ALPENA — The new Sanctuary Cinema on the corner of South 2nd Avenue and West Chisholm Street in downtown Alpena opened in May with high praise from the community and lots of financial success.

The building Sanctuary Cinema resides in was originally made in the mid-1920s. J.C. Penney moved into the building in 1929. Later, the Royal Knight Cinema opened there and closed down in 2018.

After Jeff and Tina Konczak, owners of the cinema, bought the property in 2020, they oversaw a long and pricey renovation of the main structure of the building that lasted about three years.

“We spent a lot more money than anticipated, but it’s what we do for our kid’s kids,” Jeff Konczak said. “When you pull back the drywall, you find 100 years of bad decisions that were never properly fixed. Well, we fixed them, because we never plan to sell the building. It’s cheaper to fix it than to have our kids fix it later down the line.”

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The cinema opened with three theaters that include new digital projectors, sound systems, decore, and large leather seats that recline, heat up, and have moveable trays in front of each seat to hold snacks.

The lobby has an underwater theme with a few of Lake Huron’s many shipwrecks displayed on wallpaper and a newly installed hardwood floor. The lobby also holds the most important aspect of the theater’s success, according to leaders and customer reviews: the staff.

“I’m so lucky to have such a good team of friendly workers,” Jordan Stancil, theater manager, said. “We receive so many compliments from customers that our staff is very friendly and makes their time here the best.”

Stancil said the theater’s financial status is great and that ticket sales are “even better than expected.”

He immediately thanked his staff for making things so successful, but said that the Konczaks’ renovations and priority to give moviegoers a quality experience also helped significantly.