Cinema on the Square is off and running in Greencastle

It truly is out with the old and in with the new when it comes to how to watch a movie in Greencastle. 

Gone is Ashley Square Cinema and in is the new Cinema on the Square, 6 East Washington St., Greencastle. The new cinema took the place of the former DePauw University bookstore adjacent to Starbucks downtown. 

Jason Chew, project director and community liaison for Depauw University's Growing Green and Gold Together initiative, said the change in location was necessary due to the old Ashley Square site becoming Seminary Square. 

Seminary Square is a new residential development that will add roughly 120 housing units to Greencastle. 

"That gave us the opportunity to rethink what a cinema could be and where it should live. When I started in this role in November 2024, one of the first things we did was walk about 10 potential locations around town.  Along with our scouting trips, we also analyzed the current needs and past performance of Ashley Square Cinema. The data pointed us toward a smaller, more intimate theater sized for the way our community goes to the movies.   The space at 6 East Washington Street, right across from the courthouse, met our needs, and its location made the decision easy," Chew told The Putnam County Post.

Chew also said putting the cinema on the square means a night at the movies is also a night in downtown Greencastle. 

"Our goal is for people to grab dinner before or after a show, stop for coffee at Starbucks next door, and walk past shops they might not have visited otherwise. Every showing brings foot traffic to the businesses that have invested in our downtown. For DePauw, it puts students in the heart of the community on a regular basis, sitting next to residents and spending time in Greencastle beyond campus. That is exactly what Growing Green and Gold Together is about: the university and the city growing stronger by sharing spaces like this one," he said. 

In addition to serving the needs of the community, the new theater also will be the new home base for the DePauw Film and Media Arts program, something Chew said is a "major step forward" for the program. 

"Film students now have a professional-grade theater to study, screen and present their work in, with the same projection and sound standards used in commercial cinemas. A film class can watch a work the way it was meant to be seen, and a student filmmaker can premiere a project on a real screen in front of a real audience. That experience is hard to replicate in a classroom," Chew said. 

Additionally, the cinema serves as a dedicated venue for visiting filmmakers, film series, lectures and other departments that use visual media in their coursework, according to Chew. 

"Our weekday schedule leaves room for academic programming alongside public showings, so we hope the space becomes a classroom during the week and a community movie house on the weekends," Chew said. 

The theater is brand new and features a new Barco projector with a Dolby media server and 5.1 surround sound in a 92 seat auditorium with a wide scope screen, according to Chew. 

"It looks and sounds great. It has a clean, modern feel and comfortable seating. When you come for the first time, you’ll walk into a lobby that connects to Starbucks, so you can grab a coffee before the show or hang out even when the theater isn’t open. The box office opens 30 minutes before showtime, and you can buy tickets and reserve your seat ahead of time at cinema.depauw.edu. We show first-run films with an occasional family favorite or film that has some community interest. Our current schedule includes one showing Friday evening, three on Saturday, and two on Sunday afternoon and evening; and we’ll add more when demand calls for it. Street parking and nearby lots are available, and the building is fully accessible," Chew said.