A community comes together to help restore the only theater in Oakhurst.
The Met Cinema is back open and better than ever thanks to a group of friends who refused to give up, no matter what the odds.
All the hard work by locals paid off. The Met Cinema reopened March 1st and since then, hundreds have come through their doors.
"We really like that they're opening it back up, because there's not a lot to do in Oakhurst," said Met member, Victoria O'Neill.
This is the first time the O'neill family has come to the theater since it reopened and the family appreciates having one that's close to home.
"Otherwise it's a 70-mile round trip to go to the movies down into Fresno and back," said Met member, Shawn O'Neill.
The Met Cinema fell on hard times and closed its doors on November 1st.
Three friends who grew up with the cinema came up with an idea to bring the screens back to life.
The plan to get 3,000 members (baseline to keep the theaters running) was a huge success.
"This is the biggest thing that's going on in town right now. This is the only time the community has ever really gotten together on anything. The whole town has been excited about it," said James Nelson, CEO and founder of the group who started the campaign to save The Met.
Since reopening, the sound and projectors have been revamped and soon the theater will be upgrading to digitial.
"It's either going to be a slow process where we go theater to theater, or we're going to use the funds that have been invested so far to leverage all five at once," said Matthew Sconce, CCO and founder of the group.
Around 1,200 customers stopped by in the first two days of opening. Membership fees start around $19 per month. With monthly fees, you can watch all movies that hit the big screens.
"It's like it's a tradition. I mean this is it for entertainment up here pretty much," said Met member, Scarlett Bullock.
The theater is holding a grand opening red carpet event that will take place Friday, March 8th at The Met Cinema starting at 7:30 PM.
You can find more information about the cinema at
SaveTheMet.com.
