FORT SILL, Okla.-- The Fort Sill Sheridan Road Theater stopped showing movies in December, but the facility will continue to be used for ceremonial and training events, said Army & Air Force Exchange Service officials.
The post theater is one of about 60 AAFES theaters that have stopped showing movies as technology is moving away from film projection and toward digital pictures and sound, said Chris Ward, AAFES Headquarters spokesman in Dallas. About another 60 AAFES theaters worldwide are making the conversion to digital.
Today, movie theaters using 35mm prints are virtually non-existent, as theaters across the country have converted to digital projection. As a result, AAFES theaters, which use 35mm prints, have been undergoing reviews to determine the cost-effectiveness of converting its theaters to a digital format.
A review of the Fort Sill theater determined that, with a cost of about $120,000 to convert to digital and the availability of local off-base entertainment venues, the continued operation of the theater was not viable.
"With a dual mission to provide quality goods and services while returning a dividend for quality of life programs, upgrading and continuing to operate theaters that are not viable is untenable for a self-sustaining entity such as the exchange," said Michelle Mackey, Fort Sill Exchange general manager. "We will still continue to provide avenues for Soldiers and their families to see all the Hollywood hits with our wide selection of DVDs and Blu-Rays available at the exchange, as well as through Instaflix kiosks."
The Instaflix kiosk, an entertainment vending machines at the Express stations on Fort Sill, offers a selection of 600-800 discs per kiosk and lets users rent DVDs overnight for $1 and Blu-ray discs for $1.49. Once customers rent videos, remembering when to return them is simple as rentals are due the next business day by 6 p.m., no matter what time they were rented.
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