Charlestowne 18 movie theater to reopen April 15 plus other Classic Cinemas locations

After being closed since July, Charlestowne 18 movie theater in St. Charles is set to reopen next month.

On Thursday, Classic Cinemas announced that all its movie theaters, including Charlestowne 18, are set to reopen April 15.

Charlestowne 18 had reopened on June 26 for a brief period as the state moved into phase 4 of Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan. Previously, it had been closed since mid-March of last year as part of an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Classic Cinemas then made the decision to close its movie theaters on July 9.

“BIG screen. BOLD sound. And YES, the buttery crunch of movie theater popcorn! We’re going back to the movies April 15!” Classic Cinemas announced on its Twitter page.

In July, Classic Cinemas explained why it was closing its movie theaters temporarily.

“Our team took pride in implementing the health and safety protocols and received high marks for their efforts,” Classic Cinemas said at the time. “Unfortunately, the lack of new movies and the extra costs have made our current business model unsustainable. We are in this for the long term so we look forward to welcoming you back just as soon as the outlook improves and new movies are released.”

Other Classic Cinemas locations

In the Fox River Valley area, Classic Cinemas operates theaters in Carpentersville, Fox Lake, Oswego, Sandwich and Woodstock. To find all of its theaters in the region, visit classiccinemas.com.

Cinemark

With the COVID-19 situation improving across the area, Cinemark reopened seven of its Illinois movie theaters in January, including the Cinemark Tinseltown USA movie theater in North Aurora.

Cinemark has put several health and safety precautions in place, including that theaters will have staggered showtimes and limited capacities to maximize physical distancing, and people are required to wear face masks in the theater. They only can be removed for eating and drinking in the auditoriums.

Face masks and gloves will be required for all employees. In addition, each auditorium is extensively disinfected between showtimes using pressurized sprayers with products identified to be effective in eliminating COVID-19, according to company officials. All public and high-touch spaces will be sanitized every 30 minutes.