Is it possible the San Clemente Theatre will be praised like this Paramount restoration, in the VERY NEAR future:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g30138-d288040-r64219170-Paramount_Theatre-Abilene_Texas.html
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Aron Theatre Saved
Co-operative meets $120,000 goal
By Mark Hoult
Campbellford — The Aron Theatre Co-operative has sold more than $120,000 in bonds to light up the future of the big screen in Campbellford.
"Our community has rallied to save the Aron Theatre and we are all very excited about its future as a cultural hub in Trent Hills," said Aron Co-op president Russ Christianson.
The co-op met its bond target March 30, and will now proceed with the April 14 purchase of the Aron Theatre from longtime owner Paul Imperial.
In addition, the co-op recently received a two-year $60,000 grant through the Canadian Co-operative Association to help engage community members in organizing the movies, concerts and other events they would like to see, Christianson said, adding Jana Reid and Kathy Smit have resigned from the co-op's founding board of directors to spearhead the organization of these events.
"Paul Imperial and the concession employees are going to continue working at the theatre on movie nights, and we are very pleased that Jana and Kathy are going to continue helping the community make the most out of this cultural asset," Christianson said.
Following the purchase of the Aron Theatre the co-op will apply to the Municipality of Trent Hills for a façade improvement grant and use the $5,000 grant it has received from the Campbellford Seymour Community Foundation to re-light the marquee and renovate the front entrance, Christianson said.
The Co-op also has plans to apply to the Trillium Fund to purchase a digital projector.
The Aron Theatre is a not-for-profit co-operative. Annual memberships cost $20 for an individual and $40 for a family. Each membership provides a discount of $1 per movie per patron to the maximum of the membership cost. Aron bonds cost $100 to $1,000, and are available for five-, 10- or 15-year terms, with annual interest of 2.5 per cent, three per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively.
Memberships and bonds are available at the Grindhouse Café, Kerr's Corner Books, the Campbellford Seymour Community Foundation, at Aron film showings, or by visiting.
Campbellford Foundation invests in Aron Theatre Co-operative!
The Campbellford-Seymour Community Foundation will purchase $50,000. worth of bonds from the Aron Theatre Co-operative. The investment more than doubles the amount the co-operative has raised towards its goal of acquiring the Aron Cinema and keeping it alive as a cultural institution operated by a not for profit business.
"We support the long term vision of the Aron as an important part of the cultural hub within the community," Foundation president Jim Kelleher told Trent Hills council February 15th.
The money to acquire the bonds which offer an annual return of 3.5 per cent over 15 years will be taken from the Foundation's endowment funds, Mr Kelleher said.
"We certainly hope that will encourage investment by others in the community and help ensure the long term success of thsi project."
The $50,000. investment approved last week raises the total the co-operative has raised to $95,000. Mr. Kelleher said. The organization has arranged to buy the Campbellford theatre from Paul Imperial for $200,000. Mr Imperial has agreed to take back first and second mortgages for the portion of the purchase price, leaving the co-operative with $120,000 it must come up with on its own.
The interest on the bonds it sells is to be paid out from the profits it plans to make from running the theatre as more than a place where Hollywood movies are shown.
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Hidden Treasures of the Cerrito Theatre
The Cerrito Theater is located at 10070 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530.
Friends of the Cerrito Theater, as a project of the El Cerrito Community Foundation, began to organize in 2001, when the building came on the market for the first time in 40 years, and residents discovered, to their amazement, that the beautiful Art Deco murals and mirrors inside had survived! Efforts were directed towards saving the building and its interior artwork, with the intention of renovating and resurrecting the movie theater.
The historic Cerrito Theater is one of El Cerrito’s hidden treasures.
Friends succeeded in its goal November 1, 2006, when the Cerrito reopened with a showing of “Casablanca.” But rather than disband, Friends continued as a watchdog group to make sure the theater and its historic elements remain protected in perpetuity. We remain willing to advocate for the theater, and raise funds for repairs or further historic restoration, if that becomes necessary.
In June 2009, the operator of the Cerrito announced that it would be closing the theater. It closed shortly thereafter. The city of El Cerrito, which owns the building, set about finding a new operator. An outpouring of community support showed how much people in El Cerrito and nearby communities enjoy the theater.
Rialto Cinemas will begin showing first-run, independent, art films and special programs on July 15, 2009.
The renovated theaters have both an elevator and wheelchair seating. Rear Window® Captioning and DVS Theatrical® are available for deaf and blind patrons. Friends of The Cerrito Theater, with over 2000 supporters and 425 donors, provided support and funding to renovate the 1937 movie theater. Historic elements of the art deco interior have been saved and restored.
Among the Friends’ long-term goals are to place the theater on the National Register of Historic Places. The Friends is also exploring the possibility of protecting the murals, Art Deco lighting and glass by establishing a historic preservation easement. Friends also hopes to further one of our original goals, which was to continue building community through this wonderful theater. People who are interested in these activities should contact Friends’ chairman, Dave Weinstein, at davidsweinstein@yahoo.com.
THE STORY
The Cerrito Theater, on San Pablo Avenue between Fairmont and Central, was built in 1937 as neighborhood, art deco movie house. The theater closed in the early 1960’s, and the building was used as a storage facility for Kiefer’s furniture store for several decades, until that business closed, too.
Close to BART, the revitalized El Cerrito Plaza and foot and car traffic on San Pablo, Friends saw that the theater could be an entertainment venue and gathering place for El Cerrito, and that it could play an important role in the revitalization of the city’s “downtown.”
Open House on May 3, 2002
Following an outpouring of community support, including an open house at the theater that attracted about 3,000 people, the City of El Cerrito purchased the building. Speakeasy Theaters, operators of the Parkway Speakeasy Theater in Oakland, agreed to operate the Cerrito. Architects began developing plans to renovate the building, rebuild the marquee and add a second, upstairs theater. The Parkway has prospered in Oakland by catering to the local community with a mix of new films, classics, film noir festivals, a Baby Brigade night for parents with babies, and more. Similarly, programming at the Cerrito will be based on community input and response, including special programs for families and teenagers.
Although most of the funding for restoring the theater came from the El Cerrito Redevelopment Agency (as a loan), and from Speakeasy Theaters, the Friends of the Cerrito Theater and other community groups also raised funds to help out. These funds are especially useful in restoring some of the theater’s historic elements. Besides organizing fundraising events, the Friends focused on building community support for the theater by periodically providing updates on the status of the project. The community demonstrated its support for this project by responding at an astonishing level.
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The Colonial Theatre
The restoration of the Colonial Theatre in 2000 revived an iconic cultural center and reversed the fate of Pittsfield, MA, a small city facing severe economic depression.
The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts tells of preservation's power to spark economic development and reinvestment in our communities. Its restoration in 2000 revived an iconic cultural center and reversed the fate of a small city facing severe economic depression.
The Colonial is one of the finest turn-of-the-century theaters still standing today. It was one of hundreds designed by the noted theater architecture firm J. B. McElfatrick & Son. Built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, only a few of these theaters remain intact.
The Colonial Theatre was a nationally-revered playhouse and vaudeville theater until economic strain caused it to close in 1934. From 1937 to 1952, it operated primarily as a movie theater. The historical significance and the potential of this well-preserved space garnered attention through public tours in the late 1990s. The Colonial Theatre was named a Save America's Treasures project in 1998.
In 2000, Save America's Treasures awarded the Colonial Theatre a $400,000 federal grant to jump-start its restoration, the effects of which were widespread for Pittsfield. Executive Director David Fleming writes, "It is no exaggeration to say that the designation of the Colonial Theatre as a Save America's Treasures project and the visit by then-First Lady Hillary Clinton in May 1998 were the first building blocks in the revitalization of this rural city that had been devastated by corporate abandonment in the 1980s."
Fleming continues: "[A]rmed with the designation of one of our forgotten architectural gems as a national treasure by this program, business and community leaders, insightful elected officials, and property owners rallied behind the rehabilitation of the Colonial Theatre as both a physical and symbolic icon around which our city could be rebuilt." An unprecedented $21.5 million was raised from 2001 to 2006 to purchase and rehabilitate the theater. The restoration has earned international recognition for both the quality of work and for the dramatic impact it has had on the revitalization of the entire community. The theater is estimated to have a direct economic impact of $4 million in the Berkshires every year, and has created a minimum of 92 full time jobs.
Today, the Colonial Theatre is home to two stages for the nationally-renowned theater company, Barrington Stage Company, whose "Spelling Bee" was a Tony Award-winning production on Broadway. The restoration has also given rise to an exciting art gallery scene, two active dance studios and a fledgling professional dance company, new restaurants, a digital cinema multiplex, and a burgeoning housing market.
The theater has become a critical element in building and sustaining tourism economy of the Berkshires.
Former State Senator Andrea Nuciforo, Jr. led the efforts to gain matching support from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the restoration. According to Nuciforo, "Save America's Treasures recognition changed the way the public perceived the Colonial, and all of downtown Pittsfield. It allowed us, as public officials, to actively advocate for the restoration of the theater and its environment."
Executive Director David Fleming echoes Nuciforo's appreciation for Save America's Treasures: "None of this would have been possible without the leadership of the Save America's Treasures program."
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