The eight screens at Gilford Airport Plaza went dark on Oct. 8. According to the plaza's owners, the theater's 2026 box office and concession receipts had already passed its receipts for all of 2025. That was before November and December, which are usually the strongest months of the movie year.
The landlords said the audience was fine. What the theater needed was someone to run it, and by late October it had one.
The Audience Was Already There
Stuart Scharff and Jeffrey Gilbert own Gilford Airport Plaza. They told The Laconia Daily Sun that the closing was not a sign that neighborhood theaters can't make it. "This had more to do with what the previous tenant was not performing on, and less to do with the performance of the theater, from the landlord's perspective," Scharff said.
He said the landlords and their tenant had worked to reach agreement but could not, and added, "We think highly of them." He also said the films lined up for late 2026 would likely have finished the year for the property "with one of its best years in a long time."
That tenant was Scene One Entertainment. It took over the theater on Jan. 31, 2025, so its time in Gilford lasted a little over a year and a half. The theater itself has been at the plaza since the 1990s, according to Boxoffice Pro. Its two most recent operators, Belmont Capital and Scene One, were both headquartered outside the area, according to the Daily Sun.
That matters if you have a Scene One gift card in a kitchen drawer. BigScreen reported that Scene One still runs seven theaters in New York, Connecticut and Colorado, and the closest one is more than 120 miles from Gilford. The business reopening the building is a separate company, so ask before counting on an old Scene One card.
The Manager Is Now the Owner
The landlords first said they were talking with several experienced theater operators and had sent out a draft lease. In under two weeks, the lease went to the person who had been running the building all along.
Ryan Hinchey was general manager of Gilford Cinema 8 until the lease ended on Oct. 8. He has since formed his own company, Gilford Cinemas, and signed a lease with the plaza owners, The Laconia Daily Sun reported. He grew up in Meredith, graduated from Inter-Lakes High School in 2007, and worked his way up at Giuseppe's and Hart's Turkey Farm before running food and beverage at the Ocean Cliff Hotel in Newport. He told the paper the Gilford theater was the first one he went to as a child.
He called getting the permits and inspections a "wildly accelerated" process. "I've essentially taken a building that was shut off, and I am very close to reopening it, both in a licensing aspect and inspections," he said.
Scharff told the paper, "This is the first time that this location will be locally family-owned and operated."
Here is what Hinchey said will carry over from the old theater and what will change:
- Staying: senior discount days, birthday party packages and private events.
- Goal: first-run films. "My goal is to be a first-run movie theater with all the AAA titles that any other major movie theater would have," he said.
- Changing: a "wildly expanded food and beverage program."
- Changing: more comfortable seats. The lighting has already been updated, and he plans to modernize the technical side too.
- Staffing: he intends to rehire the whole former staff.
The idea he keeps coming back to is a theater that feels like an "extension of their living room." Given his 16 years in restaurants, the expanded menu is the change most likely to show up quickly.
November Is When the Screen Counts Most
Hinchey hopes to reopen "by early November." Scharff said Hinchey moved quickly to line up film buyers "and take advantage of the slate of movies that are coming up in November and December." That timing is the reason the reopening matters more than its size suggests. The theater closed just before its two best months, and the lake's other screens are getting fewer at the same time.
Here is what's open around the lake this month:
| Venue | Town | November 2026 status | What sets it apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gilford Cinemas | Gilford | Aiming for early November | First-run films, expanded food and drink, local ownership |
| BarnZ's Meredith Cinema | Meredith | Showing films; lists Nov. 6 and Nov. 20 releases | Luxury recliners with footrests |
| Smitty's Cinema | Tilton | Showing films | Dine-in service; servers bring meals to your seat |
| Weirs Drive-In | Laconia | Closed for the season until June 2027 | Summer only |
| Colonial Theatre | Laconia | Live shows only on the November calendar | Comedy, music, circus and ballet; no films listed |
The Weirs Drive-In site says "Closed for the Season" and "See you in June of 2027." The Colonial Theatre's November events are all live performances. That leaves two indoor first-run screens near the lake. BarnZ's Meredith Cinema lists The Cat in the Hat for Nov. 6 and The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping for Nov. 20. Smitty's Cinema in Tilton runs a full dine-in menu, and its auditoriums open 30 minutes before showtime.
Both are good theaters. For anyone on the Gilford, Laconia or Alton side of the lake, though, both mean a longer drive on a dark November evening. Once Gilford reopens, those households get back the closest screen for the weeks of the year when moviegoing is busiest.
A Theater Night Is a Plaza Night
The landlords' interest in the theater goes beyond the rent from one tenant. Scharff called a neighborhood theater "an important part of our shopping center" and said it "complements our other businesses."
The main plaza building is 60,328 square feet and has been 90% leased. Tenants include Tractor Supply, Gilford House of Pizza and Axe & Ale Taphouse, and ClearChoiceMD Urgent Care has its own building on the property.
Axe & Ale is the neighbor that matters most for a night out. Scharff said the owners "had a vision of this concept as working well with our adjacent tenant, Axe & Ale, and it has." He also hinted that the taphouse has new ideas for adding entertainment to its taproom. With a bigger food program inside the theater and a taproom next door, dinner and a movie in Gilford can happen in one parking lot.
That parking lot is easier to reach than it used to be. The owners built a new access road across from the Gilford Bypass exit, so drivers can go straight across Route 11 into the plaza instead of turning left and then right onto Lakeshore Drive. Scharff said tenants credit the road with bringing in more traffic.
Before You Drive Over
The early-November target came from Hinchey himself, and in the Daily Sun's report he described licensing and inspections as close to finished, not done. If you plan a Friday night around it this week, check that the doors are open before you leave. If you need a sure thing for opening weekend, BarnZ's in Meredith has its schedule posted.
At Cisneros Realty Group, we pay attention to things like this theater because what stays open in November tells you a lot about how a lake town works the rest of the year. If you're trying to understand what Gilford and its neighboring towns are like after the boats come out of the water, schedule a call with Corina. She'll give you a straight local answer.
