A U Haul self-transport truck is parked behind the Grocery Bar on Main Street in Chattanooga in this Feb. 25, 2015, file photo.Cine-Rama, an art-house theater originally slated to open in the basement of the new Arts Building on 11th Street, will open in the former Grocery Bar building on Main Street, according to Chattanooga Film Festival Executive Director Chris Dortch.
The theater will show quality films of all genres, and will serve as a year-round classroom for arts education within Chattanooga’s arts, music and theater scene, according to Dortch. He said the CFF has had plans for a couple of years to create a space that can be used by other independent artistic groups like Muse of Fire and Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp.
Dortch said the CFF will have access to all 12,000 square feet of the space in the Main Street facility and he would like to see it used as many hours of the day as it can.
“We want the space to be a community hub,” Dortch said. “We want to have film education classes and those can be 9-5 hours.”
He said he’d like to see some independent live music and comedy shows and other “things that are interesting and cool. We think it’s a wonderful space.”