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After nearly a year of major renovations, the historic Dundee Theater in Omaha is set to reopen later today. Built in 1925, it’s been a nearly constant part of the community for almost a century, and with more than $7 million in upgrades, could be around for a lot longer.
When we visited the Dundee Theater ten months ago, there was a lot of taking apart and ripping out going on, with piles or old seats and other junk from a building that had been empty for several years. Now, there’s a lot of putting together, new life for a theater that has guarded the corner of 50th and Dodge for decades.
“It’s just going to be a lot of fun turning the theater back over to people to experience movies again,” Film Streams Deputy Director Casey Logan said.
Inside Dundee Theater after renovation. (Photo by Jack Williams, NET News)
As he stands at the back of a room that has hosted thousands of films over the years, Logan can see both the past and the future. The non-profit owns the theater after it was purchased and then donated by the Omaha-based Sherwood Foundation. It had been closed since 2013 after years as one of the last single-screen theaters in Omaha.
“I see it as kind of this through-line through Omaha history,” Logan said. “It’s one of those spaces where people, since 1925 in Omaha, have enjoyed, have experienced the movies in this room, and that’s something that’s really special.”
For nearly a year, the theater has undergone major renovations and has even expanded a bit. There are new, modern projection and sound systems, a bigger lobby, a small bookstore, a 25-seat micro-cinema and a restaurant partner, Kitchen Table Central. But the most noticeable update might be the 300 new, comfortable, royal blue theater seats.
Looking toward the front of Dundee Theater. (Photo by Jack Williams, NET News)
“The view from the front of the theater looking back at the blue seats is just gorgeous right now,” Logan said. “It’s just got that very royal blue, that luster to the seats that really looks great and it recalls what’s been here for so many years.”
Getting into the theater will also be a little different. Instead of navigating the narrow, sloping sidewalk along Dodge, movie-goers will use an entrance in the rear of the building. For Logan and Film Streams, this is more than just a neighborhood cinema for Dundee.
“This is a neighborhood cinema for the entire city and we really see it as for the entire region. We hope that people see it that way,” Logan said. “We know that people in the immediate area are very excited, but this is going to mean so much in terms of Film Streams’ programming in what we’re able to bring to Omaha and what we’re able to bring to Nebraska.”
25-seat micro-cinema at Dundee Theater. (Photo by Jack Williams, NET News)
In the lobby of the theater, Logan and Kristine Gerber, the executive director of Restoration Exchange Omaha, admire old metal grates that have been reused. They also stand on original floors near some of the old theater chairs that were saved when the building was gutted.
“To be able to see those original Terrazzo floors, to be able to see those metal grates that were used on the heating units that they’ve reused those and that they’ve saved some of those chairs so people can still, while they’re waiting to get in at the theater, they can still sit in those chairs,” Gerber said. “And those chairs are going to bring memories back to people.”
Gerber, whose organization is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of old homes and buildings in Omaha, believes saving the Dundee Theater is a good example for towns all across the state.
Kristine Gerber of Restoration Exchange Omaha and Casey Logan of Film Streams. (Photo by Jack Williams, NET News)
“This is going to be a draw for the community and a really strong anchor for the neighborhood and these things could be duplicated in other neighborhoods across Omaha and across main streets across Nebraska,” Gerber said.
As workers put the finishing touches on the theater, Casey Logan says it’s the continuation of an important part of Omaha’s history.
“What we were hoping for is that people stepped into the theater and felt like they were returning to a place that they knew, and I think that’s been accomplished,” he said.
The Dundee Theater re-opens with a screening of the new documentary “Jane”, director Brett Morgan’s story about Jane Goodall and her wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. Later this month, Omaha native Alexander Payne’s new movie, Downsizing, premiers at the theater. Film Streams will now have four screens in Omaha, including two at the Ruth Sokolof Theater near downtown.