The Theater has been closed since March 13th. Due to the pandemic, the Hiway, like other theaters and businesses across the country was ordered to close. We have felt it has not been safe or financially viable to reopen yet.

It has been a very hard year without ticket revenue. Our income is down 55% compared to last year. Without ticket sales, our only income is through the support of our members and friends. We have cut our expenses to the bone, but will likely end the year with a significant deficit.

We still have reserves. Thanks to many years of support by our members and friends and stable management by our Board of Directors, the Hiway entered the closure with ample operating reserves. These funds - along with the continued support of our members and donors - have allowed us to weather the closure.

Our funds should last us to the spring of 2021. The money we have in our “Closure Fund” should get us to spring 2021. We are still looking to raise additional funds and apply for grants and other forms of support, as we anticipate 2021 to be a difficult year and we also need to replenish our depleted reserves.

THANK YOU. Thank you to our members and donors. Without your support over the years and especially during the closure, we would not be able to remain in business. Thank you so much for your continued support.

The Hiway will remain closed until 2021. Over the summer, we established Three Criteria that the theater would need to reach in order to reopen safely and sustainably. Our staff and our Board have concluded that we have not yet met these three criteria and it is in the best interest for the theater to remain closed through the rest of 2020.

Three Criteria for Reopening

1. Governmental approval. Due to the rise in cases, Governor Wolf issued another close order which limits any movie theater from any operation. We had to cancel the private rentals we had booked for December and wait until this formal closure period ends. Once it does, we anticipate that we will be able to resume private rentals, but will once again have strict capacity limitations. While these enforced closures continue to be a hardship, we understand why they are in place and are following them to make sure we contribute to the continued health and safety of our community.

2. Safety Precautions for Staff and Patrons. With the ongoing conditions of the pandemic, we do not feel that we are in a suitable position to safely reopen for larger crowds. We are continuing to research the best tools and cleaning systems (foggers, air filtration, counter dividers, etc.) for when we reopen in 2021.

3. Fiscal Sustainability. Unfortunately, we do not feel that we would be able to make ends meet if we reopened now. There are not enough new films to play, and the theaters that have opened early are struggling to make ends meet or have re-closed. We stand to lose 3x more if we opened too early than if we remain closed.

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide more information regarding our 2021 reopening dates as we near the end of the year.

We will be back. Community life will eventually resume. And when it does, the Hiway will once again be the cornerstone of our community. As the theater was instrumental in the revitalization of downtown Jenkintown - we will again be a catalyst for the return to downtown and life together.

But 2021 is going to be a difficult year. We anticipate that it will take us most of 2021 and maybe into 2022 to get back to regular operation. We expect that there will be bumps along the way, but we are keeping our focus on the long-range plan and adjusting our operations accordingly.

Our vision for the future is still positive. The press may be talking about the end of movie theaters. But they are not writing about theaters like ours. Our community-supported, nonprofit theater is something more than just a movie theater. We are a community anchor to Old York Road, a location for seeing and celebrating cinematic events you cannot see elsewhere. We are a living museum of the history of moving pictures, and when this is all over, we will still be here to bring you great movies for years to come.

The “Cinema Experience” will live on at the Hiway. The pandemic may end up causing many industry-wide changes to movie theaters and movie going. We expect that a number of theaters (mostly multiplexes) in the country will not make it. But, with your support, the Hiway Theater will be there. And we envision a future in which we continue to keep the Cinema Experience alive.