Scalinger said the Arizona International Film Festival, held every April for the last 24 years, has become too big of a job alongside running the theater. So after years of dancing around the idea of bringing in an outside theater operator, he and Edwards entered serious negotiations this year.

“We just felt that he supported what we were doing with independent film, and we just thought he would be a good entity,” Scalinger said.

A full-time movie theater also fits into the latest downtown resurrection. Fueled by the promise of the streetcar set to begin rolling next month, dozens of new restaurants and clubs have sprung up downtown in the past two years. A boutique hotel — the downtown area’s first since 1976 — is in the works, and a grocery store is set to open in December to meet the needs of residents who have moved into the Cadence student housing complex and other housing developments circling the area.

“This is terrific timing,” said Downtown Tucson Partnership CEO Michael Keith. “Downtown is becoming a more exciting place to be. You are going to see a whole lot of new retailers and restaurants coming in the next six months. It’s getting crazy good down here.”