posted 02-22-2007 09:04 PM                    

quote: Bill Enos

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He needs to give it to somebody with a plan.

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As much as I hate to agree... Bill is 100% correct. No plan... no backing = more future calling for money. People will quickly tire of that and ignore it and the theater will die a death it doesn't deserve. He SHOULD have presented a plan of some sort this time around...



Mark

posted 03-16-2009 02:23 PM                    

quote:

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Senator Theatre shows final film
Announcement on Rotunda's fate coming this week
By Chris Kaltenbach and Meredith Cohn

The Senator Theatre sold its final ticket last night, as owner Tom Kiefaber unexpectedly closed the financially troubled moviehouse less than 24 hours before a town hall meeting to rally support for the 70-year-old North Baltimore institution.

The meeting, set for 7 p.m. at the theater, will go on as scheduled. But it will be the only scheduled activity at the theater, which shut down after yesterday's screenings of Watchmen.

Owner Tom Kiefaber said a plan to preserve the building's interior, however well-intentioned, ultimately forced his decision to stop showing first-run films.

The proposal, by the city's Commission for Historic and Architectural Preservation, would severely restrict any structural changes that could be made to the Senator's interior. In the long-term, Kiefaber said in an interview earlier today, that would affect the building's value by limiting a prospective buyer's options. In the short term, he said, the move scared off an investor whose capital could have helped Kiefaber meet payroll for his 23-person staff.

"This is a very troubling development in the Senator's rich history," said Kiefaber, adding he knew nothing of the proposal until notices were posted on the outside of the building late last week. "And it seems to be coming out of left field."

Last week, 1st Mariner Bank, which holds a mortgage on the property, announced that it would be foreclosing unless Kiefaber could bring his loan up to date; bank chairman and operating officer Ed Hale told The Baltimore Sun last week that Kiefaber had not made a payment in "months." A foreclosure auction has tentatively been scheduled for mid-April.

A closing date for the Rotunda Cinematheque in Hampden, also run by Kiefaber, has not been set, but an announcement is planned for this week.

Kiefaber and Baltimore City officials had been working on a plan to turn the Senator into a nonprofit community center that would serve as more than a movie house, but the transition could not be made before 1st Mariner Bank notified him that it would foreclose.

The city and private citizens have come forward in the past with support for the theater, a showplace for many Hollywood movie openings. In February 2007, when the bank threatened foreclosure, nearly $110,000 was raised, mostly from private contribution. The bank, however, faces its own financial troubles, and officials say it must act now.

At least three members of the community have said they'd be interested in running the Senator and continuing to show movies.

"This was a very difficult decision made after a great deal of soul-searching and deliberation with our key management staff and my family," Kiefaber said in a notice published on the Friends of the Senator Theatre web site (friendsofthesenatortheatre.wordpress.com). "The economic realities are such that the show simply cannot go on at the Senator. The rising expressions of support from the extended community and beyond for the Senator and its future are encouraging, however, the revenue from first-run film in this economy has regrettably made it impossible for me to meet payroll for our loyal staff beyond this point."

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posted 03-17-2009 02:46 PM                    

quote:

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whose capital could have helped Kiefaber meet payroll for his 23-person staff.

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