Coolidge Corner Theatre’s new expansion is ready for its close up

The historic Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline is a cinematic gem, and a beloved throwback to the classic era of moviegoing. Now, after 10 years of planning, fundraising, designing and construction, the art deco movie house’s expansion is ready for its close up.

For decades, cinephiles have lined up outside the Coolidge’s box office window, which is tucked in an alley off Harvard Street.

Julia Campitelli, 28, remembered joining the happy fray, umbrella in hand, before Taylor Swift’s concert documentary.

“People just love the Coolidge so much that they don't mind queuing outside when it's cold or hot or raining,” she said.

As he stepped up to get a ticket for “Dune: Part Two,” fellow fan Andrew Bruss recalled how he took his love for the non-profit movie house to another level.

“I actually married my wife here during COVID,” Bruss, 38, said, “we had about four people in the building and we streamed it all on Zoom.”

But the tradition of speaking to a theater employee at this window is coming to an end with the debut of the Coolidge’s new wing. Box office supervisor Ginny Hamlin is excited for the changes, but, through the well-used intercom, expressed nostalgia for the vintage booth.

“I know it's been here for so long," she said. “I hope it is enshrined somehow.”

“We're going to keep the window, absolutely,” Coolidge Foundation executive director and CEO Katherine Tallman said, “The ticket functioning will be gone, but it'll still be part of the Coolidge.”

Like her devout, film-savvy staff members, Tallman’s affection for the Coolidge runs deep. She started coming to the theater as often as she could after moving to Brookline in 1987, and eventually joined the Coolidge's board of trustees.

“The motivations for this expansion, which started as a vision 15 years ago or more, [was that] we need lobby space, we need better amenities for our customers, we need more screens and seats to accommodate the films we would have,” Tallman said.

Film-goers have returned in full force for Hollywood classics, cult favorites, international films and new releases since the Coolidge reopened after its 14-month pandemic closure. The quirky, retro lobby fills up, especially on weekends.

“It gets very crowded, and one thing that happens is people who want to buy concessions have to wait going up the stairs,” Tallman said. “During ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ they were waiting all the way back to our offices, three people thick."

Now a second, larger concessions area — plus a long indoor ticketing counter — are in the Coolidge’s spacious new lobby that’s been built onto the historic building’s backside. An off-white, brick facade floats above the entrance’s exterior, like an undulating theater curtain.

The bright interior has floor-to-ceiling windows, digital menu screens and a prominent donor wall. About 1,000 people and institutions have given more than $14 million to the fundraising campaign that ramped up during the pandemic. Despite overwhelming uncertainty, Tallman said, “Everybody was so excited."

Deputy director Beth Gilligan is especially thrilled about the Coolidge’s new education center upstairs because it will enable the theatre to host more classes and seminars.

“There’s so much interest from the community,” Gilligan said, “before now we’ve only been able to offer film classes on Tuesday mornings.” The Coolidge also hired its first director of education and will be launching a youth education program in the fall.

The 14,000 square-foot addition also boasts two state-of-the-art theaters. Movie House 5 has 149 seats and an immersive audio system designed by Boston Light & Sound. The room’s sound-absorbing walls, along with its seats, are an eye-popping, technicolor red.

Tallman said the architects at Howeler + Yoon found inspiration in films including, “The Wizard of Oz” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.” They also wanted to blend the Coolidge’s future with its past.

The 1906 building originally housed a church, then a depression-era movie palace. It became an arthouse cinema in 1970s. Tallman remembers when the Coolidge almost shut its doors for good in the late '80’s, but a community-driven grassroots campaign saved the theater. That’s when it became a non-profit foundation.

On our tour, Tallman took a peek inside the new projection booth. The sound of servers whirring filled the space.

"Everything, of course, is digital now,” she said.

Then we headed into Movie House 6, which is drenched in deep blue and holds 54 people.

“One thing you'll see throughout is that handicapped accessibility is just significantly better here because it's not an old building, and it's all up to code,” Tallman said. “It has comfortable seats, and what you see on the screen is either going to be one of our curated feature films or a classic film.”

For programming director Mark Anastasio, the expansion “all equals more.” Adding two screens to the original building’s four means he can bring in additional first-run films, along with the classics audiences have been clamoring for.

“We’ve gone from offering an older movie on screen once or twice a week to every night of the week,” he said.

People of all ages have been flocking to watch favorites like David Lynch’s “Eraserhead” on old-school 35 millimeter film. “It’s become cool,” Anastasio said, “it's seeing a resurgence, like vinyl records.”

The vintage 35 and 70 mm projectors in the Coolidge’s historic building will, of course, keep humming along. While looking around the majestic, main movie house Tallman said it contains the gestalt of a hundred years.

“It’s been this community gathering place for a long time — like when we recently honored Ruth Carter — there’s just so much joy that happens here, and it becomes part of the fabric.”

Mark Anastasio said there’s something else that won't change: the 1950’s pre-show reel that runs before every movie. “We’re keeping that,” he assured, “I mean, it's a classic.”

The two cinematic icons that influenced the expansion's design will light up the screens in the Coolidge’s new movie houses for its first public screenings on opening day, March 27. Fans can click their heels for “The Wizard of Oz” and encounter some seminal artificial intelligence in “2001: A Space Odyssey.”