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Ryan Oestreich strolls down the aisle of the Heights Theater, an auditorium that glows red from the cherry red leather seats to the ruby red stage curtain. Twinkling chandeliers light his way, and he stops at a creamy white Wurlitzer organ. 

“This is kind of like a living museum,” Oestrich says. “You walk into the room, and it disarms you and you realize: old things can still be new and fresh and around.”

Columbia Heights single-screen 240-seat cinema

On the eve of the cinema’s centennial — it was built in 1926 as a silent movie theater complete with orchestra pit — longtime owner Tom Letness passed the reins to Oestreich and the Music Box Theater, a historic Chicago cinema. 

On Jan. 1, Letness screened his last film, “Holiday Inn,” a longtime Heights tradition, to a sold-out crowd.

Letness purchased the theater with a former partner in 1998. They worked on restoring the building to its original Beaux Arts design (originally built by brewery heir Arthur Gluek), as well as bringing back an organ which a previous owner had removed.

“The main goal of it really was to grow the audience and to make the Heights — I call it a global destination, meaning drawing from all throughout the Twin Cities metro area,” Letness says. 

“The only way you're really going to do that is if you have something that's going to make people want to get in their car and go there,” he adds.

Letness also built a following through carefully curated programming. The theater runs three projectors — one digital and two 30/70mm film — screening everything from holiday classics to fan favorites like “The Shining,” “The Princess Bride” and “The Wizard of Oz.” 

During his tenure, the Heights also had an annual Hitchcock series, rare East German films and silent films accompanied by a live organist. 

After 27 years, Letness decided it was time to retire.

“They know what they're doing,” Letness says of Music Box. “I don't think I'm going to come up with an opportunity like this to pass this on and have it continue operating as a movie theater the way I've been doing it.”

Oestrich, who is originally from Chaska, says many of the traditions that Letness started during his tenure will remain, like “Holiday Inn” and “White Christmas. “

They will build on that with more events, including late-night showings and a 70mm film festival this summer. 

The new general manager, Jeremy Marder, who has relocated to Columbia Heights from the Music Box, will also expand kid programming with weekly Saturday morning viewings. 

“I am an animation obsessive,” Marder says. “I looked around the Minnesota community — and there's so much that is being served to this community — [but] one thing that we noticed is that there just could be more family programming.”

This “Cartoons & Classic” series will kick off 11 a.m. Jan. 10 with “The Iron Giant.” The theater will officially reopen on Jan. 9 with the new Jim Jarmusch film, “Father Mother Sister Brother” and the 1982 sci-fi horror flick “The Thing.”

Oestrich says they hope to mark the theater’s centennial later this year.

“We’d like to have a big 100th celebration, a big birthday party of sorts,” Oestrich says. “People have been going to the movies for a very long time, and this venue is probably one of the oldest.”

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