Trying to reopen Osio Theater might be crazy, but someone’s gotta dream big.

Sara Rubin here, trying to remember the last time I saw a movie in the movie theater. The thing is, I love going to movies. I just don’t do it as often as I’d like to for all the reasons that you probably don’t do it as often as you might like to: The schedule is tough, the films showing aren’t the ones I’d like to see. We’re all used to streamable convenience from our own couches, plus my husband is an expert at making popcorn. 

So I’m opening by admitting that yes, I am part of the problem. I probably don’t go to movie theaters enough, and movie theaters are struggling. Before it closed in 2020, I used to go see movies with some frequency at the Osio Theater in Monterey (and yes, I hereby acknowledge, I could have gone more). As with many things, we realize how much we relied on its presence only in its absence. 

I’m not the only person who feels that way. A group of friends/colleagues/compatriots behind the newly formed Osio Arts Foundation (nonprofit status pending) is hoping to reopen the Osio as a cinema and performing arts space. Right now it’s an idea more than a plan—a budget, for example, is TBD, and negotiations with the building owner have yet to commence—but it’s an ambitious idea with a lot of enthusiasm behind it. 

Staff writer Agata Popęda captured that enthusiasm in a news story that’s out in the Sept. 25 issue of the Weekly. She and I were fortunately able to attend the first meeting of this new group, an opportunity to see how the sausage is made, so to speak. They shared ideas, got volunteers to commit to joining their nascent board and made plans for a tour of the building that formerly housed the theater and beloved Cafe Lumiere. On that tour, I was struck by the old candy samples still displayed in a locked glass case of the concession counter. 

I’ve found myself wondering, in times like these, when so many issues of such immense gravity demand our attention all the time, is it frivolous to focus on something like reviving an old theater? In posing this question to folks, I’ve gotten lots of persuasive answers; some come from Monterey Mayor Tyller Williamson (you can read more from him in Popęda’s story) who is interested in addressing blight, transforming a vacant property into a tax-generating one. 

There’s also something more intangible, I think. During times in which there is so much turmoil and so much real suffering, those who have the privilege to focus on doing things to enrich our communities have a responsibility to do so. 

When chaos reigns, let’s try to do nice things for each other and our neighborhoods. There’s no better time.