We live in perilous times for anything made out of brick and mortar. With the coronavirus pandemic having prompted a nationwide series of shutdowns and shelter-in-place requirements, Americans have learned to go about the business of their lives without the benefit of a whole host of physical spaces. Schoolhouses, cultural institutions, and houses of worship are at the forefront of our sense of loss of shared space.

Any return to normalcy will be marred by the continued absence of whatever doesn’t come back from hiatus — our favorite restaurants or bars, say. To that list, I would add that inimitable icon on the American landscape, the movie theater.