Williamstown's Images Cinema Plans to Double Its Impact
The 150-seat movie house will be split into a 70-seat theater and a 19-seat screening room.
The non-profit art house movie theater Tuesday launches the public phase of a $2.2 million capital campaign to add a second screen to the 109-year-old venue.
"This plan would allow us to increase programming and better serve a multiplicity of audiences and demographics, which have become increasingly important as younger families are moving into the area," Images Executive Director Dan Hudson said last month.
"North Adams does not have a multiplex, which was kind of where people could go before for some of your 'Wickeds' or your 'Barbies' or things of that nature, which we're getting more requests to show at Images without that theater being available."
Hudson was making his case to the town's Community Preservation Committee after Images applied for $51,197 in Community Preservation Act funding — 2.4 percent of the project's total budget.
Ultimately, the committee decided to advance the grant request, along with eight other non-profits seeking funds in fiscal year 2026, at a level lower than each of the applicants asked, about 64 percent given the CPA funds expected to be available in the year that begins July 1.
In Images' case, the CPC advanced a warrant article that will ask annual town meeting in May to approve a $33,000 allotment of CPA money toward the renovation.
At the Jan. 22 meeting, Hudson told the CPC that 99 percent of the programming at the single-screen Images does not use its 150-seat auditorium at capacity.
"Not only would we right-size the main auditorium, but doing so would allow us to fit in a second screening room within the current floor plan of our existing 150-seat theater, which would allow us to have simultaneous new release films, in a way that we are not currently able, to accommodate all the requests for films that we get from the community currently," Hudson said.
According to Images' application to the town, the redevelopment of the space is part of a business model that Hudson and the Images board have created to keep the theater operational.
"This project is crucial for maintaining Images Cinema as a key cultural hub in Williamstown and Northern Berkshire County," the application reads in part. "Diversifying and expanding revenue streams allows us to offer a wider range of programming that appeals to audiences of all ages, bringing these programs to market at their peak potential. … As an anchor business on Spring Street, our success and vitality is an economic driver, especially for the local restaurants where people eat before or after visiting Images."
Hudson told the CPC that Images has a long-term lease with Ross Hoffman, the owner of the Walden Building, and he is supportive of the non-profit's plan to transform the theater — a plan that already is under way with the opening of a renovated lounge in May 2024.
Phase 1 of the project also included feasibility studies, design work and extensive fund-raising behind the scenes.
According to a news release from Images, it has raised more than $1.3 million toward the project's $2.2 million price tag.
Earlier funding included a $200,000 contribution from Williams College and a $40,000 grant from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.
Now, Images is looking for more support from the public at large for its "Look Forward" capital campaign.
The kickoff comes on March 2 at 6 p.m. when Images hosts its annual Red Carpet Party to coincide with the Academy Award ceremony in Los Angeles. Attendees at this year's party will get a look at plans for the planned new Images with a 70-seat theater and 19-seat screening room.
Participants in the Red Carpet Party also will be able to donate for recognition on a personalized seat plate in the renovated theater.
At the January meeting of the Community Preservation Committee, the panel discussed whether renovation and remodeling actually falls under the Community Preservation Act's "historic preservation" provision.
Nate Budington, who represents the Historical Commission on the CPC, reported that while the theater's request is a "gray area" under the enabling legislation, the town obtained an opinion that it is an acceptable use of CPA funds.
"One of the reasons there are more rules around historic preservation is there's more room for abuse with historic preservation projects," Budington said. "'Abuse' may be a harsh term, but I think what the people who wrote the original legislation were concerned about was town governments using historic preservation funds for, essentially, routine maintenance on town-owned buildings.
"[CPC Chair Philip McKnight] vetted this application through the Community Preservation Coalition in Boston, who are the experts. He ran [Images application and one from the Store at Five Corners] by them, and they felt that they may be fuzzy, but they're on the right side of the regulations. So they do qualify."
Hudson, the Images executive director, leaned into the theater's historic place in his presentation to the town board.
"Since 1916, it is the sixth-oldest operating movie theater in all of New England, and as far as cultural affiliated institutions in the Berkshires, if you were to count the entire county, only the Berkshire Museum and Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center are the only two older continuously operating cultural institutions in the area," Hudson said.
"With that, we did receive an historic designation from the Historical Commission here in Williamstown."
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