Movie theaters can open in Monterey County

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION) Monterey County announced that the county will be moving to the red tier on Wednesday, which means that movie theaters can open.

With Monterey County announcing moving to the red tier, some semblance of normalcy is returning to the central coast. This announcement comes after a year of battling with the pandemic and some residents are glad to sit down with their favorite bowl of popcorn and enjoy a movie.

Movie theaters will reopen with limited capacity to 25% or 100 people, whichever is fewer.

Theaters like Maya Cinemas in Salinas and Cinemark Monterey in Del Monte Shopping Center are set to open on Friday.

The CEO of Maya Cinemas, Francisco Schlotterbeck, says it will be exactly a year since doors were open at the theater.

"It's going to be the first time. Our management team is really excited, of course, after a year to reopen the doors again," says Schlotterbeck.

Maya Cinemas will be open but with precautions set by the CDC like wearing masks, social distancing, having hand sanitizing stations, and a reserved seating system that ensures people are socially distanced inside the theater.

Gloria Greenstein moved to Monterey moved to Monterey a month before the pandemic began and hasn't been able to see a movie. She's excited to finally be able to step foot inside.

"It would just be fun to be in a movie theater and maybe even talk to the strangers next to you even though that'd probably bother them," says Greenstein.

The CEO anticipates a huge turnout with it being a year since the Salinas location has opened.