BEATRICE - It's a new look for a downtown entertainment business. The Holly theatre has a new electronic marquee, along the north side of Court Street, right across from the Cinema Center Theatres.


Mike and Shelly Schafer own Beatrice Movies, operators of the downtown theatres. This project, in the works for two years…began operating Friday.
"My son controls everything from Des Moines, and so there's a computer that he loads and controls from there. He does all the movies and all these menu boards, says Mike Schaefer, who's son Brad works in I-T and loves doing the messaging.


The new electronic board replaces an old letter-style marquee. Schaefer says he won’t miss dealing with those manual letters….and the same goes for film. The theatres converted to digital format, years ago. That old marquee dates back decades.


"That marquee was put up by Nebraska Sign back in the early 40s...their first project."


When the new board lit up for the first time, Schaefer says it got immediate attention. "It just flooded the internet. The first night we had 250 responses right away. People are stopping in the middle of the street, yelling at me. It's exciting."


Beatrice Movies received a state grant of about $56,000….with the City of Beatrice loaning the funds for the project, then being reimbursed by the grant.
Now that the new electronics are operating, Schaefer says touch-up painting will be completed on the marquee.  Across the street at the Cinema Center Theatres, Schaefer says other work is in the planning stages.


"Turning all that into digital across the street. Hopefully, all this will generate more business and we can put in some new seating in the Holly and the Cinema Two. We did Cinema One just before COVID hit."


The new Holly Theatre marquee rotates messages about movies every ten seconds….something regulated by state rules for messages displayed over right-of-way.  Schaefer says it can also be used for things like graduations or wedding announcements….as a sidelight.