GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - The Triplex Cinema is making its return Friday after shutting down nearly six months ago.

Under new management, the Triplex has a vision community-based vision for its future in Great Barrington. Managing director Ben Elliot said it’s been quite the week of finishing touches ahead of Friday's soft opening.

“We really wanted to focus on giving the customers a completely new experience once they walked in the door," Elliott said. "We wanted this to feel fresh and know that it's going to be a new Triplex once they actually come in here.”

As The Triplex prepared to have movie showings in two of their renovated theaters, Elliott said the Great Barrington space means a lot to him.

“I grew up here and I grew up right up the street from this theater," Elliott said. "It had a huge impact on my life. I went to film school because I had the Triplex in my life. So, I'm really dedicated to providing the next generation, my daughter's generation, an experience like that so they can get the exposure to what I think is one of the most important art forms there is.”

The Triplex Cinema closed its doors in early June 2023 and was briefly destined to be permanently shut down. Community members came together to form what is now Triplex Cinema Inc.

President Nicki Wilson said within months, the nonprofit was able to purchase and revitalize the downtown cinema through community donations.

“We now have had over a thousand people in our community donate to the theater," Wilson said. "It's a dream come true. When we started this back in back in April, April 1st, it was just a dream, you know, like, ‘Could we possibly save the Triplex?’ And here we are today, opening our first films. And I'm just so excited and pleased.”

Fundraising efforts for the Triplex are ongoing as renovations continue in its two additional theaters.

“The theaters, we're still in the process of kind of raising money to do all of the projects that we want to do," Elliott said. "For theater one right now, as you can see, it’s very much a construction zone. But we will be coming back with this in mid-December.”

Elliott said the new experience at the Triplex involves expanding the idea of what a movie theater can be for the community who helped save it.

“I think for movie theater to work, it has to kind of live beyond just what we're getting of the new releases," Elliott said. "That's a very important part of what our business model is going to look like. But we also have to really work extra hard to make those connections with the community to kind of show people that we are a good partner and we’re a stand-up member of this community.”