Caitlin Able

The Bassham family has brought Hollywood to McMinnville for over 40 years, but they have been forced to shut their doors due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

After this health crisis passes, the owners are unclear if they will be able to keep Three Star Cinema running.

“Owning any small business is hard all the time - especially in times like these,” said Robert Bassham, in a social media post announcing the shutdown. “We want to be a refuge and a happy place for our customers. When it comes down to it, though, our customers and our staff are family to us.”

Robert and Wanda Bassham have truly made a family business of the theater, by bringing in their son Teddy, who worked at the theater until his death last year, and the entire Hobbs family, who have helped run the theater for nearly 20 years.

In the four decades since its opening, Three Star Cinema has remained committed to staying open for the public, even holding family Christmases at the theater to allow customers to come in for the holidays.

Three Star Cinema was opened in the late ‘80s, out on the edge of town beside the shopping mall, and it was followed closely by the shutdown of McMinnville’s Park Theater, which had opened on downtown Main Street in 1939.

Both theaters were owned by the Cumberland Entertainment Company prior to their privatization, when Robert Bassham, president, sold the Park.

Nowadays, the mall that brought in weekend crowds of family moviegoers sees only the occasional walker, but townspeople still make an effort to come support the local theater.

“I’m a huge movie person, so when me and my fiance go here for a movie night, it’s always very nice,” said McMinnville native Asia Cole, in a Facebook post. “The staff are very lovely and engage with the customers when they can, and I feel like a member of the family!”

As the only multiplex in town, the theater is a staple in McMinnville’s community, but they were experiencing difficulties even before the pandemic required them to close.

Digitally-released movies through services like VUDU and Amazon Prime have been affecting chain theaters for some time, but privately-owned theaters are taking the brunt of the loss.

“Movies going straight to digital was a concern a few months back, but the film companies didn’t actually go through with it,” said Julie Hobbs, a manager at Three Star. “Now that they have - and if it becomes financially worthwhile - it may become the norm, and this may be the end of our small town theater.”

Updates in film technology have required the family theater to upgrade their equipment recently and purchase digital projectors, which has created greater need for customers in order to keep the theater running.

“Since we went digital, there was a significant loan taken out to purchase the new projectors,” said Hobbs. “If we are closed and no money comes in for too long, the bank may just own the theater.”

While restaurants, breweries, and even hair salons can adjust to take-away service, movie theaters are forced to sit in silence and wait for the storm to pass.