A fresh act for a historic spot: Strand Theatre finds new life and renewed community support

Ruben Sholinyan was searching for a new house earlier this year. What he found instead was a local landmark in need of saving. 

Strand Theatre, located on Main Street in Kendallville, had brought entertainment to the community for over 100 years, but a rapidly changing industry, financial hardship, and a global pandemic made it difficult for the doors to stay open.  Sholinyan is a Michigan native who was drawn to the unique space, but as he dove in further, he found himself intrigued by the history and community behind the theater that kept the theater going for so long. 

“It was less ‘this community loves this theater’ first and more ‘it would be freaking sweet to own a movie theater,’ and that’s what drove all of it,” Sholinyan says. “But I did a ton of research, and there is just so much history behind this building.”

The two-screen movie theater was built in 1890, just 40 years after the city was established. Always a center for entertainment, the Strand was originally the Spencer Opera House and took on several identities over the decades until it found its place as the Strand Theatre in 1950.  

Since then, the theater has experienced the same trials and tribulations that caused local theaters nationwide to shut their doors. Data from the National Association of Theater Owners showed a sharp decline in movie theaters from 1995 to 2010, attributed at least partially to the rise in at-home movie experiences. 

Theaters took another major hit in 2020, like many other industries, and according to a report by Variety, they still haven’t recovered. Ticket sales in 2024 were still 23.5% lower than pandemic levels, and over 5,000 screens that shut down during COVID never reopened, the report states. 

The majority of the remaining theaters are IMAX and multiplex theaters run by major chains, according to a 2026 report by Fortune Business Insights, which hold an over 72% market share in the United States. 

According to Sholinyan, theaters run on very tight margins. The majority of revenue from ticket sales goes back to the studio in fees, and the rest goes to maintenance. He says his jaw dropped when he got the first electric bill. CNBC reported in 2023 that most major movie chains attribute roughly 40% of their revenue to concessions, which have a much greater profit margin. 

The budget is even tighter for a theater like the Strand that prioritizes affordability. Adult tickets run $6, and kids 12 & under, veterans, seniors 55+, and matinee tickets all just $4. Keeping prices low brings in more customers, but the theater has to walk a tight line of affordability and financial insecurity.

The Strand had to consider shutting its doors in 2013, when changes in industry standards required the theater to switch from film prints to digital projectors to show first-run movies. The owner at the time, Bruce Babbitt, shared with the community that the $110,000 necessary was far outside the theater’s budget, according to KPC News.

When the East Noble High School History Club heard the beloved theater was in peril, they stepped in. According to the Clio, the club started a “Save the Strand: Keep the Lights On” campaign, bringing the community together to fundraise for the upgrade.

Within less than six months, they had raised the funds needed, reported KPC News. The Kendallville Redevelopment Commission formally purchased the equipment using the funds, so as the theater changed hands over time, the projection equipment would remain safe.

In February 2020, the Robbins family purchased the Strand with high hopes, but within a month the theater was once again in dire straits. In March 2020, Governor Holcomb enacted stay-at-home orders in response to COVID-19, and the theater was forced to shut down its screens. 

Once again, the community responded. In a 2021 interview with WANE, Kevin Robbins recalled community members lining up for over an hour in March and April 2020 to purchase concessions to keep the business afloat. 

Throughout 2020, the theater was forced to open and close at the whim of the virus. In August of that year, they faced another financial road bump as heavy winds damaged the lighted marquee. The unexpected cost was salt in the wound of the already struggling business. 

The community continued to give their all to the theater. Over $4,000 was raised on GoFundMe for repairs, and gift certificates and t-shirt sales rose to supplement the gap.

Traci Surber, a Kendallville local of over 30 years,  remembers the theater’s struggles clearly and called the community response a testament to the city’s love for the theater. 

“I think it speaks a lot to the community itself that so many smaller theaters have died out and not been able to make a comeback, but this town shows up over and over for that theater and whoever is running it, and I think the success of the theater comes directly from the community,” she says.

The Robbins family kept the business afloat for a few more years, but in April, they announced on Facebook they were going to step away from the business to pursue other passions and a new owner would be stepping in. Then in May, Sholinyan introduced himself as the new owner.

When it came time to purchase the property from the Robbins, Sholinyan worked tirelessly with David Dressler from Midwest America FCU to find a way to seal the deal. Knowing the slim margins of the industry, his goal was to make the initial investment as low as possible so he could pour money into bringing the theater back to its former glory. 

“I wasn’t going to put cash into the purchase, because in my mind that was me giving money to the bank versus the community,” Sholinyan says. “Every dollar I put down on the purchase was one less that could go into taking care of the community’s investment, the theater.”

It was Dressler who got him connected with the Brightpoint Community Development Fund. Their small business loan is designed to “provide capital to expand operations, scale, or reach new milestones”, according to the website. The low interest fees make it an accessible starting point for small business owners. For Sholinyan, the loan was the difference between taking over the Strand or having to move on.

“Without Brightpoint, I wouldn’t have gone through with the deal,” Sholinyan says.

The Strand closed for one month for the transition. During that time, Sholinyan brought in a staff of nine locals, almost double the previous staff. Surber was one of the nine brought on, and she says during this time, their goal was to make the Strand a theater where the community could walk in and be proud of. 

May 29 was the Strand’s grand reopening. That weekend, 353 community members showed up to support, according to the theater’s Facebook page. Surber says the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We’ve gotten nothing but great feedback from community members,” she says. “They come in, they love the changes that have been made, they like the colors, they like the show times and everything that he’s doing.”

In his introduction post, Sholinyan said his mission for the Strand was “to be a community-first and community-driven theater.” He wanted the theater to give back to the community that had given so much to it. 

He prioritized working with and highlighting local businesses during the remodel and reopening, including Hosler Realty and Relentless Tile & Remodeling. Since reopening, the theater has started a free summer movie series for kids and implemented sensory-friendly showtimes. 

The theater hosted a contest for children in the community to design a Little Free Library for the theater. With 31 entries and over 600 votes, they settled on bringing three of the designs to life, with the help of Relentless Tile & Remodeling. The goal was to make the youths’ art a part of the town’s history forever.

With the reopening, the theater expanded from eight weekly showtimes to 28, and Surber has noticed the news of the extended showtimes spreading in the community and believes the theater’s success will only grow. She says she can’t wait to be a part of it.

“I’m excited to see where we go from here,” she says. “We are brand new, and there’s so many ideas that Ruben wants to put into place, and I’m just excited to see where we go and how we can grow the theater and make it more successful.”

This story is made possible by Brightpoint.