OXFORD — The curtain is about to rise again at the former Flagship Cinema in the Oxford Plaza on Main Street.

The movie theater will reopen as early as this summer as Flagship Premium Cinema,  John Crowley, founder and president of the Boston-based movie theater company, said this week.

“Bob Bahre has made it one of his priorities to get back in and open up the cinema,” Crowley said.

The cinema closed in September 2014 when falling ticket sales and the industry-mandated conversion to digital projections signaled the demise of the theater. It had been the the sole movie venue in Oxford Hills for 17 years.

At the time of its closing, Crowley said the cost to upgrade the 35mm reel projectors to digital projectors was about $750,000. The high costs of the conversion caused a number of small theaters throughout the country to close at the time.

The Flagship theater in Lewiston, which did not convert to digital projection, closed in 2015, but the 10-screen Flagship theater in Auburn was converted and continues operations.

Crowley said the movie industry also insists on upgraded digital surround sound systems, an added cost to the reopening.

The reopening seemed doomed until a recent lunch between Crowley and Bahre.

“I went up to meet with Bob for lunch one day and he said, ‘I want you back.’ I told him the money doesn’t justify it. He said, ‘lets make a deal,’” Crowley said.

He said Bahre and his son, Gary Bahre, made sure the leasing terms were such that Flagship Cinema would not only update the business but make it a “premium” cinema.

“I’m happy to have it back,” Bahre said. “I think it’s going to be a very good help to the whole area.”

Although not a movie buff himself, Bahre said reopening the theater would be good for the people of Oxford Hills and its businesses, including his own.

The Oxford Plaza strip mall has several other vacancies but Bahre said he is negotiating a lease deal with a nationwide retail footwear outlet that will bring more activity to the area and he hopes will stimulate interest in his other storefronts.

Crowley said the cinema is not going to be the same one that local folks remember.

“It’s going to be quite a bit different. Cinema has gone into a different venue. In fact we changed the name to FPC – Flagship Premium Cinema. It’s an entirely different theater than we were building 10 years ago,” he said.

Although movie ticket prices will increase, the seven screens will remain to provide the flexibility in offerings necessary to keep business thriving. The theater will not only have digital projectors and upgraded sound systems, but large, stuffed seating, a concession stand featuring popcorn and Pepsi and other products, plus a new self-service Pepsi stand.

The luxury seating will reduce capacity by about 50 percent but provide the moviegoer with a more comfortable experience, he said. “People seem to be looking for comfort.”

Carpets, projectors and chairs could have held up the reopening, but Crowley said he is confident that by reallocating resources from some of his other theaters, the Oxford theater will open this summer.

Crowley said the company is working on reopening the Falmouth Flagship Cinema and he can use resources from Falmouth in Oxford. Additionally, with a dozen theaters throughout Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida, Crowley said he can also reallocate the luxury chairs that were heading to Maryland to Oxford to expedite the re-opening process.

“We’re going to be able to open up a lot sooner because of this,” he said.

The updated equipment also presents time-consuming and expensive preparations. For example, Crowley said, the projection room must be completely sanitized and sterile. Measurements of the screen size and flow from the booth to the screen have to be exact.

Crowley said he in undeterred by the issues.

“Bob is so motivated to get the theater back. We will try everything we can to get it open this summer,” Crowley said.

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