CLOVERDALE - The Clova Cinema, as its known to its patrons, is closing its doors for good this weekend with a series of events to cap the theatre's 67-year run.
The building was sold to Crossridge Church which, until recently, rented the space for their Sunday morning kids' ministry. After its purchase, the church's upcoming plans didn't include keeping the cinema up and running, said Clova Cinema owner Craig Burghardt.
"I was willing to go either way," Burghardt said of the situation.
"I'm an optimistic person and I just kind of thought about leaving and thought about staying.... I had (an) Operation Phoenix and I had Operation Ashes - so we're going with Operation Ashes," he said jokingly.
A hefty investment to upgrade the cinema's projectors was an issue to keep the theatre in business, as well as dwindling sales.
According to Burghardt, the Clova enjoyed about half of the business this July than that of July 2013.
But the longtime owner of the Clova won't have his cinema go out with a whimper.
The theatre has a three-day, action packed weekend planned, starting with a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Friday at 9:30 p.m. "The whole interactive experience with the Rocky Horror Picture Show is quite fun," Burghardt said. "We've got about half the tickets left for that so there's room for more people to show up. We've done it many times in the past, and it's always been a huge hit and everyone's really got a huge smile on their face."
Because of low ticket sales, he had to cancel the second viewing of the show, which was slated for midnight Friday.
On Saturday, the Clova will host its own version of The Amazing Race, a well-known CBS reality show.
"Teams sign up and when they get there they'll be given a list of clues to destinations around the little triangle we've made with the three highways," said Burghardt. "You have to have a car, there will be 20 stops and each stop there's a multiple choice trivia question you have to answer."
That evening, ABBA tribute band ABRAcadabra will perform at the theatre at 7:30 p.m. On its final day (Aug. 3), Burghardt will be auctioning off items from the Clova at 1:30 p.m. "We've got a bunch of stuff that people have expressed interest in, like our popcorn machine and little knick knacks around the Clova we'll try to auction off," he said. For those participating in the auction, he said, a show of Dead Reckoning will play as the theatre's final screening.
The mid-century blockbuster was the first movie that the Clova screened when the theatre opened in 1947, according to the owner, who took over the Clova in 1996.
While this coming weekend is definitively the end of era, Burghardt has other business ideas in mind - but for now, a little time off is on the docket.
"I've been working since I was 10 and a couple months off in the middle of my life sounds like a good idea right now," he said with a laugh.
For more information, call 604-574-1114.
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