SURREY — Work begins today to replace all existing seats at Cineplex Cinemas Strawberry Hill with ones that fully recline.
Seats in all 12 of the theatre's auditoriums – close to 1,500 of them – will be upgraded to extra-wide, fully-reclining models over the next few months.
It’s the third among the Canadian chain’s theatres to undergo such an overhaul, with more in the works.
The movie theatre will remain open during the renovation work, which will be done in stages.
"We'll do two auditoriums at a time to start, and each stage will take about two or three weeks," Sarah Van Lange, director of communications with Toronto-based Cineplex, told the Now.
The movie theatre opened in December of 1998.
"This theatre (in Surrey) is in need of a refresh, and this is one of the ways we’ll be putting that in place," Van Lange added.
"Our guests will be much more comfortable watching a movie, and they’ll be able to recline at the touch of a button," she said.
When asked about any increase in admission fees, Van Lange said movie-goers should expect to pay a "nominal" increase at the box office, once the work is completed.
"We know that this is the way the industry is going, toward making the movie-going experience more of an experience, and that’s why we’re moving forward with this installation."
tom.zillich@thenownewspaper.com