Today is the 70th birthday of Baltimore’s Senator Theatre!
Baltimore City and the Baltimore Development Corporation are holding a ‘Pre-Proposal Conference’ today at the theatre for potential developers and operators (see my recent post, above).
Shows and events are scheduled thru October. Details on the Senator’s commercial site: www.Senator.com
I’m working with a small online forum called the Senator Theatre Group (STG). There are other support groups for the Senator Theatre, on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere.
Today is the 70th birthday of Baltimore’s Senator Theatre!
Baltimore City and the Baltimore Development Corporation are holding a ‘Pre-Proposal Conference’ today at the theatre for potential developers and operators (see my recent post, above).
Shows and events are scheduled thru October. Details on the Senator’s commercial site: www.Senator.com
I’m working with a small online forum called the Senator Theatre Group (STG). There are other support groups for the Senator Theatre, on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere.
Developers' ‘Pre-Proposal Conference’ in Baltimore Oct 5
It’s the 70th birthday of the Senator Theatre and
the Baltimore Development Corporation is hosting
a ‘Pre-Proposal Conference’ issuing its RFP for
preservation and operation of Baltimore’s art deco
landmark. Movies are still being shown regularly.
If you would like to attend next Monday’s conference
at the theatre, please contact the BDC before Friday,
Oct 2. All interested can download the complete RFP
(Request For Proposals) from the BDC website (or
reply to me for a copy of the PDF version).
According to the RFP, a Pre-Proposal conference
is scheduled for Monday, October 5, 2009 at 10 am.
From the RFP…
VIII. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Issue Date: September 21, 2009
Date for obtaining RFP: September 21, 2009
RSVP due for Pre-Proposal Conference: October 2, 2009
Pre-Proposal Conference: October 5, 2009, 10:00 a.m. (at the Senator
Theatre)
Due date for all written questions: October 6, 2009, 5:00 p.m.
BDC response to Pre-Proposal Conference and written questions: October
13, 2009
Proposals Due: November 20, 2009
Developer Oral Presentations to Advisory Panel: December 2009
Anticipated Announcement of Selection: February 2010
Please note above dates and times are subject to change.
To attend the Oct 5 conference, please contact before Oct 2:
Kristen Mitchell
BDC Senior Economic Development Officer
410-837-9305
Question about ‘duplexing’ historic theatres?
Anyone, please –
Are there good examples (or not) of historic theatres that were split, with the intention of restoring the historic interior years later? Have walls been built with sensitivity to the architecture, to be removed in accordance with long-term plans? What are some of these cinemas, and how did they make out?
For example, we’re hearing that the AFI Silver Theatre was dark for 15 years before its stunning restoration. Suppose there had been some interim arrangement, to keep the theatre alive during its dark ages?
… Durkee Enterprises was one of the oldest and largest movie
circuits in Baltimore. Frank H. Durkee began his movie empire as a
young man around 1908/1909 when he went from hall to hall carrying his
movie equipment strapped to his back. Durkee was born in Baltimore on 20 August 1888, and died on 24 October 1955. He graduated from
Baltimore City College in 1906, and attended the University of
Maryland Law School. In his youth, he sang between movies and in
church choirs. He was president of the Baltimore City Park Board from 1938 to 1945. Durkee’s first movie house was the PARADISE in a two-story house on the corner of Washington and Federal Streets…
Nice article by Larry Perl / Baltimore Messenger posted today: View link
It gives a good sense of various parties in Baltimore considering a workable future for the theatre. Names several names, with a slideshow of recent photos.
In the Hollywood version of Wednesday’s auction of the Senator Theatre, the auctioneer would have intoned, “Going once, going twice,” and right there, in the pregnant pause before he lowered the gavel to the podium and consigned the historic Art Deco movie house to the wrecking ball, a sudden outpouring of community support would have materialized, It’s a Wonderful Life-style, to bail out the plucky owner and hero of our story, Tom Kiefaber. Or maybe in a slightly more realistic version, the theater would have been bought by a mysterious bidder who turned out to be a rich, eccentric movie buff and promised to keep the place going. (And let Mr. Kiefaber run the projector and make his little speeches before the show starts.)
What we got instead was a confusing mess. One bid came in at $800,000, about $150,000 less than the city had paid for the Senator’s mortgage earlier this year. City officials huddled and, according to First Deputy Mayor Andrew B. Frank, decided to bid $810,000 to retain control of the theater rather than allow it to go to the anonymous bidder, who might not have shared the city’s goals for the Senator. Now, Mr. Frank says, the city intends to issue a request for proposals with the goal of selling the theater to a nonprofit or businessperson who would run it in a way that fits with Baltimore’s hopes for Belvedere Square.
Why exactly the city thinks there might be more interest in the theater in an RFP process than in the auction is unclear. Two local businessmen with great success in the entertainment field, developer David Cordish and Charles Theatre owner James “Buzz” Cusack have both expressed interest in the Senator but did not bid. Mr. Cusack says the theater would have had to be “unreasonably cheaper” for it to be financially viable. Both he and Mr. Cordish have talked about adding a restaurant or other amenities to make the single-screen model workable, and that doesn’t count the other renovations that would be necessary to get the theater up to snuff. The roof leaks, and the seats are long overdue for a replacement. (Mr. Cusack says seats run $150 to $200 apiece, a big chunk of change for a 900-seat theater.)
What that means is the city’s hope to recoup its investment is wildly unrealistic, at least in the short term. Mayor Sheila Dixon’s administration portrayed the auction results as a positive development, but they really just proved that the city bought the theater for a lot more than it’s worth at a time when Baltimore is facing severe budget trouble.
The mayor needs to move quickly to create the “wide-open, transparent process” for finding a new operator that her administration promised. Baltimore needs to find someone with Mr. Kiefaber’s passion, but with better luck, deeper pockets and, perhaps, more business acumen. What it does not need is someone who assumes Baltimore will bail him out if times get tough.
There is no doubt that Belvedere Square is a stronger, more vibrant community with the Senator than without, and some level of public investment could pay off in the long run in terms of increased business activity and taxes. But the mayor needs to engage the community in an honest dialogue so it can decide how big of an investment it’s willing to make.
• MdDailyRecord (Baltimore legal news) View link
Obviously, friends in Baltimore and elsewhere hope that the theatre is acquired by someone who can appreciate it and keep it intact for future generations.
Monday’s scheduled foreclosure auction of the Senator Theatre has been
canceled, as city officials work on plans to acquire the 70-year-old
North Baltimore landmark.
C. Larry Hofmeister, an attorney representing mortgage holder 1st
Mariner Bank, said there are no plans to reschedule the auction at this
time.
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon announced Saturday that the city, which is
the guarantor on $600,000 of the Senator’s $950,000 mortgage, would seek
to purchase the mortgage from 1st Mariner. Provided no one steps forward
willing to pay off the full amount of the mortgage, the proposal calls
for the city to then find someone to operate the theater, preferably as
a community-based arts and education center, likely to include movie
screenings as well as concerts and other events.
The proposal would have to be approved by the city’s Board of Estimates,
a process that could take 30 to 60 days, Deputy Mayor Andrew Frank said.
Plans call for the city to put together an advisory group, including
neighborhood residents and other interested parties, to recommend uses
for the theater.
Tuesday, the city’s Committee for Architectural and Historic
Preservation canceled a public hearing on a proposal to place the
Senator’s interior on a “special list” of protected building interiors.
C.H.A.P. executive director Kathleen Kotarba said the group would be
meeting Monday in closed session with City Solicitor George A. Nilson to
go over unspecified details of the proposal. The closed session would
involve discussion of “technical matters related to the procedure,” she
said. The hearing, she added, would “definitely be rescheduled.”
Outgoing Senator owner Tom Kiefaber has been critical of the proposed
landmark designation, saying whoever owns the building needs to be able
to adapt the interior in response to changes in movie exhibition
technology and audience attendance patterns.
He also has said such an interior designation, which would be a first
for C.H.A.P., would lessen the value of the Senator because it would
limit what a prospective buyer could do to the inside of the building.
He has said the proposal scared away a potential investor in the theater
shortly before it stopped showing first-run movies March 15.
City agrees to purchase historic theater’s mortgage
By Liz F. Kay |
April 12, 2009
With little more than a week remaining before the auction of the historic Senator Theatre, Baltimore officials have agreed to purchase the mortgage on the property and either sell or lease it in the future.
The city would use $600,000 in cash already guaranteeing a loan to the theater toward approximately $950,000 for the mortgage, held by 1st Mariner Bank, and legal fees. In addition, Mayor Sheila Dixon will seek Board of Estimates approval within the next month to make up the difference with economic development bond funds approved for capital projects, said Deputy Mayor Andrew Frank.
“By purchasing the note, we can increase the odds that the theater will end up in the hands of someone who wants to run it as a theater or performing arts venue,” he said.
A strategy group of city and state leaders had recommended earlier this month that the city foreclose on the property.
“It puts the city in the position of guaranteeing it stays some sort of entertainment venue,” said Councilman Bill Henry, who represents the area surrounding the North Baltimore theater. He said he was “very, very happy” that the administration saw the value of taking control of the theater and is choosing to invest in this commercial corridor, which anchors Belvedere Square.
Under the terms of the agreement, the city would release proprietor Tom Kiefaber’s home in Sparks, which is currently held as collateral. The city would also auction off another collateral property on Orkney Road, to the east of the theater, to offset the cost of the purchase.
In exchange, the Senator Limited Partnership would lift the stay on auctioning the Senator property in case it files for bankruptcy.
The city would then foreclose on the property and auction the theater. It would have to sell to anyone who bid the amount of the note, Frank said. “We can’t say for sure no one will bid up to the amount of the mortgage,” he said.
However, if no one does, the city would take control of the property and would develop a request for proposals for a new operator.
“We know there’s a substantial amount of interest out there,” Frank said. “With control of the property, we’re confident we can find an end user who will add value down the road.”
Noting the city’s investments in Belvedere Square and the theater itself, Dixon stressed Saturday that the move was meant to safeguard money the city has spent.
“We’re not writing a check,” Dixon said. “We’ll lose $600,000 if we don’t do something. … It’s taking what we have, not losing that, and refocusing the mortgage.”
Kiefaber supports the move, said spokesman Sean Brescia, who has been working with the owner and others to save the theater.
“We think that the best outcome is likely to come out of this process that the city can control and manage, versus the unknown of a bank auction,” Brescia said.
He said he hopes the state Department of Housing and Community Development will also work with the Senator owner. Kiefaber owes the department about $680,000 for past loans, and it holds liens on his home and other properties.
“He is appreciative for the city’s willingness to work with him on this and hopes the state will, too,” Brescia said.
It’s unclear how long the purchase and foreclosure process could take, Frank said.
“We would move as quickly as possible because we don’t want the Senator to remain dark for longer than it has to,” he said.
No longer screening first-run films, the theater is showing classic movies and selling memorabilia to defray expenses and pay volunteers staffing the site.
It’s not clear which city agency would issue the request for proposals, but neighbors will have a chance to participate in the planning, Henry said.
FLASH! City of Baltimore to buy the historic SENATOR THEATRE!
More details will be available shortly, but public radio stations are reporting this morning, locally and in DC, that the City of Baltimore is ready to pay off $1.2m to First Mariner Bank for the mortgage of the historic Senator Theatre.
News comes just 1 week before the scheduled public auction of the 1939 art deco picture palace. The city is seeking a long-term solution to keeping the beloved Senator alive as a movie theatre or performing arts center.
My girlfriend and I had a wonderful date there Saturday evening, with Jonathan Demme’s 1984 Stop Making Sense, starring David Byrne and the Talking Heads — with folks dancing in the aisles. During the past couple weeks, the Senator has been screening Technicolor prints of Charade, Horror of Dracula, Cabaret, plus classic cartoons and rock videos including the Grateful Dead at 11 pm on Saturday night.
Rotunda Cinematheque won’t reopen
Kiefaber to concentrate on saving the Senator Theatre
By Chris Kaltenbach |
2:47 PM EDT, March 27, 2009
The Rotunda Cinematheque will not be re-opening, as operator Tom Kiefaber focuses his attention on saving the troubled Senator theater.
“We’ve kept the Rotunda Cinematheque open as long as possible to provide quality entertainment to the North Baltimore community and for the loyal, dedicated staff who have fought to keep it operating in conjunction with The Senator theatre,” Kiefaber said. “In this economy, it simply isn’t supporting itself and we’re unable to keep current with the utilities and overhead costs of operating the facility. We’ve made the tough decision to cease day-to-day operations at The Rotunda to focus our resources and energy on our efforts to reorganize The Senator Theatre under new ownership and management.”
Sean Brescia, the owner of a management and promotion company who has been working with Kiefaber for weeks to keep the Senator from foreclosure, said the owners of the Rotunda Mall, New Jersey-based Hekemian & Co., had been told of Kiefaber’s decision. Representatives from Hekemian could not be reached for comment. Last week, however, a Hekemian official said the company had no plans in the works should the Cinematheque shut down.
The twin-screen Cinematheque, which Kiefaber ran primarily as a showplace for movies that could no longer attract enough people to fill The Senator, showed its last movies Monday night.
Kiefaber, who is some $70,000 behind in mortgage payments on The Senator, had hoped to resume limited operations at the Rotunda, where he had been showing movies since December 2002.
Money raised through donations and rental of the Rotunda, he said, would help efforts to save The Senator, which is scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction April 20. Kiefaber and the Senator Community Trust, a group of area civic and business leaders, have been trying to raise enough money to forestall the auction long enough to find some private or non-profit concern willing to take over the 70-year-old North Baltimore landmark and ensure its continued operation, preferably as a community-based arts and education facility.
This is not the first time the Rotunda theaters, on 40th Street near Hampden, have gone dark. In March 2001, they shut down after the company that had been running them, Loews Corp., declared bankruptcy.
Senator Theatre owner Tom Kiefaber is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as a way of buying time for the 70-year-old North Baltimore landmark and ensuring its fate isn’t decided by something as arbitrary as an auctioneer’s gavel.
“That’s precisely the idea,” said Sean Brescia, the owner of a management and promotion company who has been working with Kiefaber over the past several weeks to keep the theater from going into foreclosure. A bankruptcy filing, he said, would stave off the foreclosure auction, tentatively set for mid-April, and give potential buyers more time to raise money.
“We’re aggressively evaluating our best options to buy time to reorganize interim operations and structure an acquisition that is in the best interests of the community and The Senator Theatre and its future,” Kiefaber wrote in an email Wednesday. “It may be that a Chapter 11 filing is our best or only option for buying that time” …
Giles, I hear you. I run websites and I’m trying to get different parties talking to each other on our Google discussion group. The Senator Community Trust is collecting PayPal donations on its new website (www.theSenatorCommunityTrust.org). The public isn’t sure what to do, the theatre is closed and local media are saying that an auction is imminent. The City of Baltimore also wants to help out, but it’s broke like everybody else.
In the current panic, nobody seems to know who could end up with the Senator in coming weeks. As you point out, the public has not been fully informed in the past the state of things.
It’s a stressful situation. I know that every one of these historic theatre transitions is painful and difficult, and the Senator is probably like many others. And it is an art deco gem, in good shape.
Our discussion group on Google has 55 members, including reps from the Senator Theatre, the City of Baltimore and the Senator Community Trust. It’s somewhat chatty today if anyone would like to join in …
Hundreds of folks showed up for Monday’s Town Hall Meeting. I believe that today the theatre is closed and that Sunday evening’s show of Watchmen was the final first-run movie.
Best current info is probably available from the Senator Community Trust, LLC …
Monday evening, March 16, 2009 at 7 pm is a Public Town Hall Meeting at the Senator Theatre to discuss her future. Anyone near Baltimore (an hour north of Washington DC) is heartily welcome to attend (ask for Richard from the Friends-of group :). There’s an e-vite on Facebook …
There are still other pages dedicated to the Senator Theatre on Facebook & MySpace. And of course you’re looking at the Senator Theatre page on CinemaTreasures.
The Senator’s official website features a large e-mailing list for all to join and a discussion board …
When you say B-movie, I take it you’re talking about Baltimore?
I have to write more soon, but a few folks I’m working with call ourselves Friends of the Senator Theatre (FoTS). We run a Facebook page, a Facebook group, a Google discussion group, and @SenatorTheatre accts on Twitter and Buzzable. We are trying to provide vehicles for all interested parties to communicate â€" thanks also to CinemaTreasures. There are still other Facebook and MySpace pages that don’t identify themselves as FoTS. More links on all this soon.
There is a newly-forming entity called the Senator Community Trust, LLC. It is expected that FoTS (us) will admin web pages and discussion groups for the Trust. See initial pr here (02/25/09) …
Today is the 70th birthday of Baltimore’s Senator Theatre!
Baltimore City and the Baltimore Development Corporation are holding a ‘Pre-Proposal Conference’ today at the theatre for potential developers and operators (see my recent post, above).
Shows and events are scheduled thru October. Details on the Senator’s commercial site: www.Senator.com
I’m working with a small online forum called the Senator Theatre Group (STG). There are other support groups for the Senator Theatre, on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere.
Anyone can join our conversation: http://groups.google.com/group/SenatorTheatre
www.SenatorTheatre.org
Today is the 70th birthday of Baltimore’s Senator Theatre!
Baltimore City and the Baltimore Development Corporation are holding a ‘Pre-Proposal Conference’ today at the theatre for potential developers and operators (see my recent post, above).
Shows and events are scheduled thru October. Details on the Senator’s commercial site: www.Senator.com
I’m working with a small online forum called the Senator Theatre Group (STG). There are other support groups for the Senator Theatre, on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere.
Anyone can join our conversation: http://groups.google.com/group/SenatorTheatre
www.SenatorTheatre.org
Developers' ‘Pre-Proposal Conference’ in Baltimore Oct 5
It’s the 70th birthday of the Senator Theatre and
the Baltimore Development Corporation is hosting
a ‘Pre-Proposal Conference’ issuing its RFP for
preservation and operation of Baltimore’s art deco
landmark. Movies are still being shown regularly.
If you would like to attend next Monday’s conference
at the theatre, please contact the BDC before Friday,
Oct 2. All interested can download the complete RFP
(Request For Proposals) from the BDC website (or
reply to me for a copy of the PDF version).
According to the RFP, a Pre-Proposal conference
is scheduled for Monday, October 5, 2009 at 10 am.
From the RFP…
VIII. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Issue Date: September 21, 2009
Date for obtaining RFP: September 21, 2009
RSVP due for Pre-Proposal Conference: October 2, 2009
Pre-Proposal Conference: October 5, 2009, 10:00 a.m. (at the Senator
Theatre)
Due date for all written questions: October 6, 2009, 5:00 p.m.
BDC response to Pre-Proposal Conference and written questions: October
13, 2009
Proposals Due: November 20, 2009
Developer Oral Presentations to Advisory Panel: December 2009
Anticipated Announcement of Selection: February 2010
Please note above dates and times are subject to change.
To attend the Oct 5 conference, please contact before Oct 2:
Kristen Mitchell
BDC Senior Economic Development Officer
410-837-9305
• The Senator Theatre
http://www.Senator.com
• Friends of the Senator Theatre (blog)
http://friendsofthesenatortheatre.wordpress.com
• BDC’s Request For Proposals
http://www.baltimoredevelopment.com/proposals.aspx
• The Senator Theatre Group (open discussion)
http://groups.google.com/group/SenatorTheatre
Thank you,
Richard Ellsberry
co-moderator
The Senator Theatre Group
www.SenatorTheatre.org
Try all lowercase?
http://www.mdhs.org/library/pp134.html
The link to the Maryland Historical Society works for me.
Question about ‘duplexing’ historic theatres?
Anyone, please –
Are there good examples (or not) of historic theatres that were split, with the intention of restoring the historic interior years later? Have walls been built with sensitivity to the architecture, to be removed in accordance with long-term plans? What are some of these cinemas, and how did they make out?
For example, we’re hearing that the AFI Silver Theatre was dark for 15 years before its stunning restoration. Suppose there had been some interim arrangement, to keep the theatre alive during its dark ages?
Maryland Historical Society: the Durkee Theatre Collection (1922-1965)
This link refers to dozens of Baltimore movie houses…
http://MdHS.org/library/pp134.html
… Durkee Enterprises was one of the oldest and largest movie
circuits in Baltimore. Frank H. Durkee began his movie empire as a
young man around 1908/1909 when he went from hall to hall carrying his
movie equipment strapped to his back. Durkee was born in Baltimore on 20 August 1888, and died on 24 October 1955. He graduated from
Baltimore City College in 1906, and attended the University of
Maryland Law School. In his youth, he sang between movies and in
church choirs. He was president of the Baltimore City Park Board from 1938 to 1945. Durkee’s first movie house was the PARADISE in a two-story house on the corner of Washington and Federal Streets…
New SenatorTheatre open discussion group…
http://groups.google.com/group/SenatorTheatre
Google Groups kindly offers 4 levels of email delivery, including none at all (read-web-only :) … All are invited. Please spread the word!
Recap of Senator Theatre auction
Nice article by Larry Perl / Baltimore Messenger posted today:
View link
It gives a good sense of various parties in Baltimore considering a workable future for the theatre. Names several names, with a slideshow of recent photos.
Baltimore Sun editorial following Senator Theatre auction
No Hollywood ending
Our view: The city must set limits on its commitment to the Senator Theatre
View link
July 24, 2009
Quantcast
In the Hollywood version of Wednesday’s auction of the Senator Theatre, the auctioneer would have intoned, “Going once, going twice,” and right there, in the pregnant pause before he lowered the gavel to the podium and consigned the historic Art Deco movie house to the wrecking ball, a sudden outpouring of community support would have materialized, It’s a Wonderful Life-style, to bail out the plucky owner and hero of our story, Tom Kiefaber. Or maybe in a slightly more realistic version, the theater would have been bought by a mysterious bidder who turned out to be a rich, eccentric movie buff and promised to keep the place going. (And let Mr. Kiefaber run the projector and make his little speeches before the show starts.)
What we got instead was a confusing mess. One bid came in at $800,000, about $150,000 less than the city had paid for the Senator’s mortgage earlier this year. City officials huddled and, according to First Deputy Mayor Andrew B. Frank, decided to bid $810,000 to retain control of the theater rather than allow it to go to the anonymous bidder, who might not have shared the city’s goals for the Senator. Now, Mr. Frank says, the city intends to issue a request for proposals with the goal of selling the theater to a nonprofit or businessperson who would run it in a way that fits with Baltimore’s hopes for Belvedere Square.
Why exactly the city thinks there might be more interest in the theater in an RFP process than in the auction is unclear. Two local businessmen with great success in the entertainment field, developer David Cordish and Charles Theatre owner James “Buzz” Cusack have both expressed interest in the Senator but did not bid. Mr. Cusack says the theater would have had to be “unreasonably cheaper” for it to be financially viable. Both he and Mr. Cordish have talked about adding a restaurant or other amenities to make the single-screen model workable, and that doesn’t count the other renovations that would be necessary to get the theater up to snuff. The roof leaks, and the seats are long overdue for a replacement. (Mr. Cusack says seats run $150 to $200 apiece, a big chunk of change for a 900-seat theater.)
What that means is the city’s hope to recoup its investment is wildly unrealistic, at least in the short term. Mayor Sheila Dixon’s administration portrayed the auction results as a positive development, but they really just proved that the city bought the theater for a lot more than it’s worth at a time when Baltimore is facing severe budget trouble.
The mayor needs to move quickly to create the “wide-open, transparent process” for finding a new operator that her administration promised. Baltimore needs to find someone with Mr. Kiefaber’s passion, but with better luck, deeper pockets and, perhaps, more business acumen. What it does not need is someone who assumes Baltimore will bail him out if times get tough.
There is no doubt that Belvedere Square is a stronger, more vibrant community with the Senator than without, and some level of public investment could pay off in the long run in terms of increased business activity and taxes. But the mayor needs to engage the community in an honest dialogue so it can decide how big of an investment it’s willing to make.
View link
Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun
Baltimore’s Senator Theatre goes to auction on July 22, 2009 at 11:00 am.
(Most of this information courtesy of Laura, thx — see last post, above) …
• Laura’s blog
http://www.astrogirlguides.com
• Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=96225184287
• MdDailyRecord (Baltimore legal news)
View link
Obviously, friends in Baltimore and elsewhere hope that the theatre is acquired by someone who can appreciate it and keep it intact for future generations.
Foreclosure auction for Senator Theatre canceled
City working to acquire landmark
View link
By Chris Kaltenbach |
2:07 PM EDT, April 14, 2009
Monday’s scheduled foreclosure auction of the Senator Theatre has been
canceled, as city officials work on plans to acquire the 70-year-old
North Baltimore landmark.
C. Larry Hofmeister, an attorney representing mortgage holder 1st
Mariner Bank, said there are no plans to reschedule the auction at this
time.
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon announced Saturday that the city, which is
the guarantor on $600,000 of the Senator’s $950,000 mortgage, would seek
to purchase the mortgage from 1st Mariner. Provided no one steps forward
willing to pay off the full amount of the mortgage, the proposal calls
for the city to then find someone to operate the theater, preferably as
a community-based arts and education center, likely to include movie
screenings as well as concerts and other events.
The proposal would have to be approved by the city’s Board of Estimates,
a process that could take 30 to 60 days, Deputy Mayor Andrew Frank said.
Plans call for the city to put together an advisory group, including
neighborhood residents and other interested parties, to recommend uses
for the theater.
Tuesday, the city’s Committee for Architectural and Historic
Preservation canceled a public hearing on a proposal to place the
Senator’s interior on a “special list” of protected building interiors.
C.H.A.P. executive director Kathleen Kotarba said the group would be
meeting Monday in closed session with City Solicitor George A. Nilson to
go over unspecified details of the proposal. The closed session would
involve discussion of “technical matters related to the procedure,” she
said. The hearing, she added, would “definitely be rescheduled.”
Outgoing Senator owner Tom Kiefaber has been critical of the proposed
landmark designation, saying whoever owns the building needs to be able
to adapt the interior in response to changes in movie exhibition
technology and audience attendance patterns.
He also has said such an interior designation, which would be a first
for C.H.A.P., would lessen the value of the Senator because it would
limit what a prospective buyer could do to the inside of the building.
He has said the proposal scared away a potential investor in the theater
shortly before it stopped showing first-run movies March 15.
View link
Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun
Baltimore City to purchase Senator Theatre’s mortgage
View link
City agrees to purchase historic theater’s mortgage
By Liz F. Kay |
April 12, 2009
With little more than a week remaining before the auction of the historic Senator Theatre, Baltimore officials have agreed to purchase the mortgage on the property and either sell or lease it in the future.
The city would use $600,000 in cash already guaranteeing a loan to the theater toward approximately $950,000 for the mortgage, held by 1st Mariner Bank, and legal fees. In addition, Mayor Sheila Dixon will seek Board of Estimates approval within the next month to make up the difference with economic development bond funds approved for capital projects, said Deputy Mayor Andrew Frank.
“By purchasing the note, we can increase the odds that the theater will end up in the hands of someone who wants to run it as a theater or performing arts venue,” he said.
A strategy group of city and state leaders had recommended earlier this month that the city foreclose on the property.
“It puts the city in the position of guaranteeing it stays some sort of entertainment venue,” said Councilman Bill Henry, who represents the area surrounding the North Baltimore theater. He said he was “very, very happy” that the administration saw the value of taking control of the theater and is choosing to invest in this commercial corridor, which anchors Belvedere Square.
Under the terms of the agreement, the city would release proprietor Tom Kiefaber’s home in Sparks, which is currently held as collateral. The city would also auction off another collateral property on Orkney Road, to the east of the theater, to offset the cost of the purchase.
In exchange, the Senator Limited Partnership would lift the stay on auctioning the Senator property in case it files for bankruptcy.
The city would then foreclose on the property and auction the theater. It would have to sell to anyone who bid the amount of the note, Frank said. “We can’t say for sure no one will bid up to the amount of the mortgage,” he said.
However, if no one does, the city would take control of the property and would develop a request for proposals for a new operator.
“We know there’s a substantial amount of interest out there,” Frank said. “With control of the property, we’re confident we can find an end user who will add value down the road.”
Noting the city’s investments in Belvedere Square and the theater itself, Dixon stressed Saturday that the move was meant to safeguard money the city has spent.
“We’re not writing a check,” Dixon said. “We’ll lose $600,000 if we don’t do something. … It’s taking what we have, not losing that, and refocusing the mortgage.”
Kiefaber supports the move, said spokesman Sean Brescia, who has been working with the owner and others to save the theater.
“We think that the best outcome is likely to come out of this process that the city can control and manage, versus the unknown of a bank auction,” Brescia said.
He said he hopes the state Department of Housing and Community Development will also work with the Senator owner. Kiefaber owes the department about $680,000 for past loans, and it holds liens on his home and other properties.
“He is appreciative for the city’s willingness to work with him on this and hopes the state will, too,” Brescia said.
It’s unclear how long the purchase and foreclosure process could take, Frank said.
“We would move as quickly as possible because we don’t want the Senator to remain dark for longer than it has to,” he said.
No longer screening first-run films, the theater is showing classic movies and selling memorabilia to defray expenses and pay volunteers staffing the site.
It’s not clear which city agency would issue the request for proposals, but neighbors will have a chance to participate in the planning, Henry said.
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BaltimoreSun.com
FLASH! City of Baltimore to buy the historic SENATOR THEATRE!
More details will be available shortly, but public radio stations are reporting this morning, locally and in DC, that the City of Baltimore is ready to pay off $1.2m to First Mariner Bank for the mortgage of the historic Senator Theatre.
News comes just 1 week before the scheduled public auction of the 1939 art deco picture palace. The city is seeking a long-term solution to keeping the beloved Senator alive as a movie theatre or performing arts center.
My girlfriend and I had a wonderful date there Saturday evening, with Jonathan Demme’s 1984 Stop Making Sense, starring David Byrne and the Talking Heads — with folks dancing in the aisles. During the past couple weeks, the Senator has been screening Technicolor prints of Charade, Horror of Dracula, Cabaret, plus classic cartoons and rock videos including the Grateful Dead at 11 pm on Saturday night.
Richard
Friends of the Senator Theatre
Baltimore
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Rotunda Cinematheque won’t reopen
Kiefaber to concentrate on saving the Senator Theatre
By Chris Kaltenbach |
2:47 PM EDT, March 27, 2009
The Rotunda Cinematheque will not be re-opening, as operator Tom Kiefaber focuses his attention on saving the troubled Senator theater.
“We’ve kept the Rotunda Cinematheque open as long as possible to provide quality entertainment to the North Baltimore community and for the loyal, dedicated staff who have fought to keep it operating in conjunction with The Senator theatre,” Kiefaber said. “In this economy, it simply isn’t supporting itself and we’re unable to keep current with the utilities and overhead costs of operating the facility. We’ve made the tough decision to cease day-to-day operations at The Rotunda to focus our resources and energy on our efforts to reorganize The Senator Theatre under new ownership and management.”
Sean Brescia, the owner of a management and promotion company who has been working with Kiefaber for weeks to keep the Senator from foreclosure, said the owners of the Rotunda Mall, New Jersey-based Hekemian & Co., had been told of Kiefaber’s decision. Representatives from Hekemian could not be reached for comment. Last week, however, a Hekemian official said the company had no plans in the works should the Cinematheque shut down.
The twin-screen Cinematheque, which Kiefaber ran primarily as a showplace for movies that could no longer attract enough people to fill The Senator, showed its last movies Monday night.
Kiefaber, who is some $70,000 behind in mortgage payments on The Senator, had hoped to resume limited operations at the Rotunda, where he had been showing movies since December 2002.
Money raised through donations and rental of the Rotunda, he said, would help efforts to save The Senator, which is scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction April 20. Kiefaber and the Senator Community Trust, a group of area civic and business leaders, have been trying to raise enough money to forestall the auction long enough to find some private or non-profit concern willing to take over the 70-year-old North Baltimore landmark and ensure its continued operation, preferably as a community-based arts and education facility.
This is not the first time the Rotunda theaters, on 40th Street near Hampden, have gone dark. In March 2001, they shut down after the company that had been running them, Loews Corp., declared bankruptcy.
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Correction:
Help! www.SenatorCommunityTrust.org
Correction:
Help! www.SenatorCommunityTrust.org
Get the word out:
FORECLOSURE AUCTION For SENATOR THEATRE Set For APRIL 20
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Help! www.theSentorCommunityTrust.org
From today’s BaltimoreSun.com …
Senator Theatre owner Tom Kiefaber is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as a way of buying time for the 70-year-old North Baltimore landmark and ensuring its fate isn’t decided by something as arbitrary as an auctioneer’s gavel.
“That’s precisely the idea,” said Sean Brescia, the owner of a management and promotion company who has been working with Kiefaber over the past several weeks to keep the theater from going into foreclosure. A bankruptcy filing, he said, would stave off the foreclosure auction, tentatively set for mid-April, and give potential buyers more time to raise money.
“We’re aggressively evaluating our best options to buy time to reorganize interim operations and structure an acquisition that is in the best interests of the community and The Senator Theatre and its future,” Kiefaber wrote in an email Wednesday. “It may be that a Chapter 11 filing is our best or only option for buying that time” …
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The Senator Community Trust, LLC, has just now posted their board members and information about their not-for-profit status, here …
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The Senator Theatre has stopped showing first-run movies …
http://www.Senator.com
My informal group is called the Friends of the Senator Theatre, running Facebook pages and a Google discussion group for anyone interested …
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Giles, I hear you. I run websites and I’m trying to get different parties talking to each other on our Google discussion group. The Senator Community Trust is collecting PayPal donations on its new website (www.theSenatorCommunityTrust.org). The public isn’t sure what to do, the theatre is closed and local media are saying that an auction is imminent. The City of Baltimore also wants to help out, but it’s broke like everybody else.
In the current panic, nobody seems to know who could end up with the Senator in coming weeks. As you point out, the public has not been fully informed in the past the state of things.
It’s a stressful situation. I know that every one of these historic theatre transitions is painful and difficult, and the Senator is probably like many others. And it is an art deco gem, in good shape.
Our discussion group on Google has 55 members, including reps from the Senator Theatre, the City of Baltimore and the Senator Community Trust. It’s somewhat chatty today if anyone would like to join in …
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Hundreds of folks showed up for Monday’s Town Hall Meeting. I believe that today the theatre is closed and that Sunday evening’s show of Watchmen was the final first-run movie.
Best current info is probably available from the Senator Community Trust, LLC …
http://www.theSenatorCommunityTrust.org
… in addition to other sites, blogs and forums listed above.
Monday evening, March 16, 2009 at 7 pm is a Public Town Hall Meeting at the Senator Theatre to discuss her future. Anyone near Baltimore (an hour north of Washington DC) is heartily welcome to attend (ask for Richard from the Friends-of group :). There’s an e-vite on Facebook …
• Monday’s Public Town Hall Meeting at the Senator 7 pm
http://Facebook.com/event.php?eid=55091749419
Directions: http://www.Senator.com
The newly-forming Senator Community Trust will be there …
• The Senator Community Trust, LLC
http://www.siriusthoth.com/senator/sct_pr_1.pdf
http://www.siriusthoth.com/senator/sct_pr_2.pdf
Friends of the Senator Theatre will be there. The informal Friends-of network admins these various web pages & blogs …
• Friends of the Senator Theatre â€" Facebook page
http://Facebook.com/pages/FoTS/54785894919
http://Facebook.com/pages/FoTS/90672570720 (old)
• Friends of the Senator Theatre â€" Facebook group
http://Facebook.com/group.php?gid=39720373765
• Friends of the Senator Theatre â€" Google group
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• Friends of the Senator Theatre on WordPress (Tom Harris)
http://FriendsOfTheSenatorTheatre.wordpress.com
• AstroGirl’s Galaxy Guide (Laura Perkins)
http://AstroGirlGuides.blogspot.com
• @SenatorTheatre on Twitter.com & Buzzable.com
http://Twitter.com/SenatorTheatre
http://Buzzable.com/SenatorTheatre
There are still other pages dedicated to the Senator Theatre on Facebook & MySpace. And of course you’re looking at the Senator Theatre page on CinemaTreasures.
The Senator’s official website features a large e-mailing list for all to join and a discussion board …
http://www.Senator.com
When you say B-movie, I take it you’re talking about Baltimore?
I have to write more soon, but a few folks I’m working with call ourselves Friends of the Senator Theatre (FoTS). We run a Facebook page, a Facebook group, a Google discussion group, and @SenatorTheatre accts on Twitter and Buzzable. We are trying to provide vehicles for all interested parties to communicate â€" thanks also to CinemaTreasures. There are still other Facebook and MySpace pages that don’t identify themselves as FoTS. More links on all this soon.
There is a newly-forming entity called the Senator Community Trust, LLC. It is expected that FoTS (us) will admin web pages and discussion groups for the Trust. See initial pr here (02/25/09) …
The Senator Community Trust, LLC
• http://www.siriusthoth.com/senator/sct_pr_1.pdf
• http://www.siriusthoth.com/senator/sct_pr_2.pdf
Latest news on Senator shutting down.
Yesterday’s press release from Senator.com & ClearPathManagement.com
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This story is from today’s BaltimoreSun.com …
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