Beginning in 2007, The Lyric Theater  called an ex drive-through laundromat on Mountain Avenue home, until now.

Beloved local movie theater, The Lyric, has been working hard to expand and rebrand their already successful business. The theater’s new home is 1209 College Ave, a four-year long idea finally birthed into a space with three theaters, a revamped food and drink menu and cool new swag for sale.

Tuesday marked the official grand opening of the Lyric, and they were not sparse on celebration. The night’s festivities started off with a parade from Old Town to the new theater, led by Guerrilla Fanfare, an 8-piece brass marching band that brought rowdiness and funk on the way.

“It’s really cool to be part of this opening, because I know the Lyric is a mainstay in Fort Collins,” said Jesse Matthews, trumpet player for Guerrilla Fanfare. “We play a lot of mobile gigs, but we are all about any festive atmosphere like this.”

The Lyric features three new and roomier theaters named the Space, the Ship and the Tiki Lounge. The Alcapones, a “folkadelic” jazz band and circus performers overtook the Ship, where enthusiastic patrons showed their best dance moves. Hyzenborg, a dubstep and metal DJ native to Colorado brought out trippy visuals and lasers in the Space while live visual art played in the Tiki Lounge.

The grand opening showed just how versatile these theaters can be, and owner Ben Mozer hopes The Lyric can become a place to hang out other than for a movie and to become a better known community space.  

“I like the flexibility of the building’s design,” Mozer said. “Cinema is the collision point of all art forms and so to be able to extract out each form is important for an arthouse movie theater to live up to its name. With this space, it is easier to do that.”

Walking into The Lyric lobby, you’ll notice a large mural done by Lindee Zimmer and Ryan Guillaume that hangs above the pinball machines. Although the rest of the walls are bare, they will soon be covered in pieces done by local artists.

In addition to offering physical art pieces, The Lyric produces a monthly zine titled “Aspect:Ratio” that encourages submissions of poetry, short stories, photography and other art forms from Fort Collins residents like Kindra Weisbrod.

“The Timekeeper of Hindustan” is the name of Weisbrod’s black and white photo she submitted, which was taken on a trip to New Delhi, India.

“The Lyric is starting a movement to compensate all the artists who contribute to this space,” Weisbrod said. “The space is amazing because there’s so much room to create a quirky and artsy vibe.”

The Lyric has shown over 900 films in the ten years of their operation and they certainly don’t plan to slow down. This theater’s goal is to add a little fun to North College and encourage the community to tap into their artistic side, while helping grow Colorado’s film culture.

Current showings and more information can be found at lyriccinema.com

Collegian reporter Sarah Ehrlich can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com and on Twitter @sarahehrlich96.