The Byrd Theatre is onto the last leg of its seat replacement project. (Jackie DiBartolomeo photo)
The Byrd Theatre is onto its next leg of improvements.
The Carytown theater embarked Monday on the third and final phase of its seat replacement project, removing the seats in the side sections of the movie hall to replace them with updated, wider seats.
Expected to be completed around Sept. 5, this phase of the project will replace the former 19-inch-wide side-section seats with 22- to 24-inch-wide seats made by Michigan-based Irwin Seating Company. They’ll match the already-updated seats in the middle of the theater and on the balcony. The seat replacement will also move the rows slightly for some more legroom for patrons.
Local construction company Daniel & Company is the general contractor for the project.
During the side seats’ replacement, the theater will remain open for showings, but seating will only be available in the theater’s balcony and ADA seating section, Byrd Theatre Executive Director Ben Cronly said this week.
By the end of the project, the theater will have around 930 fixed seats and will be able to accommodate around 980 guests, including ADA accommodation areas, Cronly said. The theater previously had a total of around 1,100 seats, with 950 seats being used.
The project is part of the Byrd’s Pull Up A Seat campaign, which began raising money last year to replace the theater’s balcony seating and side-section seats, along with adding two additional ADA-accessible platforms.
The theater’s middle seats were replaced back in 2017, while the balcony seats were replaced earlier this year in a project that finished up in March.
Funded through patrons and donors, the project total is currently expected to come in at around $660,000, Cronly said.
Seats on the Byrd’s side sections have been removed. (Courtesy Ben Cronly)
The theater received a $315,000 donation from Byrd Theatre Foundation Board of Directors chair Martin Davenport back in October that was earmarked for the seat replacement project. The donation covered all costs for seat replacement in the balcony.
With additional funds being raised, the theater now has around $14,000 left to raise of the $660,000 goal, Cronly said.
“We actually have a matching grant to be able to cover that from the board of directors,” he said.
Cronly said the Byrd hopes to have that remaining $14,000 in hand by mid-June.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Cronly said. “This project was started in 2017, so (we’re) being able to say look, we’ve finished it, we’re done with it.”
But the Byrd isn’t completely finished with the seats after the new side section seats are installed, Cronly said. It also plans to replace the fabric on the seats with a similar pattern and material to what was used on the original seats back in 1928.
That project would be on the order of a few years from now, Cronly added, as the theater wants to do other restoration of plaster work and the electrical system in the meantime. Much of the Byrd’s electrical system remains from its early years, Cronly said.
“There’s a lot of stuff to do still to bring this theater up to date, and to move it forward. We want to get all of that work done prior to replacing the seats’ fabric,” he said. “We don’t want the dust from plaster work and from painting and everything to possibly ruin that fabric.”
The Byrd Theatre opened in 1928 at 2908 W. Cary St. and is both a Virginia Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places. The Byrd Theatre Foundation, which owns and runs the theater, was formed in 2002.
The Byrd Theatre Foundation operated with $1.98 million in revenue and $1.44 million in annual expenses, according to its most recent public financial reports issued to the IRS in 2024.
The Byrd Theatre is onto the last leg of its seat replacement project. (Jackie DiBartolomeo photo)
The Byrd Theatre is onto its next leg of improvements.
The Carytown theater embarked Monday on the third and final phase of its seat replacement project, removing the seats in the side sections of the movie hall to replace them with updated, wider seats.
Expected to be completed around Sept. 5, this phase of the project will replace the former 19-inch-wide side-section seats with 22- to 24-inch-wide seats made by Michigan-based Irwin Seating Company. They’ll match the already-updated seats in the middle of the theater and on the balcony. The seat replacement will also move the rows slightly for some more legroom for patrons.
Local construction company Daniel & Company is the general contractor for the project.
During the side seats’ replacement, the theater will remain open for showings, but seating will only be available in the theater’s balcony and ADA seating section, Byrd Theatre Executive Director Ben Cronly said this week.
By the end of the project, the theater will have around 930 fixed seats and will be able to accommodate around 980 guests, including ADA accommodation areas, Cronly said. The theater previously had a total of around 1,100 seats, with 950 seats being used.
The project is part of the Byrd’s Pull Up A Seat campaign, which began raising money last year to replace the theater’s balcony seating and side-section seats, along with adding two additional ADA-accessible platforms.
The theater’s middle seats were replaced back in 2017, while the balcony seats were replaced earlier this year in a project that finished up in March.
Funded through patrons and donors, the project total is currently expected to come in at around $660,000, Cronly said.
Seats on the Byrd’s side sections have been removed. (Courtesy Ben Cronly)
The theater received a $315,000 donation from Byrd Theatre Foundation Board of Directors chair Martin Davenport back in October that was earmarked for the seat replacement project. The donation covered all costs for seat replacement in the balcony.
With additional funds being raised, the theater now has around $14,000 left to raise of the $660,000 goal, Cronly said.
“We actually have a matching grant to be able to cover that from the board of directors,” he said.
Cronly said the Byrd hopes to have that remaining $14,000 in hand by mid-June.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Cronly said. “This project was started in 2017, so (we’re) being able to say look, we’ve finished it, we’re done with it.”
But the Byrd isn’t completely finished with the seats after the new side section seats are installed, Cronly said. It also plans to replace the fabric on the seats with a similar pattern and material to what was used on the original seats back in 1928.
That project would be on the order of a few years from now, Cronly added, as the theater wants to do other restoration of plaster work and the electrical system in the meantime. Much of the Byrd’s electrical system remains from its early years, Cronly said.
“There’s a lot of stuff to do still to bring this theater up to date, and to move it forward. We want to get all of that work done prior to replacing the seats’ fabric,” he said. “We don’t want the dust from plaster work and from painting and everything to possibly ruin that fabric.”
The Byrd Theatre opened in 1928 at 2908 W. Cary St. and is both a Virginia Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places. The Byrd Theatre Foundation, which owns and runs the theater, was formed in 2002.
The Byrd Theatre Foundation operated with $1.98 million in revenue and $1.44 million in annual expenses, according to its most recent public financial reports issued to the IRS in 2024.
To be honest…the spring poking out of the electrical/duct-taped seat was all part of the experience. I am sure people are going to enjoy the new seats, but sneaking beers in under your jacket to see a two month old movie in uncomfortable seats for a buck was a memorable part of growing up in Richmond.
OK, no snarky comments about the increasing width of Richmonders. But in all
seriousness, I am happy to see old movie theatres like the Byrd getting the attention they need and keep open.
Great childhood memories of this theatre and seeing movies like Fantastic Voyage, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and the fun cartoons before the main attraction was a treat during summer matinées called The Kiddie Shows. Always get such a warm feeling when I walk through the doors of The Byrd. Great work!
I haven’t followed the upgrades closely but I hope they are also increasing the footprint or depth of the seating area. The space is so narrow that at 6-3 I can’t watch a movie there unless I can hang my legs over the back of the seat in front or stick them out into the aisle.
Used to be so magical walking thru those front doors as a kid .
The Byrd Theater is nothing like it was when Todd ran the theater, nearly five years ago. We’ve only been back twice, since he was unceremoniously fired, adter 21 years, with no notice, and a good part of the Board resigned. No more French Film Festival, Pocohantas Native American film festival. The choice of movies and frequency of available showings are a pale shadow from years ago under the previous theater manager Todd Schall-Vess. We likely won’t be back to see the new seats, and won’t likely ever donate again.