The Beltonian Theatre is under new ownership and reopening its doors, with new owners Katie and Joey Carlin ready to restore the historic downtown Belton landmark while creating a community gathering space for generations to come.
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Gina Jackson, a Belton neighbor, said the reopening carries deep personal meaning for her family.
"My parents and their parents used to come here. Now with the grand reopening, we're bringing my mom, my brother, my sisters, my son, my daughters, you know, just to have a little get-together for my mom. My mom didn't get to watch it on the big screen, and this is her big screen debut for her."
Jackson is among many Belton neighbors passing down the tradition of visiting the Beltonian. The theatre was closed and on the market for many months before the Carlins took over.
Joey Carlin said the new ownership wants to offer moviegoers an experience that stands apart from larger theaters.
"This has to be something just a little bit different from those experiences, right? And so again, we're hoping that, you know, when kids watch Frozen here, and then you get the snow bubbles coming down in the middle of the movie. You know, things like that, that just set it a little bit apart."
The more than 100-year-old theatre has welcomed Belton families for generations, and the Carlins said restoring its historic charm is central to their vision.
"That was our big mission statement there, not just to have a theater from the 1920s, but to feel like you kind of walk through time. This is just the first step. We have a lot of planned renovations. So in the early fall, we're hoping to do a big renovation on the front marquee," Carlin said.
The Carlins said they want the Beltonian to belong to everyone in the community.
"We wanna make this a community space, right? We want this to be a place that really is everyone's theater. And giving us feedback, we, this is our, this is the big community project here we want everyone to have a say in it and see what they want. They want to see here," Katie and Joey Carlin said.
The owners said the next two years will be a restoration period, during which they still plan to show a mix of modern releases and classic films.
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