders has acted as general contractor, and LCK has acted as project manager and owner’s representative for the theater renovation.
To Save Your Seat in the Nick’s second theater or for more information about the Nickelodeon Theatre, visit nickelodeon.org or follow the Nick on Twitter and Facebook. Members of the media are invited to tour the space and learn more about the renovations and may schedule tours by contacting Katie Alice Walker at [email protected] or (803) 250-5292.
