EL PASO, Texas – After many months in the dark, the movie projectors are slowly turning back on around El Paso, including those at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Montecillo on the city’s west side.

Tuesday evening’s reopening is being treated as a triumph of sorts with the cinema even giving out special collectible tickets to those first returning customers.

“I came here early to get this and I am going to hang it up on my wall,” said El Paso resident and movie fan Mike Salazar. “El Paso has a strong movie community so this is a massive morale boost for us collectively.”

For cinema staff, safety has become the top priority.

Alamo Drafthouse has integrated iWave ionization technology into its heating and cooling systems. According to the owners of Alamo, this technology uses charged atoms that attach to and kill harmful substances like bacteria, mold, allergens and viruses in the building’s air and on surfaces.

The Alamo Drafthouse, like so many other cinemas, has also embraced safety features such as remote ticket buying, sending employees home at the first sign of potential Covid symptoms, disposable menus, and also there is a move being made away from cash as contactless payment is also being encouraged.

As for state regulations, those were recently revised and allow theaters to operate at 50 percent capacity.

Aside from online ticket purchases, food must be preordered from a scaled-back menu with the ticket purchase. Additional food can be ordered during the screening.

Moviegoers must wear face masks and hand sanitizing stations have been installed around the facility.

Seats also will be “buffered” so that each set of two or each group will have empty seats between them.