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• The end of an era
• In 2011, the Krieger Theater in Gackle earned the distinction of being North Dakota's oldest privately owned theater. It owed that distinction to loyal patrons in Gackle and surrounding communities who went out of their way to support the theater in the 65 years since Albert and Fred Krieger opened it in 1946, according to an article in the Tri-County News.
• Unfortunately, that title didn't make them any more able to upgrade to digital technology. "Financially, updating the equipment is more than we can afford," said owner Marchel Krieger. The theater, which operated in the summer only, announced in June that it would close for good.
• "Thanks for the memories," Krieger said to patrons in their closing announcement.
• The Omega Theater in LaMoure didn't actually have to face the digital upgrade dilemma, but only because its managers decided to close the theater before the upgrade became an issue. LaMoure Community Development had agreed to run the theater about four years ago, when its previous owners wanted to get out of the business, according to Brad Nogosek of the development group. They lost money both years that they operated the theater. They decided to close the theater in January 2011 as a trial. No one voiced any objection, so they closed the theater permanently.
• Nogosek said he thinks home theaters have changed the way people watch movies. He also said that young people are not as willing to wait for a new release to make it to the hometown theater, and instead drive to a multiplex to see it as soon as it opens.
• (An informal survey of high school students supports Nogosek's hunch. Four of six students at Madison High School said they prefer to watch a movie at home instead of in a theater. "I can sit in my pajamas and be on a couch with a blanket, and my popcorn tastes better," one student said. "Also, I can just pause it when I need to leave. Plus, no previews." Another student said she doesn't go to movies in Madison "because I'd rather go to a movie theatre with more choices.")
• Nogosek added that they heard about the need to transition to digital a few months after they had made the decision to close, and realized they would have been forced to the same decision soon enough anyway.
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• The jury is out
• Owners of The Lyric Theatre in Faulkton and the Webster Theatre have not yet decided how to proceed and did not want to speak publicly before they had

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