By Lucia Grijalva
Side-view of The Loft Cinema’s renovation under construction. Photo by Roman Contreras.
Local Tucson treasure The Loft Cinema first announced their expansion campaign via their Instagram page on July 15, 2024. Plans initially began under wraps with their quiet start (or soft launch) back in 2023. From 2023 up until their announcement date this past July, the donation pool reached a near-total of $2 million. Now, as of January 2025, a whopping near $4 million has been amassed in total.
The renovation will transform the well-known and well-loved institution. The money raised is also funding an added expansion to the current campus. In the updated version of The Loft, visitors can expect to see a new fourth screen/indoor theater, an outdoor rooftop cinema with a neighboring bar, new bathroom facilities and an expanded concession stand.
Indoor Theater
Ethan Cox, the Development Director for The Loft, shared more insight into what to expect from the expansion. Cox explained the mechanics and reasonings behind adding a new room. “With a movie theater like ours, [the] number of seats is less important than the number of screens. The number of screens is vital because it allows us to show more movies and to have more variety and [to] keep movies longer, even if they’re not doing spectacularly well,” Cox said. “So, we would rather have five theaters of 60-80 seats than three theaters that are 300 seats each, because we’re going to have much more programming flexibility with those smaller theaters.”
Rooftop Cinema and Bar
The new outdoor gathering place will house a fifth screen (roughly the same size as the indoor ones) with a bar, as well. While the specific setup and details are still being finalized, Cox mentioned that so far the process will include: seatings capped at 45 people, two film showings each night, a pair of headphones tuned into an FM radio station used by each guest for listening/audio purposes and public and private events held on the rooftop area during the day.
Concession Stand
Items previously sold will still be offered, but with a visit to the upgraded cinema, you will have the opportunity to experience a taste of the town. Their new menu additions will include locally sourced, made-from-scratch snacks, beverages and wines. One vendor in particular that will be joining the theater is fellow Tucson legend Don Guerra of Barrio Bread, with a pizza station. Employees at The Loft shared they were particularly looking forward to a brand-new popcorn machine being installed.
The Campaign’s Priority
The focus of this campaign is accessibility, which will take on both a physical form—through the campus’ renovations—and through the theater’s operations and guest experience. Touching on both sides of that principle, Cox said, “One of the big drivers of this construction was to create campus-wide accessibility… physical accessibility is a big part of this.”
Cox clarified some behind-the-scenes details of the company’s values and how the theater is run in a way to include them. “We’re really looking at trying to make film accessible and not scary…that [film] is something that really everyone can enjoy, and that film is something important for everyone to be a part of,” Cox said.
“Beyond that, when we’re programming, we’re looking to program voices that are not heard from as often,” Cox said. He mentions their aim for diversity with The Loft Film Fest. “At least 50% of the films must be directed by females. We want to make sure [it’s] an equal [pool of] men and women telling their stories.”
To further make things accessible, the theater is dedicated to reasonable prices. “We want to make the experience not as expensive as the chain theaters…[and] to keep the concession prices down, and having a model with memberships and donations helps us to do so. It gives us a lot of flexibility, not just with programming, but also with keeping the prices affordable for a larger part of the community,” Cox said. “Really, at the end of the day, we want to be as accessible as possible to as many folks in the community as we can be, and that’s really a big part of why we want to be a non-profit…”
The Show Continues
Board with movies that were being shown at The Loft Cinema. Photo by Roman Contreras.
Cox anticipates the future after renovation. “We really hope to see everyone from the community there and we love having students come by,” Cox said. He mentioned the cinema offers student memberships.
During construction, The Loft continues to run their regular special events and extras such as First Friday Shorts (now being held on Tuesdays), the children’s Animation Station and the Solar Cinema. To learn more about each, visit their website at loftcimena.org.
To support The Loft Cinema through its campaign and to continuously be a part of its future endeavors, visit their donation page to become a donor. https://loftcinema.org/support-the-loft/donate/