Magic Lantern’s digital upgrade will close theater temporarily

Movie fans, we have some good and bad news for you.

The good news is that the Magic Lantern, 25 W. Main Ave., is finally converting to a digital projection  format.

The bad news is that the renovation will take place the week of June 21, forcing the theater’s temporary closure.

This news reminds me of a recent experience I had while attending the Seattle International Film Festival. I was browsing in a used bookstore near the SIFF Cinema Uptown. The woman behind the counter started talking about Spokane the way Seattle residents tend to do, with a sense of apology that anyone living in Washington state has to live outside King County.

I told her that when I moved to the Northwest in 1976, my overarching ambition was to end up in Seattle. But that when I got to Spokane, I stopped. I even turned down a job offer in Bellingham that would have been one step closer. And that I’ve never regretted either decision, to reject the job offer or to stay put this side of the Cascades.

Still, I’m not sure she understood what I was saying.

That’s OK. Those of us who live in Spokane are lucky to have places such as the Magic Lantern. And at this point, we don’t have a 10th of the traffic  headaches.

Dan Webster