The public is invited Tuesday November 19 evening
By Kathyrn Ross,
WELLSVILLE – The committee working on the reopening of the Main Street movie theater is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 19th at the David A. Howe Library and the public is invited to attend.
The building previously known as The Babcock, Lin Ray, Grande Theater is currently the property of the Village of Wellsville which has authorized a public committee to guide the reopening of the theater under the direction of Deputy Mayor Jeff Monroe and Angela Glickstein, a private citizen who expressed interest in the theater.
The committee began meeting in September and quickly learned that there is interest in reopening the movie theater. The consensus of opinion is that the theater re-open as a non-profit showing a variety of movies and documentaries.
A survey to explore the public’s expectations for reopening the theater has been in development over the last month. The survey is expected to be distributed to the public in December.
In late September entrepreneurs Scott and Tami Treutlein, who have reopened several movie theaters throughout Western New York, toured the Wellsville theater. They advised that it would cost upwards of $250,000 to $300,000 to reopen the movie theater. They expressed no interest in purchasing the property.
The village is taking steps to repair the building’s roof and furnace. It has also directed the village attorney to investigate the procedure for attaining non-profit status.
At the meeting this month, the committee will discuss the survey.
Although no meeting has been scheduled for December, due to the holiday season, the committee will reconvene in the new year.
