Clinton — Sitting on US-12, the Clinton Theater has stood since 1872 as a gathering space for the community.
“It’s really the landmark of the town,” theater manager Julian Cianciolo says. “We know everybody in town. Everybody knows us.”
The theater, which was originally a soda and candy shop called Jack’s Place, began showing movies in the late 1930s. Cianciolo points out a photo of people celebrating the end of World War I in the lobby.
Through the years, owners have changed, but they’ve always prioritized cheap tickets for the community.
“My parents raised it to $2.50 per ticket when they first bought it in 2001,” Cianciolo says. “The previous family was just getting old, and they didn’t have as many people in the family who were interested in running it, so it sold after 25 years.”
During the pandemic, the Clinton Theater closed for the first time since the Cianciolos took over and reopened in 2022, selling tickets for $5. Tickets at the nearest multiplex in Saline cost twice as much.
Since owning the theater, the Cianciolo family has maintained the tradition of cheap tickets because of the reasonable maintenance costs of the theater. Other traditions, such as moviegoers buying themed popcorn buckets with half-priced refills, have kept people coming back to the theater.
“People bring in almost 20-year-old popcorn buckets,” Cianciolo says.
According to Clinton local Heather Heimerdinger, the theater’s price increase has helped with improvements to the actual theater.
“They’ve upgraded the seats in the theater when it got a new owner,” Heimerdinger says. “Everything else has pretty much stayed the same, especially the popcorn. It is amazing.”
According to Cianciolo, the price changes throughout the years are intentionally kept affordable for the community to bring Clinton together.
The theater also hosts elementary school students for field trips throughout the year in partnership with the local schools, Cianciolo says.
Heimerdinger says her grandson has been on field trips to the theater and loves it.
“They did a field trip to watch ‘Home Alone’,” Heimerdinger says. “The kids absolutely love it. They give them a discounted price, and get popcorn, candy, and then their admission.”
Heimerdinger says the theater was previously owned by a relative who allowed her to go as a child and later work there as a high school student.
“I worked there in high school, paid for my gas that way,” Heimerdinger says. “We hung out upstairs while the movie was playing. Sometimes we would work and get paid with free movies and snacks.”
While the theater has been around the town forever, Heimerdinger says that it brings family traditions in her own life.
“I absolutely love that I can still go and watch a movie and now take my grandkids when I used to take my kids,” Heimerdinger says. “It’s been here forever and is still here and still going strong. It gives families something to go to in town.”
Cianciolo’s father, Frank, picks out the movies shown through the week, with a showing at 7 p.m. each night.
“He’s looking a lot at what the schedule is for Hollywood releases, and looking at the top 10 movies,” Cianciolo says. “It is hard because movies just aren’t what they used to be anymore.”
Cianciolo says that growing up in Clinton made him proud of the significance of the little theater.
“In school I was always known as the theater kid, which was pretty cool,” Cianciolo says. “My parents bought this because it was a unique place and community is a good thing to have in a small town like this.”
Heimerdinger says the theater has often sent out surveys to locals on movie preferences to make sure people want to see what’s on the marquee. She also mentions that theater employees bring popcorn over to the local bar at the end of the night.
“I was born and raised here, 52 years, I even saw ‘Grease’ there when it first came out,” Heimerdinger says.
Anna Broussard is a contributing writer for Michigan Enjoyer.
