Augusta Historic Theatre decided that this year it will play classic older movies during the second weekend of each month.

“We hope that by playing these movies they can draw in viewers from the wider metropolitan area around Augusta, the majority of which are unaware that our theater exists,” director of the Augusta Arts Council Michael Carmody said.

The theater has been playing a mix of new movies and older films for many years

“New things for 2019 is our classic film series,” Carmody said. “Which features different older films every second weekend each month,” Carmody said.

The movies that get played are chosen by the members of the board

“New or old may be available and then choose the ones we think the public may be most excited to come to see,” Carmody said.

The theater is remarkable in having both traditional 35mm film projectors and a modern digital projector. The theater shows movies on actual film stock or digital files sent to them on a special hard drive.

“Few modern theaters in operation today have the capability to do both, so I’m glad we have the privilege to us both,” Carmody said.

By playing the throwback movies, they hope people not only in Augusta get drawn by the older movies.

“It’s our hope that offering beloved titles will help draw in movie lovers from not just Augusta but the surrounding area,” Carmody said.

The theater is trying to get people from all over Kansas to join them at the Historic theater to view its artwork and production.

“We hope that once a person comes to our beautiful theater for the first time, he or she will return over and over again,” Carmody said.