Lincoln Grand offers lower admissions and great popcorn deals under new ownership with VIP Cinemas

 

[July 15, 2021] 

To drive through Lincoln at 9 p.m. of an evening and see the Lincoln Grand Theater lit up once again like the palace it was designed to resemble is heartwarming and encouraging. To go inside and catch that luscious smell of popcorn with extra butter and see staff behind the counter waiting to scoop you up some is even more exciting.

Indeed, after a long hiatus the Lincoln Grand Theater is once again open and ready to serve our community with quality entertainment in the form of the latest Hollywood releases.

The Grand officially opened last Thursday and according to Director of Operations for VIP Cinemas Josh Ward, Lincoln Grand has been a good fresh start for the theater. Ward said that there has been a good turnout of movie goers in the first few days. He noted that the foot traffic over the weekend was busy, but not overwhelming.
 

The Lincoln Grand has been purchased by VIP Cinemas, which owns and operates 15 theaters. The company has been in business for 10 years and has knowledge and experience in what it takes to keep a small town theater productive.

Ward said that one of the first things they did was look at the previous price structure at the Lincoln Grand 8, and adjust the admission costs downward.

Weekday matinees are only $4.99 per person. Evenings during the week are $5.99 and weekend evening tickets are $6.99 each. Ward said that the VIP Buckets of popcorn are very popular and commented, “You people sure love your popcorn!” Indeed it is a special worth taking advantage of if you do love your popcorn. Buy into the VIP Cinema Bucket Club for $12.95 and get $2 refills for all of 2021. There is also “Senior Monday” and “Tuesday All Day” special pricing for a little more incentive for people to enjoy a movie during the week. No admission is charged for toddlers under the age of two years old, so coming to the show is definitely babysitter optional.

Ward said that right now the Grand is operating four of its eight movie rooms, all in the newest part of the theater building. He added that the fifth viewing room in the new section should be up and running in the near future as there were some technical equipment issues that have to be addressed. The future plans for the older section of the building are not yet determined.

Ward noted that he personally will not be staying at the Lincoln Grand. The company brings in an experienced person to get the new locations up and running smoothly, then a search is conducted for a local person to take over site management. He said that will probably be done within the next month or so, as things are going well.

He said it was also noteworthy to mention that there is at least one very familiar face back at the theater. Richard Casad, who ran the original Lincoln Theater for several years, is back on the payroll in a part time position.

Ward said that there were many guests who had been excited and happy to see Richard’s familiar face back at the theater.

The theater opened last week with four top rated films, Black Widow, Boss Baby, Cruella and F9. These movies are scheduled to play into next week.

The Lincoln Grand is located at 225 South Kickapoo in Lincoln. Theater hours are Monday through Thursday, 1 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Weekend hours for Friday through Sunday are 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. There are multiple show times for each movie and schedules are posted on the theater website and Facebook pages. Tickets are also sold in advance online via the website.

Visit the website at Lincoln Cinemas.

Ward said that the process of opening the theater is one step at a time. Movies are playing. The website and social media is now up and running and soon the theater will have an official phone number.

As it is with any business, the support of the community is what is needed to keep the doors open at the Lincoln Grand.

Ward said that excitement is high for the re-opening right now, and he hopes that the support will continue after the newness wares off. With lower prices, new releases, and the same beautiful and comfortable theater that we all remember, the incentive to stay local for movie going opportunities should be high.

A ribbon cutting ceremony is being planned for Friday, July 23rd. Time and details to be announced.

All are encouraged to come out and support this new push to have a successful theater in Lincoln.

[Nila Smith]