21 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Regal Warren Old Town in Wichita closed its doors Thursday after hosting its final showings, and some moviegoers are hoping for changes.
The theater opened nearly two decades ago. Ownership changed six years ago when Regal Theatres bought it from Bill Warren, founder of the Warren movie theaters in Wichita.
The building is home to core memories for some city dwellers.
“One of my first jobs that I had downtown was working for a law office, Stinson, Lasswell and Wilson,” said Matthew White, who stopped by the theater on its final day open. “After work, I’d come down here, and we’d catch a movie.”
Talk of the past led to questions about the building’s future.
“I’ve had a lot of first dates here, I’ve had a lot of memories here,” said Jennie Iseli, a movie enthusiast. “To see it so run down has been sad, and then to see it up for sale and potentially sit vacant and for this to be a dead end, I think, would be a tragedy.”
Those concerns led Iseli to start a petition to have Alamo Drafthouse Theaters take over the building.
Alamo will do the building and movie lovers justice, according to Iseli.
“To see another chain that doesn’t care about the theater or maintaining it, or maintaining its history and how much people care about it, would be really sad,” Iseli said.
Others are also hoping for better days ahead.
“Hopefully, it can reemerge as something better,” Iseli said.
Some fear other theaters may face hardship in the future, pointing to the already weakened state of the industry from the pandemic and the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes.