Oswego Kendall 11 moviegoers asked to wait a little longer before re-opening

OSWEGO – Patrons eager to see an Oswego movie theater re-open will have to wait a little longer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chris Johnson, president and CEO of Classic Cinemas, wrote in a Wednesday, Aug. 19 social media post that staff is happy to see theaters starting to open back up.

"But with all the uncertainty, we're taking a more cautious approach to ensure our long-term future is bright," Johnson wrote.

Johnson wrote that management will announce when the theater is ready to re-open. In the meantime, he wrote, they are looking forward to welcome movie-goers back when pandemic conditions improve and the theater company is confident that they are ready for the next chapter.

The update comes after Johnson confirmed July 17, that Classic Cinemas bought the Kendall 11 GDX movie theater at 95 Fifth St., that was formerly owned by Michigan-based Goodrich Quality Theaters, Inc.

Johnson had said in July the hope was for the Oswego theater to re-open this month to correspond with then anticipated movie release dates, including the spy film "Tenet" written and directed by Christopher Nolan. However, he had said, that re-opening timeline is a little fluid because movie release dates keep changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Goodrich Quality Theaters had applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February. According to federal court documents in July, a judge filed an order authorizing an asset purchase agreement between Goodrich Quality Theaters, Inc. and Goodrich Theater Newco, LLC, saying Goodrich Theater Newco submitted a bid for all assets of Goodrich Quality Theaters except for the Kendall 11 theater.

Johnson said the company closed on the property on July 10 and the company is looking to retain the Kendall 11 general manager that was already there as of March. Though several workers have already moved on since the theater closed in mid-March due to the pandemic, he said, the thought was to bring back about 20 workers that employed at the theater through Goodrich Quality Theaters previously.

Johnson said the company also is looking to bring back about 20 workers that previously were employed at the Classic Cinemas Ogden 6 Theatre in Naperville, which showed its last films on March 16. He said the Ogden location closed after the landlord terminated the lease and sold the property to Costco and a petition started floating around shortly after for the theater to be saved.