Downtown Newton's Movie-and-a-Drink Night Changed Hands. Here's What's Different Now.

"When the four of us bought The New State last September, we did it quietly and got straight to work," Alan Jackson said this summer. That sentence explains a lot about downtown Newton this fall.

The theater at 117 N. College Ave. has been under new local owners for a full year, and most of the work happened before anyone made an announcement. Around the corner at 12 N. Ashe Ave., the building that housed Novel Taproom sold at the end of July and reopened two weeks later under a new name. Both changes came from local buyers putting money into rooms they already knew. The schedules they've set fit together closely enough that a plan for a movie and a drink downtown now depends on the clock as much as the marquee.

The Theater That Changed Hands a Year Before the Ribbon-Cutting

The New State Cinema opened in August 1936 and still runs three screens. In September 2025 it was bought by two local couples, Alan and Suzanne Jackson and Brad and Patricia Haas. The public moment came almost a year later. The City of Newton joined the owners for a ribbon-cutting on Aug. 28, 2026, to mark the theater's 90th anniversary and its new ownership.

According to the city's release, here is what the owners did in that quiet year:

• Upgraded the sound systems in all three auditoriums
• Refreshed the lobby and the concessions area
• Started Silver Screen Sunday, a recurring series of films from the 1930s through the 1960s
• Started Retro Rewind, a recurring series of '80s films

The last two items change the theater most. A three-screen downtown house can't win a first-run release weekend against a multiplex. A 1941 noir on a Sunday afternoon is something the multiplex doesn't try to offer. This month that film is The Maltese Falcon, scheduled at 1:30 p.m. on both Oct. 4 and Oct. 11. The theater's ticketing page lists a $5 matinee ticket for the Oct. 4 showing. The adult price for the evening shows below is $7.

The October listings also include two older films that the theater's own listings don't put under the Retro Rewind label. 9 to 5 plays Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 11 at 4 p.m. The ticketing page for the Oct. 10 show lists adult tickets at $7 and child tickets at $5. Ghostbusters plays Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m., and its ticketing page lists the same $7 and $5 prices.

Mayor Jerry T. Hodge called the theater one of the historic businesses that make "Downtown Newton special." The owners have also asked for photographs, stories, and memories from past visits through statecinemanewton.com.

The Bar That Kept the Room and Changed the Rules

Novel Taproom had its own backstory. Jeff Allen bought the former long-vacant Buick showroom downtown in March 2019 to turn it into a place for socializing and entertainment, and Novel opened in 2020. Allen had publicly listed the taproom for sale, and in a July text message he said the place "needed an infusion of energy."

That infusion came from Michelle Shope and her husband, Robert Germain. Catawba County deed records show they closed on the building on July 31 and paid about $800,000 for it. They closed the business for roughly two weeks, then reopened it on Aug. 13 as Bernie's, named for their 1-year-old German Shepherd.

Shope's reason for buying is the most useful detail in the Hickory Daily Record's coverage. "We always loved Novel, but we never came because they didn't have alcohol (liquor)," she said. "We just never came, but I love the building and I love the concept of the building." So Bernie's has added wine, liquor, and prosecco alongside its beer, plus new beer lines and new tables and seating.

The interior is similar to Novel's, with the new owners' own touches added. Photos from Germain's years as a professional race car team owner hang on the walls, and some of his guitars hang from the walls and ceiling, a nod to his time in a band. The bar has a pinball machine, arcade games, darts, a pool table, and TVs inside and out. Bernie the dog will be there some of the time to greet customers.

Outside, the owners repainted the building, added a large side patio for outdoor seating, and put an awning over the back patio so customers have cover from the weather.

The food has a local link of its own. Zoo Crew Street Eats is run by Bernie's site manager Tina Hollar, whose family owned and operated the Double S Cafe in Conover for decades. Its menu includes doughnuts, cheeseburgers, and fried bologna. The truck is open whenever Bernie's is and sometimes opens for breakfast. Shope also plans to add a barbecue truck.

Shope hasn't owned a bar before. "We're learning as we go," she said on Aug. 20. "So far, I think we're pulling it off." Customers must be 21 or older.

Where the Two Schedules Meet

With both businesses under new owners, the evening plan comes down to timing. The Hickory Daily Record's August story lists Bernie's hours as Sundays from noon to 5 p.m., Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 to 11 p.m., and Thursdays through Saturdays from 4 to 11:30 p.m. Those published hours don't include Tuesday. Here are the October showtimes set against those hours:

The Sunday rows matter most. Bernie's closes at 5 p.m. on Sundays, so the 1:30 p.m. Silver Screen Sunday matinee lets you have a drink or a Zoo Crew cheeseburger before or after the film while the patio is still open. The 4 p.m. showing of 9 to 5 on Oct. 11 ends after Bernie's closes, so on that day the bar visit has to come first. On Saturday, Oct. 10 and Wednesday, Oct. 21, the 7 p.m. showings leave hours of open time at Bernie's after the credits.

The bar has music on the calendar later in the fall. The band dialUp Radio lists a show at Bernie's, 12 N. Ashe Ave., on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m.

These hours come from a story published in late August. Downtown Newton's business directory lists Bernie's and links to its Facebook page, which is the place to check current hours before planning a Tuesday visit or a late Sunday.

The Third Address on the Block Is Still Unsettled

The obvious first stop on this walk is dinner, and that piece is still taking shape. Dark Bulls, the steakhouse at 11 N. College Ave., opened in late 2025 and closed this summer. A sign on the door said a Mediterranean restaurant called Vespers planned to open in the space in October.

As of the first days of October, we couldn't confirm that Vespers has opened, who owns it, its menu, or its hours in local news, city announcements, or the downtown business listings. For now, treat it as announced. If it opens on schedule, 11 N. College Ave. will sit a few doors from the New State's marquee at 117 N. College Ave. and a short walk from Bernie's patio on Ashe Avenue. Then all three stops will be run by owners who are new this year.

Until then, the two anchors that are confirmed tell the story. A 90-year-old theater got new sound and a classic-film series, and a former Buick showroom got a full bar, a German Shepherd greeter, and a food truck tied to a longtime Conover cafe. Local buyers who already cared about these rooms made both changes in the past twelve months.

Our team at RE/MAX Legendary keeps up with what opens, sells, and changes hands in downtown Newton and Conover. If a Silver Screen Sunday matinee followed by a stop at Bernie's sounds like your kind of weekend, and you're thinking about a home within walking distance of College Avenue, call a Legendary Agent today.