The Foundry cinema, a Georgetown landmark that offered independent films at discount ticket prices, has gone out of business. While the closing is a blow to Georgetown moviegoers, a new multiplex is scheduled to open only two blocks away.
The Foundry, located at 1055 Thomas Jefferson St., N.W., closed its doors after business on Sunday, March 10. By the end of last week, virtually no trace of the theater remained. All posters, concessions and signs had been removed.
The Foundry had been operated by troubled theater conglomerate Loews Cineplex since 1994. The company, which operates more than 2,500 screens nationwide, is currently in the midst of Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
Mindy Tucker, Corporate Vice President for Strategic Planning for Loews, said the Foundry was closed under terms of the reorganization plan approved by a Federal Bankruptcy Court on Feb. 22.
“The theater really didn’t make enough profit,” said Tucker. “We’ve closed a number of theaters across the country that don’t make a whole lot of economic sense.”
Compounding the Foundry’s problems were declining attendance and the necessity of capital improvements to the facilities, said Tucker. Moreover, the theater did not fit with Loews Cineplex’s marketing strategy. “We don’t typically have theaters that show second-run films,” she said.
In spite of the Foundry’s closing, moviegoers will have another option when a new 14-screen theater will open in the Georgetown area.
A part of the Ritz-Carlton hotel development located at Wisconsin Avenue and K Street, the theater is slated to open before the end of the year, said Tucker.
The Foundry, known for its cramped, low-ceiling theaters featuring small screens and primitive sound, relied on its $3 ticket prices and unorthodox film selections to attract moviegoers.
The new theater will feature state-of-the-art sound and stadium seating. However, according to Tucker, the new theater will offer first-run features at full ticket prices, instead of the discounted independent and second-run films that were shown at the Foundry.
Meanwhile, the fate of the space the Foundry theater occupied is still uncertain. Peter Grzybala, Vice President of Asset Management for Hart Advisers of Simsbury, Conn., which operates the Foundry building, said his company is still evaluating options for the space, which was originally intended for retail development.
According to Gryzbala, Loews Cineplex had been considering closing the theater for months as the bankruptcy proceedings progressed. “It’s been hard for certain styles [of theaters] to survive,” said Gryzbala. “[The Foundry is] not one of those classic, big-screen operations.”
