Owners hope to reopen renovated theater in summer

TRYON — The Tryon Theatre is being remodeled, but owners promise it will not lose its historical charm.

Scott and Gayle Lane, of Tryon, are working hard to preserve a lot of the theater’s history.

According to Gayle, she and her husband have a passion for historic preservation. For many years, they worked to preserve some of Charleston’s old buildings, then moved to Tryon in 2011. The couple has restored the Missildines building in Tryon, and is now very excited to be working on the theater, Gayle said.

“We think we’re so lucky in this town to have a movie theater,” she said. “Scott has theater degree, and both of us have an arts background. We have a passion for doing this.”

The Lanes announced the renovation by showing the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” on April Fools’ Day, and allowed people to take the chairs from the theater as mementos. Gayle said lots of people took chairs at the end of the movie, and others snagged a chair from the pile in front of the theater the next morning.

Renovations began on April 2, and the Lanes hope to be able to open sometime this summer.

They are seriously considering just the right movie for the grand reopening. Currently, the short list includes “Gone With the Wind” and “Out West with the Hardy Boys,” which was the first movie shown at the theater when it opened in December 80 years ago.

In addition to new chairs, the remodel includes additional, larger bathrooms; a new ceiling; new fabric for the walls; new carpet; a new HVAC system; a bigger screen; and a new sound system. The new sound system will include devices for the hearing impaired.

The projector was updated a few years ago, before the Lanes bought the theater.

Lane said their new manager, Nick Wilson, is also helping them improve the website and gain an online presence with social media.

The outside of the theater will not change, including the outdoor entrance leading to the balcony.

Of course, the balcony stays as well. Originally used to segregate black patrons, today, the balcony is a favorite of a local Wednesday night movie group.

“The balcony has a more casual, slightly party feel to it,” Gayle said. “They like to sit up there and talk to each other during the movie.”

The Lanes saved much of the memorabilia they found in the theater, including stacks of telegrams from famous actors such as Clark Gable, Ginger Rogers and David Niven, congratulating Tryon on the theater opening. There are also old popcorn machines and the original architectural drawings from 1938.

The original building for the Tryon Theatre was the telephone and telegraph headquarters built in the 1900s. It first became a movie theater in the 1920s when it was also used for vaudeville. At the time, the theater was open only to whites.

A fire in the 1930s damaged the building enough that it had to be renovated, and the balcony and outdoor concession area were added at the time.

In 1985, the Crowell family, who had purchased the theater, took out a malt beverage license,  and the theater has been serving beer in the balcony ever since. The Lanes plan to continue serving beer, not just in the balcony, but downstairs as well.

It is said the ghost of a former manager, Marvin Ball, who was killed in the theater, stills haunts the building. Since she and Scott purchased the theater in January 2017, Gayle has spent a lot of time there, and has not seen the ghost.

With this year being the theater’s 80th anniversary since it was rebuilt in 1938, the Lanes plan some special events.

In addition to the grand reopening sometime this summer, they plan to show horse films during the World Equestrian Games in September. They also plan an anniversary gala in December.