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Saving Theatres the

American Way:

An Internet Survey

by Ian Williams

The century-old love affair with In the States, if a group is organized Rigby has a theatre man’s faith that
American mass media shows no signs as a non-profit trust it may qualify for with hard work, a shrewd assessment of
of abating. Cinema audiences may now matching state and federal grants, but the market and a passion for movies, he
have a diluted interest in Hollywood the group must put in a lot of work can improve the odds for success.
product compared to fifty years ago, fundraising. It helps too if a celebrity The 80-year old theatre is an
but for trends in the presentation of gets involved. ‘atmospheric.’ Rigby has restored the
entertainment, the impulse is still to One high risk strategy, a recipe for drifting clouds and stars. This part of
look to the States. breaking the hearts of all involved, is the city has precious little going for it
In this smorgasbord of internet when a group of volunteers spruces up a after dusk, but he thinks he can make
postings, I was more interested in what derelict theatre in the hope of finding a that work for him.
the ‘battlers’ are doing to keep a theatre developer prepared to complete the job. Maryland
open, rather than the successes big money Liens on buildings for unpaid taxes The Hippodrome and Town,
can bring, although these get a mention. and foreclosure debts are lead weights Baltimore
Issues faced by theatre managers in which can drag down the best of efforts. A neglected shopping strip was
the States are familiar: high land Landmark status is a designation buoyed by the restoration of the
values, the home theatre revolution akin to our Heritage protection. It can Hippodrome in 2004. It seats more
and that vanishing gap between bring an owner to the negotiating table, than 2,000, and will take touring
cinema and DVD release. where tax concessions may be offered. productions from Broadway.
Some projects listed are at a Kansas City Across the road the 95 year-old
watershed; the x-factor needed for The Music Hall Town Theater* (below), where Mae
success elusive. Will they find it?
A $13.4 million renovation of The West and Joe E. Brown once trod the
CinemaRecord will maintain a Watch
Music Hall, Kansas City (1935) is
List to find out.
finished. Seating 2,400 its classic
URBAN RENEWAL fixtures and styling make it “an art
Industry moving offshore is not deco masterpiece second only to Radio
new; but the problem of ‘rust belt’ City Music Hall in New York,”
neighborhoods always seemed more according to the principal of the firm
extreme in the States. Among the which did the work. Taxpayers picked
abandoned central city (downtown) up this tab
buildings were many fine theatres. The Granada/Screenland Granada
phenomenon of just walking away from
a big theatre is unusual in Australia, but
it did happen with the Regent
Melbourne, so we can empathise with
groups in the States who are
campaigning to reopen some of them.
City life is about pride in buildings,
services and variety. Alongside retail, boards, is to be taken over by a regional
restaurants and bars, the inhabitants theatre company.
want their theatres back. ‘Bringing life Bank Of America, which is financing
back to downtown’, is the mantra. a retail and apartment complex around
Theatre ‘saviours’ may be a Butch Rigby, owner and operator of the Town, sold the theatre for $1 to a
corporation; a wealthy individual; the one theatre in Kansa City took a risk trust. The renovation to make it a 300-
city itself, which means the taxpayers; and re-opened the Granada, a first step seat theatre will be completed in 2009 at
or people who, lacking money in rehabilitating a run-down a cost of $11.5 million.
themselves, have an ability to rally neighborhood. Renamed Screenland As the manager of the Hippodrome
others. Cooperation between these Granada it shows first-run films on a sees it, “You've got Broadway on one
categories is often the name of the single-screen, where there is no hedge side of the street and off-Broadway on
game. against a bad weekend. the other. We are not competitors in any
sense; we will feed off each other.”
26 2007 CINEMARECORD