The end credits roll for for Seattle's Varsity Theater

After over 80 years, Seattle’s U-District is saying goodbye to a neighborhood staple: the Varsity Theater.

The scent of popcorn filled the air of the three-screen independent movie theater lobby on Thursday afternoon, as University of Washington students and nostalgic customers dropped in to buy tickets for the theater’s final screenings.

Far Away Entertainment, the Varsity's operator, announced the closure earlier this week. The company cited rising operation costs and ongoing challenges following the pandemic as driving factors behind the "impossible" future for the theater.

Two other movie theaters in the U-District have closed over the last year; the Varsity was the last one remaining.

Christian Mackie, a junior at UW, said losing the theater is "heartbreaking."

"It's just one less thing that will have more students on the Ave," Mackie said. "Now we just have bars and restaurants, and that's about it. So with theaters gone, it's just kind of a sad thing to see."

Mackie came by with a friend, fellow UW junior Anunzaya Bayasglan, to take advantage of the student discount and watch "Avatar: Fire and Ash."

Thursday was the pair's first time at the Varsity, but both admit they prefer catching a flick in-person versus watching a movie alone in their room.

"It's an event," Bayasglan said. "You plan, you go out of your way to come here, which just makes it more special."

Along with the latest "Avatar" installment, moviegoers had their pick between the fast-paced sport drama "Marty Supreme" and the survival-horror film "Primate."

Tim Pinkelmann described his trip to the movies as a "last chance to say goodbye to an old friend."

He first started coming to the Varsity in the 1970s, when the neighborhood had several movie houses to choose from. There was the Seven Gables Theater, the Grand Illusion, and the Neptune. The Guild 45th Theater was a short distance away in Wallingford. All of those theaters are now closed; the Neptune Theater re-opened in 2011 as a music venue.

"This is the last man standing," Pinkelmann said.

The neighborhood is now without a movie theater for the first time in eight decades.

For video editor Sean Donavan, losing the Varsity represents the increasingly tough task to find spaces where you can catch an arthouse movie or experimental film.

"You feel like you have to go to a house party that's got some people showing it on a projector on a blanket somewhere," Donavan said. "[There's] nowhere I can think of [that] plays those kind of art-house films."

Donavan used to go to the SIFF Cinema Egyptian too, but that closed in October. For now, they'll head to a Regal Cinema.