The Homer Theater has been a part of the community since 1963. It’s gone through several different owners, including Jamie and Lynette Sutton. After running the theater for more than 20 years, the family sold it this month.
Signs jokingly teased the arrival of a new business replacing the longstanding Homer Theater earlier this month. From a jet ski rental store to a gourmet hot dog emporium, the signs built up to an announcement of the Porcupine Theater arriving in Homer.
The new owners have big plans for the space. Susannah Webster is one of four new co-owners. She said renovations are underway to make the theater more accessible.
“The bathrooms we are enlarging and moving into that space as well. So we'll have a men's and women's room, as well as a third ADA-compliant family bathroom,” Webster said.
She said the new movie lineup will look different than what the community is used to, with Porcupine Theater focusing on slightly older movies over new releases.
“Our goal is to increase the diversity of content. Have different genres of movies, so that horror buffs or people who love sappy romantic dramas, or people that like sci-fi, really there's something for everyone every month that they don't have to wait for a new release to come out in their particular favorite genre,” Webster said.
Balder Neumann-Hunting is another co-owner along with Rosanna Hunting and Nate Spence-Chorman. Neumann-Hunting said he’s excited about using the theater for more than movies. He highlighted plans to explore challenging topics through screening movies followed by discussions with mental health professionals.
He said they also want to use the space for live performances, but they’re unsure of how much money they can put towards renovations to make that happen.
"My passions are more like live music and life events and life performances and stuff like that. So we're really hoping to fit towards the tail end of our budget, if there's money left after the necessary renovations, to spend that on upgrading the seats, and also trying to find a PA system for live performances and the lighting required,” Neuman-Hunting said.
Before the sale officially went through, Jamie Sutton and his son McCandless reflected on the positive experiences they had while owning the theater. Jamie said one of the most memorable aspects for them was interacting with moviegoers.
“You're just sort of caught in the stream, sort of the river of happy folks and ask them how much butter and how much salt and how much yeast they want to have on their bottom is not a difficult task,” Jamie said.
“They come in with a pre-qualified good mood, right? So, we just make it better, yeah, like Parmesan yeast, you know, triple layer with the butter and salt, et cetera,” McCandless added.
The new owners hope to screen their first movie in December.
