Lights, camera and, finally, action.
Almost a year after it closed for renovations, the McHurley Film Center in Santa Barbara officially reopened its doors on Monday, complete with a ribbon-cutting and popcorn.
Roger Durling, executive director of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, welcomed a crowd of onlookers to the site of the former Fiesta Five at 916 State St.
Standing under the newly reinvigorated entryway, Durling called the Film Center a dream that became a necessity. He said the Film Center will give the SBIFF a home and guarantee the organization’s future.
In addition to giving the SBIFF control over the types of movies it can show, Durling said he hopes the center can help attract people to State Street.
“It is our hope that the center becomes a beacon that will reinvigorate the downtown corridor and inspire crowds to come and partake in all the goodness that can be found in our beloved State Street,” Durling said.
He also thanked Mayor Randy Rowse and Santa Barbara City Council members Kristen Sneddon, Oscar Gutierrez and Eric Friedman for their help in moving the project forward.
The reopening was timed before the beginning of the 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which officially starts Wednesday and will run until Feb. 14.
The SBIFF took over the building after the former tenants filed for bankruptcy in September 2024. The film festival took over the theater later that year when it began showing a mixture of classic movies, documentaries, and retrospectives of directors.
Durling said the goal is to run the theater like an art house.
During the renovations, the theater was upgraded with new seats and sound systems, and changes to the concession stand. The entryway also was redone to add an ADA-compliant ramp.
Originally called the Film Center, the building has since been renamed for longtime community philanthropists Nora McNeely Hurley and Michael Hurley, who are known to friends as the McHurleys.
The pair have sat on the SBIFF’s board for 24 years.
Nora McNeely Hurley said she still remembers when the festival was small and is proud of how influential it has become over the years.
“I can’t stop smiling ear to ear, because I think it’s going to revitalize the community in such a wonderful way,” she told Noozhawk. “I can already see how its inspiration is expanding past just the Film Center to other parts of (State) Street that needed a lift.
She said she believes the Film Center will mean more to Santa Barbara because of the city’s love for arts and culture.
Nora McNeely Hurley also praised efforts for the center to be more inclusive to the community.
“It’s accessible to everyone,” she said. “And me, being a deaf person with a cochlear implant, I know that every theater has hearing loop technology that I can access to be able to really enjoy and appreciate and hear films.”