Downtown Cove Theater reopens Friday

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press

The Cove Theater, located in downtown Copperas Cove, will officially open its doors for business again under new ownership this Friday at 6:30 p.m. with a showing of “Grease”. 

Owners Andy Remedies and Betina Cash have been working on renovating and refreshing the old theater since this summer, repainting the inside and outside, replacing the doors and equipment inside. 

The new downtown Cove Theater will be competitively priced in ticket prices as well as concession prices, according to Remedies. 

“We are not going to be charging an arm and a leg to go to a movie anymore,” Remedies said. “When we started this venture, we did some research and found out that the average adult in America spends $60 to watch a movie, and we think that’s just outrageous.” 

Remedies and Cash both work for the school district and said they have heard from students who mention going to the movie theater as a special once-a-year treat because of cost. 

“One thing that really motivated us was the sadness we hear from our students who talk about one time every year they get to go to a movie on their birthday because it’s so stinking expensive, so we just wanted to provide something that’s a little bit more affordable for the people of Copperas Cove,” Remedies said. 

Remedies and Cash both grew up in Copperas Cove and remember going to the movie theater downtown. 

“We had previously toyed around with the idea of doing like a retro theme, 1950s diner food-truck, and so we kind of took that aesthetic, and we applied it to our lobby,” Remedies said. 

In the lobby, there’s chrome and red appliances, white walls with black trim and black and white checkered floors to match the outside of the theater, which has been repainted from its former maroon and white to black and white. 

The theater has new carpet, more VIP leather recliner seats, a new projector and a new audio system. 

“I mean, we have put quite a lot of love and sweat and tears into this project,” Remedies said. “We just believe like so many people, like my girlfriend and I drive past downtown every day and we just kind of reminisce about how fun it used to be downtown, and we’d go from the movie theater to-there was a comic book shop right next to the movie theater when I was a child- and then go down to Baggett Drug, where the hair care place is now and just so many places have kind of gone by the wayside that we just wanted to revitalize and bring some of that small town charm back to Copperas Cove, and so hopefully this is the first step in doing this, not only for us but for other investors and potential business owners.”

Remedies and Cash began renovations in June, hiring local contractor D. Boys Remodeling to help accomplish the job. The marquee was replaced with a new one from Texas Sign. 

The Cove Theater will show a movie every weekend, featuring classic, retro films and second-run movies or movies that are no longer being shown in the theater setting during their first theatrical release. 

The theater features a full concession stand and snack bar featuring classic movie theater treats like popcorn and candy such as Milk Duds, Nerds, Bottle Caps, SweeTarts, etc.  

Admission will be $7 for VIP leather recliner seats, which are limited in supply, and $5 for ages 13 and up. Kids ages 3 to 12 will be $3, and kids ages 2 and under will be free. 

Movie showtimes will be:

Fridays, 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Saturdays, 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m. 

Sundays, 12:30 p.m. 

The Cove Theater will also become a rented venue to local groups for presentations, parties and performances. The first showing in December will be a Star Trek movie, requested by a local Trekkie group, Remedies said. 

There will be a different movie showing each weekend. “Grease” will be the first show, as a nod to the classic, retro theme of the new Cove Theater. 

Other movies coming to the theater include “The Goonies,” “All Dogs Go to Heaven,” and then the “Star Trek” showing. Remedies said they are also working on obtaining licensing rights for Christmas movies to show during the Christmas season. 

Tickets will be available for purchase at the theater’s ticket booth Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. or online. Tickets for this week’s show can be purchased online at https://www.simpletix.com/e/grease-tickets-81720.