Pocono News Section

Pocono Theater Set to Reopen

Pocono Theater Set to Reopen - Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 4:20PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Tuesday, Jan 12, 2010 @ 04:20pm EST
MARSHALLS CREEK, MONROE COUNTY - A theater that shut down a month ago is lighting back up and many people in the Poconos hope that light spreads throughout an empty shopping center.

It's Foxmoor Cinemas the Sequel. It has a new look and a new name, the Poconos Movieplex.

Charles Garnder is the manager. He said, "It was almost heartbreaking to see the old guys not take care of the theater and let it run down the way that it was." Gardner grew up watching movies in the theater. Over the years the former owner stopped investing in the place then stopped paying the bills. He was evicted last month. The theater sat empty and vandals tore it apart. Gardner explained, "It seems like they ransacked the place pretty good. Kind of ripped parts out of everything. They stole like amplifiers, speakers, all kinds of stuff."

Then someone new took over. A man who owns several theaters in New York hired a staff to fix up the place. It will reopen Friday. Gardner said, "I'm very excited. I really want to bring this theater back to the community."

The people who manage the empty former Foxmoor Plaza hope by reopening the doors to the theater, they'll bring new customers to the other empty store fronts. Ronald Rouse is the Property Manager. He said, "Some spark of life will bring other life hopefully."

Rouse told Eyewitness News the Foxmoor Village Mall also has a new name. It's now Pocono Square. Rouse hopes a new name, and a new theater owner will make the Square's sequel have a happy ending.

Here is a to the theater's website.