Iconic Downtown Santa Cruz Movie Theater Closing: Report

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Regal's Santa Cruz Cinema 9 will close its doors for good, Lookout Santa Cruz reported.

While Patch has not been able to reach a spokesperson for Regal, a review of the company's website shows the Santa Cruz location at 1405 Pacific St. is not listed among its California theaters.

Workers were given the opportunity to transfer to other Regal-operated theaters, Lookout Santa Cruz reported.

The news comes nearly a year after California enacted restrictions on businesses in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Those restrictions have spelled devastation for many movie theaters and entertainment venues across the Golden State.

Like most other California counties, Santa Cruz County movie theaters may only operate outdoor. That's because the county is in the most-strict purple tier of California's four-tiered, color-coded COVID-19 risk assessment system.

Movie theaters may reopen to serve 100 people or up to 25 percent of maximum capacity — whichever is less — when Santa Cruz County is placed into the red tier. Those restrictions lessen with each tier.

Regal temporarily closed all 543 of its American theaters in October, citing staggering losses brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. AMC Theatres, another large national movie theater chain, narrowly avoided imminent bankruptcy after receiving a nearly $920 cash million infusion from investors last month, CBS News reported.

Cinema 9 first opened in 1995 in an attempt to draw people back to the city's downtown in the wake of the Loma Preita Earthquake, Lookout Santa Cruz reported.

Read more at Lookout Santa Cruz.