Where have all the movie theaters gone?

That is the question many Westporters, who’ve lived here for years, ask themselves often.

At one point Westporters did not have to travel to Norwalk or Fairfield to see a movie; there were actually five theaters right here in town.

The first to open was Fine Arts 1, which now houses Restoration Hardware.  It was later split into two different theaters, leading to Fine Arts 2. Fine Arts 2 was later converted to Fine Arts 3,  only to be replaced with restaurant space where Matsu Sushi currently resides. Fine Arts 4 is now the local bakery, Cake Box. Finally, Post Cinema was the only one not located in the immediate downtown area and was  located near Angelina’s Pizza in the Barnes and Noble shopping area.

About 30 years ago, they were all closed.  According to Dan Woog, a lifelong Westporter who often writes about how things in town used to be on his 06880 blog, there are many reasons.

Multiplexes moved into nearby towns with as  many as 10 screens, giving people more choices, and also providing better parking.  Additionally, customers started to watch more movies at home with the beginning of the DVD phenomena.  Finally, there were financial reasons such as raised rents, thus putting more money into building owner’s pockets. But Woog wishes the movie theaters never left.

“What the theaters did was give life to downtown at night,” said Woog. “You’d go out to dinner and then a movie and maybe afterwards go out for ice cream and walk around and look at stores. Downtown is dead at night now, and it didn’t used to be when the theaters were here.”

But help could be on the way. The Westport Cinema Initiative has been trying for 10 years  to bring a theater to Main Street and has received favorable responses. “Everyone I’ve spoken to says they miss having a movie theater in Westport,” said Lee Rawizer, the group’s President. “Everyone is in favor of this. Not one person seems to be against it.”

Rawizer said a movie theater will revitalize downtown and create more shopping, restaurants, and places to go before and after the movie. He said the Cinema Initiative needs to raise about five million dollars in order to start construction and admitted there is a lot of competition as places like the library, the Playhouse and the Levitt Pavilion are also always seeking donations. They are looking for a professional fundraiser to help them.

The plan is to have a three screen theater that will show independent films, which are not big budget, action packed films. But it will have an educational component, where students who are interested in the art of filmmaking can learn how to edit films and learn about the video making and sound editing process.

Clearly, there will never be five different theaters in this town again; however, if at least one is built, supporters believe it will help get people downtown.