Coolidge Corner Theatre Looking to Expand

The Coolidge Corner Theatre is looking to expand their facility, adding a 180-seat auditorium and an additional screen to show new releases, or first-run movies, as well as new restrooms and a bigger lobby among other proposals.

Major movie distributors require a 140-seat auditorium for their first-run films. The Coolidge’s main theater seats 440 and the upstairs theater can seat 220, but the other two screening rooms have 45 and 13 seats respectively.

The Board of Selectmen praised the Coolidge Corner Theatre for their services to the town, like hosting the Brookline Together event following the bombing of the Boston Marathon.

The Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation will ask Town Meeting to vote in favor of three warrant articles, which would give the project the green light. The project would create a new theater, a bigger lobby and concession stand area, bathrooms on the first level and adequate weather protection outside the building.

The warrant article asks the town to give up an a 2,500-sqaure foot easement at the rear of the theater. The renovation would result in 11 new parking spaces in the Centre Street lot, two of which would be handicapped. The project would cost the town one parking spot, which is significant given how difficult parking already is.

The three warrant articles will be addressed at Town Meeting.