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Paragon Theaters and Penny Lane Village will celebrate recent upgrades with a community event Saturday.

The Paragon Theaters and Penny Lanes Village at the Spotsylvania Towne Centre is marking recent upgrades, and a belated pandemic reopening, with “Village Fest” this weekend.

The theater is going to hold a ribbon cutting and celebration for the new additions Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be food, beer, bowling, music, arcade games and giveaways. Admission is free. The first 1,000 to attend Saturday’s event will get a gift.

A portion of the food and beverage proceeds will be donated to the Brisben Center and Loisann’s Hope House.

Jared Comess, Paragon’s vice president of marketing and public relations, said Paragon never marked the reopening of the theater after shuttering during the pandemic.

“We felt that this was really a time … to reintroduce ourselves to the community, some of the people that are newer and may not know us,” Comess said.

Saturday’s event comes at a time when theater attendance seems to be improving as the industry tries to recover from the pandemic. More movie-goers have been going to theaters, but the rebound is slow, and continues to be hampered by pandemic impacts and streaming services.

According to The Numbers, which tracks the movie industry, annual ticket sales for movies plummeted during the pandemic, dropping from 2019 box office sales of more than $11.2 billion to roughly $2 billion. Those sales increased to $4.5 billion last year. The estimate for this year’s box office total is $7.7 billion.

Comess and Sharon Patterson, who is on Paragon’s media staff, said blockbuster movies have drawn customers back to the cinema. But they added that the company also has taken an aggressive approach in a time when some theaters are struggling or closing.

“We’re slowly trying to dominate space,” Comess said.

Paragon has six other movie theaters (four in Florida, two in North Carolina). The company has improved its theaters, opened a new location in North Carolina and is looking to expand further in Virginia, Comess said.

Paragon took over the theater in 2010. Comess and Patterson said Fredericksburg’s theater is the company’s biggest and most successful.

The company recently upgraded the interior and exterior of the building, along with improvements to the theaters, bowling alley and the arcade. The restaurant and lounge also has a new menu.

The theater has 12 screens, including IMAX and two new Axis15 Extreme Screens, as well as “LuxBox Dine-In” seating. A third Axis15 screen is scheduled to be running in the fall.

Comess said the Axis15 is “next generation IMAX.”

The Axis15 has a 65-foot-tall screen and Dolby surround sound.

“It’s almost four-dimensional. You hear it, you see it, you feel it,” Comess said.

The Axis15 screens also tilt at 15 degrees, “which is the optimal way to see the film as you recline in our luxury leather reclining seats in the best possible position,” Paragon says on its website. The Axis15 also uses 4K laser projection technology.

The LuxBox VIP section has seats that recline electronically into a “’Zero-gravity’ ergonomic position,” according to Paragon. LuxBox dining allows movie-goers to order food and drinks from their seats, avoiding trips to the concessions.

Paragon also has upgraded the bowling alley, which has a new name, Penny Lanes. The 14-lane bowling alley has a bar and dining area, an arcade and a lounge for adults 21 and older.

The bowling alley added technology, known as Spark Bowling. The technology projects virtual figures onto the lanes, allowing players to add other aspects to the game while also trying to knock down pins. The arcade has been moved to the bowling area.

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I am a Stafford County native and veteran reporter covering Fredericksburg region transportation issues and Spotsylvania County.

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Paragon Theaters and Penny Lane Village will celebrate recent upgrades with a community event Saturday.

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