EVANSTON — Last month, Aspen Cinemas announced that it had acquired the Historic Strand Theatre in downtown Evanston with the intention of turning it in a luxury, state-of-the-art movie theater. The news was met mostly with support and enthusiasm, though some voiced concern about the community no longer having a center for live arts and entertainment or speaking engagements.

General manager Eric Pasenelli told the Herald that Aspen Cinemas had been interested in purchasing the Strand from the Urban Renewal Agency (URA) for a while, but the timing never really worked out until recently.

“We did a lot of research in the beginning to see if we could keep it as a cultural center, but it was quite cost prohibitive to pursue that,” Pasenelli said.

That research included looking into a retractable screen that would have allowed continued use of the stage, but “that would have cost 10 times as much,” he said.

Pasenelli, a native Evanstonian who has been quite involved with the local arts community through organizations such as The Arts Inc. and Sagebrush Theater Productions, was even a member of the short-lived organization Strand Inc., whose intention was to operate the Strand, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the nonprofit to fall apart.

Pasenelli, who has been with Aspen Cinemas since its grand re-opening in 2015, is currently overseeing the Strand’s renovation for out-of-state owners Dave and Emily Huggins and Eric and Sara Hansen. 

The Strand initially opened in 1918. A fire destroyed it in May 2007 and a fully rehabilitated Strand reopened in May 2015 as a cultural community center. 

“Our purpose isn’t to obliterate everything that came before it — it’s to build on it,” Pasenelli said. “People tell me stories about their memories here all the time.”

“As much of the building we can preserve will be staying. I don’t believe we’ll be taking down the signage, though they will be painting over the current color scheme,” Pasenelli said, explaining that light-colored walls negatively affect the lighting from the film projector. The walls will be painted black with maroon panels, though the art-deco-inspired carpets will remain, he said.

The new theater screen will be 32 feet by 14 feet, though they haven’t decided if it will be curved or not.

“We’re retaining the sound system that’s here for use of microphones and the projector, though everything else will be fully upgraded such as heated leather seats and premium theater sound,” he said.

The main floor will have the same layout as its red-seated predecessor and will offer 77 seats in addition to five handicapped-accessible (three in the front row, two in the very back). The balcony will house 10 loveseats, offering total upstairs seating for 20.

According to Pasenelli, some cabinetry will be removed and relocated within the concession area. Menu items from the Aspen Grove location will be similar, though Hansen recently traveled to CinemaCon in Las Vegas, with the mission to identify something unique to offer at the Strand.

The tentative opening of the new theater is projected for late May.

“That’s hopeful, and it depends on whether or not the chairs and the popper (for popcorn) are in on time,” Pasenelli said.

“Something we’ve heard from the community over the years is that we don’t get the movies they want; this will allow us to hopefully bring more movies. One screen doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s 25% more than we currently offer,” he said.

When asked what type of movies the Strand will show, Pasanelli said, “It depends on the studios; they’re very particular about how, when and where movies are shown. Our primary goal is first run (new) films, and we’ll be a full ticket price theater.”

Pasenelli also said that they’ll likely offer older kids’ movies in the summer like they have in the past at the Aspen Cinemas location.

“The community has been great. I think people are excited to have a movie theater downtown again, and community involvement is very important to us,” Pasenelli said.

“We really hope to bring something special to the downtown area,” Hansen added.