When the Cannon Valley Cinema 10 movie theater in Dundas made its grand opening last fall, St. Olaf students greatly benefitted from a wide array of movies shown only three miles away from campus.
Recently, the Student Government Organization (SGA) started selling $5 movie tickets, making this entertainment option more accessible to students.
According to administrative assistant Jennifer S. Halko from the Office of Student Activities, these tickets can be physically purchased in BC 107. This price applies to most movies, with some additional charges for those shown in 3D.
There are tickets available for all showtimes and there are no limitations on the number of tickets that can be bought.
Though these tickets can ensure admission to the theater, they cannot be used to reserve specific seats.
For this reason, moviegoers are advised to arrive early at the theater to choose their seats at the counter.
In order to make this great bargain available for St. Olaf students, the Student Association Committee (SAC) purchased movie tickets in bulk for $6 each and resell them for $5, meaning they will be paying $1 for every purchase made by St. Olaf students.
This is not the first time SGA has made movie theatres more accessible to St. Olaf students.
In the 2013 – 2014 school year, SAC introduced a now-discontinued service called “The Movie Bus,” a bus that shuttled students between St. Olaf and Lakeville Muller Theatres every Saturday night.
Tickets used to cost $5 upon entering the bus and guarantee admission to most movies at the Muller Family Theater.
Sadly, Muller Family Theaters were sold to a Detroit company in 2016 and Oles can no longer enjoy this wonderful service.
Though students are excited about the cheap price of movie tickets at Cannon Valley Cinema 10, many are faced with the difficulties of coordinating transportation to and from the theatre.
Students who do not have personal transportation on campus depend on the Express Bus to watch a movie at the local cinema.
With the new schedule for the 2018-2019 school year, the Express Bus is now running shorter hours and less frequently.
Between Friday and Monday, students can only arrive at the theater at 6:32 p.m. at the earliest and their last chance to leave is at 8:32 p.m.
This means if one wishes to watch a movie on weekdays, they can only do so in this two-hour time frame.
Even though the Cannon Valley 10 Theater offers different showtimes, Oles will not be able to enjoy them.
St. Olaf students might even have to come late or leave early from a movie to catch the last bus that heads back to campus.
In short, even though the movie ticket prices have become cheaper for students, the bus schedule poses a challenge for movie-lovers to actually enjoy this new entertainment resource.
