Grand Illusion Cinema hunts for new home as lease nears end

An independent movie theater in Seattle is preparing to move after more than 50 years.

The Grand Illusion Cinema announced Wednesday that it plans to leave its home at 1403 NE 50th St. in the University District early next year. The theater's lease expires in February, and the building owner has opted not to renew it, the theater said.

“Our plan has always been to relocate the cinema and build an even grander Grand Illusion,” Executive Director Brian Alter said in a news release. “We are deeply grateful for our home of the past 50+ years, but now we are moving up the timing of that relocation plan.”

The theater opened as The Movie House in 1970 as Seattle's first independent art house cinema, showing foreign and classic films. It was renamed the Grand Illusion in 1979 under new ownership.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2024/10/02/grand-illusion-cinema-lease-ending-u-district.html

Haven't been there in decades. With streaming it's very rare that I see a movie in the theater these days.