VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Hollywood Theatre on Broadway was closed a year and a half ago, throwing its future into uncertainty.

But good news for its die-hard fans. The theatre has found new life, at least for now, as a church.

The congregation is calling itself, appropriately, the Church at the Hollywood. The group of worshipers was formerly known as Utown, and services were previously held at various UBC classrooms.  The congregation is an offshoot of the Point Grey Community Church.

Sarah Kift with the church says, as part of the agreement with the theatre’s new owners, she can’t tell us how long their lease is, or how much they’re paying for the space.

But she says it’s a natural fit for them.

“The acoustics in there are amazing. The theatre was built before technology advanced to the point where speakers made you have good acoustics. It’s a sound guy’s dream,” she explains.

Church members have been spending the last few Saturdays doing minor repairs, like painting the inside, but everything else from its theatre days is more or less intact. Sadly, though, vandals had taken off with the old projectors’ lenses, which are irreplaceable.

People from the neighbourhood have definitely taken notice of the new tenants.

“What we found when we were doing our workdays on Saturdays is so many people walked by and wanted to come in. They had so many memories about being there and wanted to see the theatre again. So we really feel it’s important to invite people in again to take a look around,” says Kift.

Services are at 10 a.m. Sundays and Kift says even people eager to see the theatre again are welcome.