Ren Cen 4 movie theater in downtown Detroit closes

The Ren Cen 4 movie theater in downtown Detroit's Renaissance Center has closed after a near three-decade run, Crain's Detroit Business reports. The closure leaves Detroit with only one first-run theater, the Bel Air 10 off Eight Mile on the city's northeast side.

“Larger theater spaces are required for a more comfortable experience overall, and the theater space here has always been limited,” Tina Kozak, president of Franco Public Relations Group, speaking on behalf of CBRE, the property manager of the Renaissance Center, told the newspaper. “We really looked at a lot of options for operations here, but (the space) doesn’t allow for the proper redesign and expansion to be competitive.”

The theater does not have a digital projector and is instead still running film on its four screens.
The loss is significant for downtown residents. The city, however, still has a slew of independent theaters, including Cinema Detroit on Cass Avenue in Midtown, the Detroit Film Theatre in the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Redford Theatre on the city's northwest side. The historic Alger Theatre also recently started showing films for the first time in nearly 30 years.