The Royal Cinemas marquee tells its and our collective pandemic story

After reviewing our photo-chronicling of Front Royal’s Royal Cinemas marquee during the COVID-19 Emergency Management pandemic response and governor’s orders, we contacted the Park Theater-based Cinemas and Royal Family Bowling Center owner Rick Novak to see how he and his staffs were traversing the lockdown landscape.

As with many in downtown Front Royal, as well as on Main Streets across America, things certainly aren’t proceeding as normal for his businesses. But as of April 17, a month after he closed, Novak said he has been able to continue to pay his 24 employees, 15 at the bowling center, and 9 at the theater as if his businesses were still open.

“We were fortunate enough to have had some reserves on hand in the company checking account, so we continued to pay our staff at both locations since our closing. We can continue to do that for another 4 to 6 weeks if needed, but after that, the money will be gone.” But it hasn’t just been money for nothing, Novak noted.

By April 2, a message of perseverance through adversity had appeared as the debate over how to balance medical caution with economic need was being joined across the nation. The answers often reflected the relative severity with which different communities had been struck by a new virus for which humans had no natural or acquired immunity. Royal Examiner Photos/Roger Bianchini

“We’ve been able to catch up on projects at both places that we didn’t have time for when we were open,” Novak said of some physical plant work.

And cleaning continues to be a priority, as it became prior to the statewide order on social gatherings and non-essential business closings across the commonwealth.

“We were already doing a lot of cleaning before, but when we closed, we took it to a whole other level. We were cleaning every seat in the theater before and after shows, and it was the same at the bowling alley where we were cleaning all the balls, everything.

“We’re at the same point as the state, the country and localities everywhere are. At some point, the money is going to run out. But we have to be careful about what we do. We’re starting to get some cautiously optimistic news here, even in Northern Virginia. We have to look at how to get this thing going again – but at what cost?

“While there is so much we don’t know, there are a lot of things we do seem to know. Almost from the start, it seems to have been about 98% survivable,” Novak pointed out of the 2% to 3.4% fatality rates reported throughout general national populations worldwide.

But as also reported worldwide, it is specific age and at-risk health groups that face a harsher, perhaps fatal, medical experience of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-2019).

And it was the uncertainty early on as the pandemic reached America, that Novak, like business owners across the nation, struggled with.

“We wrestled every time with the decision – do we stay open, should we close as the recommended restrictions varied? First, it was groups of over 100, then 10. The governor actually did us a favor by saying ‘just close’,” Novak observed of the now-controversial legal mandate of “non-essential” business closings. Royal Cinemas closed its doors on March 18, following the governor’s order of not more than ten people gathered in a public place.

Above, by March 25 Royal Cinemas’ marquee had gone blank; as had commercial traffic, below, along Front Royal and most of America’s largely shuttered downtown business districts.

As for any additional free time he has, Novak says he visits webinars of various trade associations – “What am I supposed to be doing as to applying for small business assistance,” he said of the evolving economic stimulus and recovery options on the table at various governmental levels.

He cited several areas he has explored, including two through the Small Business Administration (SBA). Those are the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) and another known as “E-Idle” for the acronym EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance), as well as bank refinancing options on mortgage payments.

And in an update on Monday, April 20, Novak told Royal Examiner, “Our Bank, First Bank, helped us to get the PPP loans – a HUGE thank you to Susan Ralls and the First Bank staff,” Novak said.

“But a lot of us are out here alone and some small businesses operate kind of hand to mouth, still have mortgages to deal with and don’t need to take on more debt,” Novak observed of the difficult financial landscape being traversed, adding, “So, it’s juggling a lot of things. Have I had time to sit at home bored? – Not yet.”

On a positive note, he said that he has heard from many customers of both his businesses reaching out to say how much they want to come back and asking how they can help.

“I think the best way to do that will be to be there for us as we reopen and shortly after, throughout the summer. The bank accounts will be depleted, and we will need their help,” he observed of the unprecedented economic environment small businesses are now navigating.

“At the earliest, I think we might hope to reopen by mid-May. We are ready to reopen immediately at either location if somehow that is possible,” he observed, adding, “At the theater, we will likely book some repertory titles to put on the screen until the studios can adjust their release schedules to accommodate the worldwide and United States economies being reopened. When reopening, we will practice social distancing at both businesses. Hopefully, this will give our customers a level of comfort to come out and enjoy the theater and bowling center.”

A marquee message

Before closing our conversation, we noted the evolution of the Royal Cinemas marquee from its final shows to the posting of the message of hope and perseverance that remains. Of the last three movie titles posted for showings at Royal Cinemas – “I Still Believe”, “Onward” and “The Invisible Man” – we suggested they kind of relate to Royal Cinemas’ current posted message “We Will Get Through This Together But Apart” because now we’re all sort of Invisible Men and Women trying to remain optimistic as we move onward under pandemic response guidelines.

Coincidence or movie scheduling with an eye on available titles and our looming pandemic response crisis, we asked Novak.

Coincidence, he assured us – though perhaps a cosmic one, we agreed.

Titles of the last three movies shown before Royal Cinemas’ emergency pandemic management closing on March 18. Note showtimes have been removed from the theater’s front display cases. – But is there a message within the titles of what was on the horizon when those films were booked?