North Park Theatre launches fundraising campaign for new laser projector

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The North Park Theatre on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo is doing away with their decade-old technology and looking to raise funds for an optimal cinematic viewing experience by calling upon the public to help raise funds for a new 4K laser projector.

"The technology of the film business is constantly changing, and it's been 10 years since our restoration," says Ray Barker, North Park Theatre's Program Director.

"New technology has now emerged called laser projection, and what this does is dramatically increase the brightness of the screen. And since we have an extraordinary large screen and a large distance between the projection room and screen, we want the brightest possible picture. We want the best presentation of any cinema in town, so we're looking to upgrade."

The cost of these projector retails at about $125,000 according to Barker, but the recently launched GoFundMe page for the project will give the theatre just enough to get the ball rolling on the project, with additional assistance coming in the form of a recent grant from Erie County.

"We've had a digital projector for 10 years. And a lot of films, of course, are filmed digitally. And one of the things that customers have noticed over a decade is that films are not as bright as they were when they were actually on 35 millimeter film. So we have the recommended brightness that the industry has set, but this new technology would enable us to have 10 times greater brightness if we so chose. So the image is really going to pop, and with the 4k resolution, it's going to be even sharper, that technology wasn't available 10 years ago," Barker explains.

The last time WBEN checked the GoFundMe on Wednesday, over $6,000 was raised so far from the public, almost 1/4 of the way towards their $28,000 goal.

Barker mentioned their will be a few perks granted for early donors, such as a movie posters once hung up inside the theatre, a chance for a private screenings, special dedications and more.

"I think at this point we need to move with the technological times and upgrade, I think it will happen no matter what, but the speed with which we can convert, I think, depends a little bit in part on the public support. And I think the public will support this," added Barker.