The Sierra Community Theatre in Jefferson has been closed for a few weeks, but is scheduled to open on Friday.

Manager Sarah Nicholson says new seating has been installed in the theater area, which not only includes a cup holder for every chair, but the chairs no longer fold up when people are getting up from their seats.

“They stay seating, which means just for cleaning purposes we have to have more space in front of them, which is going to be really helpful for people who are taller, or have longer legs or knee problems, ankle problems, things like that, super helpful.”  

Nicholson explains that the two major improvement projects, with the exterior being done first, was due to some fortunate luck, but with some thoughtful planning as well.

“We did the outside in the summer, partially because the weather was good, but we also did it because like, we were going to hopefully have a good uptick in people and we didn’t want to close over the summer. (Movie) Theaters typically have their busiest seasons in the summer and the winter. Their slowest seasons, conversely, are about September and January. We do have lower numbers typically in September. But yeah, that was kind of the driving forces of where we were at.”     

The Sierra Theatre also announces a public open house that is scheduled for 4:30pm on Saturday, ahead of the 7pm showing “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” which opens this Friday. 

Nicholson appreciates the grants that they received from Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation and the Greene County Community Foundation. She adds that they are currently underway with their fundraising campaign, which is especially important since they were closed for a few weeks to renovate the interior. Monetary donations can be mailed to their P.O. Box 346 in Jefferson, or mailed to 212 East State Street, Jefferson, IA 50129.