In 2004 Columbia City Cinema rolled into Rainier Valley and quickly became "the little cinema that could". Somehow, with fantastic community support and extreme good luck, it survived.
Two new screens opened this fall. "Giving people choice keeps people in the neighborhood," explains owner Paul Doyle. "Now with three movies to choose from, there'll always be something here people want to see." It's still only $6 for matinees, children and seniors and $8 for regular admission. You can still get a small popcorn for $2, and a family can indulge in extreme dietary excess for less than $10. "It doesn’t bankrupt you to come here," Doyle says, "and people rave about the popcorn." |
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In the lobby and in the seats, friends and neighbors see each other and find time to catch up. The building is a converted Masonic temple built in 1920. There's a real small-town atmosphere to the place, and an old-fashioned movie palace charm. It has the velvet-curtain, brass-chandelier, paneled-door elegance you don't see much anymore. The original upstairs auditorium is the largest with 204 seats. The other two screens are downstairs with 116 and 90 seats respectively. The downstairs auditoriums are wheelchair accessible. All three screens have state of the art DTS digital surround sound. |