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Drexel Grandview remains open temporarily
posted by
danpetitpas
on
September 30, 2008 at 7:36 am
COLUMBUS, OH — After calling his theater “a dinosaur,” and “I don’t think it’s economically viable for it to ever be a movie theater again,” Drexel Grandview owner and manager Jeff Frank did not close the theater this weekend as originally planned.
In an email to Drexel patrons sent last Friday afternoon, Jeff Frank announced: “Because of the severe storms last week and the loss of power at both our theatres and cafe, and the fact that many people were without power, we decided it would be best to postpone our Grand Closing Event for Drexel Grandview. We are currently working on keeping the theatre open for a few additional weeks so we can plan this event and we’re still trying to work out a way to keep the theatre open longer.”
The Drexel Theaters Group website lists showtimes through October 2nd, so they will be open at least through the end of this week.
Thanks to MarkL for the information.
Comments (3)
Perhaps if the Grandview was given a first run opening every once in a while and not getting the Drexel East’s seconds like it has notoriously, there wouldn’t be a problem keeping the theatre open.
Perfect examples of this would be both “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Sideways” being first run there, and both films keeping the place packed during their respective summers. I understand that much of booking is decided by the studios, but with how much the Grandview pulled in for Fox Searchlight it seems likely that they would eagerly book there again.
It looks like “temporarily” ends tonight….
“It is with heavy hearts that we have to announce that tonight, September 30, 2008, will be the last night of movies at the Drexel Grandview Theatre.
After the windstorm that closed the Drexel East and Radio Café for most of five days, we tried hard; but unsuccessfully, to reach agreement with the Grandview property owner so that we could keep the theatre open for a closing night party. Jeff and I will be at the Grandview tonight to say goodbye to any who come in, gather a few things, and secure the building until we can pack up the bulk of the theatre equipment and move it out in the next few days. We express our deep gratitude to all of you who have shared your Drexel Grandview stories, sent sad but good wishes, and even made offers of services in behalf of possibly keeping the theatre open.
Let us look on the brighter side. We have heard from so many of you and benefited so much personally from your good will. Our Drexel 3-screen theatre and Radio Café are alive and well. We have lots of programming and operational goals to accomplish in the very next few weeks so that we may continue to bring independent film and events to Columbus. We can certainly use all of your help.
We hope you will visit us at the Drexel Theatre in Bexley, even though it may not be the movie theatre closest to your home. We need lots of support and help to thrive at our business in this very difficult economic time.
Accept our heartfelt thanks and please, please continue to visit the Drexel Theatre and Radio Café. Feel free to share your ideas and thoughts with us directly through response to
Warm Regards,
Jeff and Kathy Frank" (from the Drexel Theatres email newsletter)
Sad news, Monika. I hoped something could be worked out. I posted the email on the Drexel Grandview page on this site.
Mark L.