The 100-year-old Heights Theater’s first film under its new ownership was the dramedy “Father Mother Sister Brother.” (Nik Linde)
On Friday, January 9, the Heights Theater, 3951 Central Ave. NE, officially reopened under new ownership. A one-week closure allowed General Manager Jeremy Marder to get acquainted alongside Co-owner Ryan Oestreich with Tom Letness, the theater’s previous owner.
Moviegoers entered the theater for a matinee show. (Nik Linde)
“In December, I came up for three weeks and learned under Tom,” Marder told the Northeaster. “He told me that the owners before him had much less time. They had one afternoon together of him learning everything from them. So I had three weeks with Tom. He was a great teacher, great person and a great shepherd of cinema. So, he passed it over to me. Now I have to do my job and, you know, make sure that lasts for another a hundred years.”
Ryan Oestreich, co-owner of the Heights Theater, stands next to an original film projector in the lobby. (Nik Linde)
Oestreich and Marder both worked at the Music Box Theater in Chicago.
“I’ve been in the business for a little over 20 years,” Marder said. “I’ve been in and out of other movie theaters. I started my career here in Minneapolis and ran multiple theaters, including The Main, and then I was also operations director (and) festival director of the MSP Film Society’s Film Festival.”
The softly lit classic interior prior to the first screening of 2026. (Nik Linde)
The new ownership aims to honor the charm and reputation the Heights Theater has held since 1926. “The community told me, ‘Don’t change it,’” Marder said. “The things that people have told me that they love is: they love the feel of it. We’re not going to change that at all. The changes that we are going to make are doing more classic programming, including Saturday morning cartoons and late-night classics.”