The 113 year old Palace Theater in central IL

[Bill Seipel]

The Palace Theater in central IL opened in 1913 and had just a handful of owners until 2016. It was at that time that a concerned group of community members pooled resources and saved the theater from closure.

In that time, we weathered many storms (a tornado literally ripped 1/4 of the roof off in 2010) and entertained thousands of people in our community. Our theater is a small, one-screen theater that seats 200 (plus 50 in the balcony). It has a brand new sound system and the other equipment is relatively new.

But the confluence of streaming, rising costs of goods, and the currently hollywood system have forced a vote among our shareholders.

The theater will likely go up for sale after Feb 1.

This theater is coveted by this community. Nobody wants to see it close. Especially since it is full capable of operations. Even the bathrooms were updated a couple years ago.

If you have experience with a 1st-run, for-profit theater converting to a 1st-run, NONPROFIT, I would like to hear from you.

If you have any words of guidance, I would appreciate it.

We've estimated we have a year or less before we must close our doors.

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[Frank Cox]

The Ituna Theatre, just down the road from me, is in the process of setting up as a coop.

I wrote about it here earlier: https://www.film-tech.com/vbb/forum/...a-sask-theatre

It's just a weekends-only theatre in a tiny town and I don't know any of the details, but maybe it would be worth talking to those guys.

The guy running that operation is Peter Overduin and you can contact him at councillorpetero@gmail.com if you like.

[Benjamin Ruder]

Wow looks like this is in Peoria and very close to Bradley University. Such a shame! Wish I could help. I do have family in the area.

[Ryan Gallagher]

I would just reach out to similar non-profit single screen operations and see if anyone has the bandwidth to offer some guidance. They are likely to be full of people that love saving theatres!

[Benjamin Ruder]

Agreed. This is a good place to start if not already attempted. https://arthouseconvergence.org/

[Bill Seipel]

I would just reach out to similar non-profit single screen operations and see if anyone has the bandwidth to offer some guidance. They are likely to be full of people that love saving theatres!

This is the problem: there are few, if any single-screen, nonprofit theaters that show first-run films. Or if there are, I can't find them. We are 30 min west of Peoria.

Our theater is located in a town of 2000 people, surrounded by corn fields. As much as I love art-house films, I just don't know that there's an audience to support it.

I'm willing to research it though.

[Frank Cox]

there are few, if any single-screen, nonprofit theaters that show first-run films.

Define "first run". Do you mean they play every movie on its release date or just that they play current movies within a few weeks after the release date (usually before the movie is on video).

If the latter, then I can point you to the Lyceum Theatre in Gull Lake, Saskatchewan https://www.lyceumtheatre.ca/

And the Majestic Theatre in Biggar Saskatchewan https://majestictheatre.ca/

There are probably a few more in Saskatchewan but those are the two I can think of right at this moment.

[Ryan Gallagher]

This is the problem: there are few, if any single-screen, nonprofit theaters that show first-run films. Or if there are, I can't find them. We are 30 min west of Peoria.

Our theater is located in a town of 2000 people, surrounded by corn fields. As much as I love art-house films, I just don't know that there's an audience to support it.

I'm willing to research it though.

There are probably multiple reasons in the US why that is rare in the non-profit space. For one when you have a "unique" schedule due to being a community space, studios are often not too flexible with their booking requirements, unless you establish a great relationship with them and/or a film booker. But generally the non-profits tend to be art-house, classics, or hybrid type event spaces here it seems. We are an example (hybrid) but we are more a traditional theatre that can also do film, and always have.

I am sure there are exceptions to that rule though.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

There is a theater in Lovell, WY, which has a similar population as your town, but are also a non profit. It's the HyArt Theater, and they are first run, or at least they were the 15+ years I was servicing them. The nearest competetor is Powell, WY... 2 screens, Worland, WY... two screens, and Cody, WY... 4 screens. All these locations are, or at least were first run. So I don't understand what the deal is that you can't get first run, or at least move over stuff.
I reccomend you call Clark film buying in Bozeman, MT. They book for theaters all over the US, and have a lot of power with the studios. They can also do move overs of first run stuff, so they may suggest trying that. Honestly, if they can't help you, I don't think anyone can.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Bill... here is a link to the Hyart Theater... you might also contact them with questions...

[Tj Hopland]

Who currently actually owns the building? Does it have or could it have rental space(s) in it? Or is the rest of the city full of empty spaces for rent?

[Leo Enticknap]

I don't have any personal experience of transitioning a for profit independent to a non-profit, but I do have two that have done this successfully among my service customers. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like me to ask if they'd be open to being contacted for advise.

It seems to me that this could potentially be a lifeline for saving theaters that are struggling to stay afloat, albeit at the cost of some paid employment hours leaving the local economy, to be replaced by volunteer hours. One of the two nonprofit theaters I work with regularly is run entirely by volunteers, while the other has one salaried employee plus a bunch of volunteers. My wife used to be a nonprofit development executive (which involved a lot of fundraising and grant writing) and still does some grant writing gigs, so I know a little about the ins and outs of 501(c)(3)s. The potential tax breaks immediately start to skew the economics in your favor, for one thing.

The only thing I'd flag up is that neither of those two nonprofit theaters I work with are mainstream first run. One plays mainly foreign language and arthouse stuff, while the other does second run and archival/rerelease. As others have noted, I suspect that a nonprofit might have trouble booking mainstream first run titles, especially if there are any for profit theaters still open anywhere near the nonprofit theater. But that is just a suspicion.

[Ryan Gallagher]

It seems to me that this could potentially be a lifeline for saving theaters that are struggling to stay afloat, albeit at the cost of some paid employment hours leaving the local economy, to be replaced by volunteer hours.

You no doubt understand this, but worth reiterating that the volunteer aspect of non-profits is both somewhat true but also an common misconception I think. There is nothing in the rules of running a non-profit that says you can't pay people the same or better than the commercial equivalent would have, and many do. But at the end of the day it all boils down to revenue and funding (donation) etc etc. If paying people decent wages furthers the mission and viability, then it is part of the mission. Places that operate more like clubs are more likely to utilize volunteers, but others are fully fledged venues with competitive salaries.

At our non-profit, granted a fairly high profile one in an urban center, the only volunteers are the ushers, and they get a decent perks package and get to see the shows they work (and some they don't).

[Martin McCaffery]

I retired 12/31/25 after running a non-profit single screen for forty years. I'd be happy to talk to you about it. I may not be encouraging, but I'll try to point out the landmines.
And I second getting involved with the Art House Convergence.

[Bill Seipel]

I actually started a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) last year, bought the building next to the theater, renovated and converted the building into an art gallery, classroom and coffee shop. The building is titled in the name of the nonprofit and a separate entity runs the coffee shop. The theater is right next door to me.

So I am VERY familiar with setting up a nonprofit and what you can & can't do, etc.

You guys have been very helpful and I will try to reach out soon.