Searching online Sunday for showtimes at the Carriage Place theaters, Faye and Michael Oney were surprised to see the horror film "It" already playing there.

The bigger surprise, though, came when the Northwest Side couple reached the ticket booth at the 12-screen multiplex near Bethel and Sawmill roads.

"It was $7.99 for what we used to pay $2.50," Faye Oney said. "We thought, 'Oh, this must not be a second-run theater anymore.'"

The Oneys were right.

The so-called "dollar theater" — long a popular destination for families and teenagers because of its discounted prices — is no more in central Ohio.

Effective Oct. 5, the Cinemark-owned Carriage Place transitioned from a second-run to a first-run outlet; it now shows the newest releases at a steeper price tag.

The change marked the end of the region's "cheap-seat" or, as they're known in the industry, "sub-run" theaters that screen films at reduced prices after the movies leave first-run theaters.

When Carriage Place opened in May 1991, a movie ticket there cost $1 (50 cents on Tuesdays). Through the years, the prices rose to up to $2.50 for a non-matinee.

Cinemark made the first-run switch amid ongoing renovations to Carriage Place as a way to keep up with the rapidly changing industry, said Frank Gonzales, marketing manager for the company, based in the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas.



"To be competitive now, people want recliners, in-theater dining, digital sound and picture," he said. "The theater at Carriage Place has been around for a while, and we wanted to make some renovations to make it again a destination."



Half of the theater's dozen auditoriums have already been outfitted with the company's "luxury loungers," Gonzales said, and the other six are currently closed for the upgrade, which should be finished around Thanksgiving.



Cinemark also plans to make other enhancements, he said, including a concession-area upgrade that will feature an expanded menu.

Seeing movies as soon as they're released or eating gourmet food while watching a film matter little to Becky Poling, who with her husband and their four children (ages 7 to 16) would make the 40-minute drive from their home in Marysville to Carriage Place several times a month.

Most recently, in late September, they saw "Wonder Woman" and "Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie."

"Especially with kids movies, I wouldn't dream of spending $8 for it — and probably a lot of movies in general. But for $2, who cares?" Poling said. "Sometimes we bought food, sometimes we didn't. But we went quite often."

At $8 a person, she noted, they could easily spend $100 on a family movie outing at Carriage Place. When they do see a film now, she said, they're likely to stay much closer to home.

"We're pretty bummed because it was a very affordable night for all of us," Poling said, adding that the family often visited the Half Price Books, Pet Land and Tim Horton's in the same strip mall during their trips to Columbus.

Of the 500 or so Cinemark locations nationwide, about 20 remain sub-run theaters, including one in Canton, Gonzales said. He said he was unaware of plans to switch any others to first-run locales.

The changes in Columbus were unavoidable, Gonzales said.

"It just makes sense when you're pouring a goodly amount of money into it — even with the seats alone — you need to offer something more," he said.

Oney said she plans to check into a streaming-service subscription.

"I'm disappointed," she said. "It was a cheap form of entertainment."

award@dispatch.com

@AllisonAWard