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Pickford Film expansion to require an additional $1M at minimum

Construction on new cinema continues despite increased costs

Project schematics for The Pickford on Grand hang on plywood inside the construction site. (Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)
By Cocoa Laney Lifestyle Editor

Due to rising construction costs, The Pickford Film Center will require an estimated additional $1 million at minimum to complete its second theater location. The Pickford on Grand is expected to be completed at the end of May 2025, though an official opening date has not been announced.

Located at 1318 Bay St., the Pickford is Whatcom County’s only nonprofit community cinema. The theater announced its expansion project in 2021 after purchasing the building at 105 Grand St., and preliminary construction began in July.

Gilbert Ortiz III, right and Gilbert Ortiz II apply a vapor barrier to the roof of The Pickford on Grand. (Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)

“We have run into cost overruns, but we’re not pausing our project or stopping construction,” Executive Director Susie Purves said. She added that funding will be sourced by dipping into reserves, controlling costs and raising $350,000 in community donations. The theater will also apply for more capital funding from other sources.

Despite setbacks, Purves said the new theater’s planned layout and offerings have not changed. The Pickford on Grand will introduce two new 60-seat theaters plus a “jewel box” 20-seat theater, bringing the total number of screens up to five.

Construction fenching blocks off The Pickford Film Center’s expansion project Thursday, Oct. 24 as it is built out. The project is expected to require at least an additional $1 million in funding. (Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)

The Pickford was reduced to just two screens at its Bay Street location after the Limelight, a rented one-screen theater on Cornwall Avenue, closed in 2020. More screens would allow the cinema to “regain and exceed the breadth of our programming and audiences,” according to its website.

First established in 1998, The Pickford offers programming to “honor cinema’s past with ongoing repertory screenings and support the future of filmmaking with screenings of new independent films.” Given the success of the 2024 Doctober film festival, Purves said the community’s appetite for such programming is clear.

“People are coming into the cinema in a way they haven’t since before the pandemic,” she said. “We’re just confident that Bellingham both wants and is willing to help us achieve three more screens downtown for more important movie-watching.”

The Pickford on Grand project is under construction and expected to need at least an additional $1 million due to rising construction costs. (Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)

Info: pickfordfilmcenter.org.

Cocoa Laney is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 128.

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