Coolidge Corner Theatre's new Moviehouse 1 seats arrive

New seats for the Coolidge Corner Theatre's Moviehouse 1 auditorium have arrived in Brookline, the nonprofit cinema announced on X on Wednesday, Sept. 16.

The theatre called the delivery a major milestone in its restoration work. The seats replace ones the Coolidge described as having two decades of wear and tear.

The new chairs maintain the Art Deco character of the 1933 auditorium, according to the theatre's restoration campaign page. The Coolidge has not announced when Moviehouse 1 will reopen with the new seating.

A broader restoration

Seats are one piece of a larger Moviehouse 1 overhaul. The theatre said in a Sept. 1 post that the restoration also includes replacing the auditorium's red velvet curtain, which has been broken for several years. Sconces in the space received restoration work in July 2025.

The Coolidge first announced the seat replacement in November 2025, projecting installation in early 2026. The seats arrived months later than expected.

Donor match and seat naming

A donor match campaign pledged to double contributions to the restoration fund up to $100,000. The match was set to run through Sept. 16, according to the theatre's website. The Coolidge has not said whether the match has been extended.

Separately, the theatre's Name a Seat program lets donors engrave a plaque on a Moviehouse 1 chair for a tax-deductible gift of $2,500 or more. Two seats can be named for $4,000. Plaques can carry a name, a movie quote or a date, with a maximum of two lines and 20 characters per line. The program has been open since Nov. 19, 2025, on a first-come, first-served basis.

No reopening date has been set.