Midway through its first year of renovations, the West Newton Cinema completed the installation of a variety of accessibility features – audio enhancement, descriptive audio, and closed captioning devices – so more people can enjoy the theatre.
Jesse Cerrotti, theater manager at the West Newton Cinema, said these features are available upon request and at no additional cost. He explained the theater’s motives to make these advances.
“It was something that was deeply important to us as a team, as well as the greater community, to improve accessibility services to our patrons,” he said.
Elizabeth Heilig, President of the West Newton Cinema Foundation, said that acquiring new accessibility features has long been on the minds of the Foundation and the community.
“We’ve received requests, questions, and many comments from the community”, she said. “Even leading up to the purchase [of the cinema], people were already asking and hoping that we would be able to put those systems in place. So it was very much on our minds.”
For those who are hard of hearing, the new audio headsets offer amplified and clearer audio of the movie’s sound.
The same headphones can also provide a descriptive audio track, which narrates important visual features of the movie, for people who are blind or visually impaired.
The third and final feature, individual closed-caption receivers, are about the size of a phone and fit into the cupholder of a seat. They display the movie’s sound effects and dialogue as text.
Cerrotti emphasized that while accessibility devices improve the experience of those who need them, they also do not inhibit others’ abilities to enjoy the movie.
“It doesn’t take away from anyone’s experience by having other people in the theater who can use the equipment,” he said.
Following the installation of the new accessibility features, Cerrotti said that the cinema has received only warm and encouraging feedback from the community.
“It has been nothing but positive,” he said. “It is only beneficial to add accessibility features. Not having accessibility features is a form of discrimination, and we want to make sure that [the West Newton Cinema] is a place that is welcoming to everybody.”
Despite all of the progress the cinema has made, Heilig noted that there is still more work to be done.
“If you imagine approaching [the cinema] as it currently is, from the point of view of someone with limited mobility, or someone who’s in a wheelchair, there are numerous challenges,” she said. “Even just getting in the door can be a challenge because it doesn’t have automated doors, which are so common nowadays.”
Because of this continued accessibility issue, Heilig said that the cinema’s board is in the process of acquiring an elevator to make the upper floors of the theater accessible. The cinema was surveyed over the course of six months by an architect and a construction firm in order to figure out what work needs to be done before the elevator can be installed.
The theater is in the midst of a capital campaign to raise money for the elevator, among other improvements. Heilig said that she and the board are hopeful that they will be able to complete the project within two to three years.
In addition to installing an elevator, Heilig also hopes to improve the existing restrooms and add additional accessible restrooms.
Cerrotti said that the cinema remains committed to serving each and every member of the Newton community.
“[Theater going] is an art and an activity that every person should be able to enjoy … we’re going to continue to abide by that commitment that we make to our community,” he said.
James Garrett is a Fig City News summer intern and a rising junior at Newton South High School, where he is a News Editor of the Lion’s Roar student newspaper.
