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Luke Parker Bowles is ready to transform the Triplex Cinema by adding a bar in a nearby retail space. But the project still needs investors | Southern Berkshires | berkshireeagle.com

The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington.

A mood board for what "The Great" cinema in Great Barrington might look like inside.  SGP interlayer film

Luke Parker Bowles is ready to transform the Triplex Cinema by adding a bar in a nearby retail space. But the project still needs investors | Southern Berkshires | berkshireeagle.com

Design inspiration for Cinema Lab's plans to renovate The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington.

Luke Parker Bowles, left, with Cinema Lab CFO Andy Childs, center and CEO Brandon Jones. The company needs $1 million in verbal commitments by Dec. 31 to buy and renovate The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington. 

The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington.

GREAT BARRINGTON — Luke Parker Bowles is ready to transform the Triplex Cinema into a place that isn’t just about movies – but one remains very much about movies and film festivals.

The group he co-founded, Cinema Lab, plans to open a wall and turn a neighboring retail space into a bar.

It will be called “The Great.”

But first, the group needs $1 million in verbal commitments from investors by Dec. 31 — a deadline set by the company’s board of directors. The purchase price is $1.25 million. It already has $600,000 in promises, so $400,000 more needed.

“It doesn’t have to be money in the bank,” Parker Bowles said. If the money comes in, they’ll start work in early 2023.

Cinema Lab says anyone interested in backing the project make contact by email and they’ll send information. The group also is holding meetings for potential investors at The Red Lion Inn on Dec. 28 and 29.

Luke Parker Bowles, left, with Cinema Lab CFO Andy Childs, center and CEO Brandon Jones. The company needs $1 million in verbal commitments by Dec. 31 to buy and renovate The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington. 

Triplex owner Richard Stanley said he has no other interested buyers. He said he hears from Cinema Lab that “things are moving in a positive direction.” Cinema Lab’s contract with Stanley to purchase the cinema expires Jan. 31.

The Triplex is the latest small-town movie theater that has caught the company’s eye. The group owns several theaters in New Jersey, one in New Canaan, Conn., and another in Canon City, Colo.

The group renovates them and adds bars and more substantial food concessions. The idea is to create an inviting setting – a community hub that can be a “hang-out” that is both adult- and “kid-friendly,” said Parker Bowles, whose partners include the actor Patrick Wilson.

If Parker Bowles’ name sounds familiar, it’s because he is a nephew of Queen’s Consort Camilla Parker Bowles.

A mood board for what "The Great" cinema in Great Barrington might look like inside. 

“The feeling is a sort of pub, speakeasy, blended in with a movie theater,” he said.

If the project moves ahead, they would work with local restaurants and plan to sell craft beer and liquor, but “this won’t be some elitist, snobby thing.”

“We’ll still have Skittles and Icees and all the things,” he said. “We always say we’re creating an experience – not a movie theater.”

Design inspiration for Cinema Lab's plans to renovate The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington.

The group has been courting investors for six months.

“It’s really our board that feels that if you can’t get a response – from their standpoint – you need to go and shake other trees,” Parker Bowles said, noting that the holiday season has curbed some potential gains.

“So the goal is to say, ‘Listen, if you want this thing – get in contact.’”

A number of Berkshires supporters are trying to help, he said. They include Kelley Ryan Vickery, executive director of Berkshire International Film Festival. The annual festival works closely with the Triplex owner and holds screenings there.

The company expects to set ticket prices at $12. When asked how they’ll keep them lower than chain theater prices, he cited sales at concessions. They also plan to offer discounts and a membership program.

Heather Bellow can be reached at hbellow@berkshireeagle.com or 413-329-6871.

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Heather Bellow, a member of the investigations team, joined The Eagle in 2017. She is based in the South Berkshire County bureau in Great Barrington. Her work has appeared in newspapers across the U.S.

Luke Parker Bowles is ready to transform the Triplex Cinema by adding a bar in a nearby retail space. But the project still needs investors | Southern Berkshires | berkshireeagle.com

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