The current state of independent theaters in Chicagoland

The other day I reported sad news about the Patio theater - a golden-age Chicago movie palace that for the past few years has been a great venue for classic film screenings and second run films. It's now closed because the owner cannot afford the $50,000 cost to fix the air conditioning.  It's sad that this had to happen, because in 2012 the owner successfully raised $50,000 in a Kickstarter campaign to purchase a digital projector. And I'm happy to say that I went to see the James Bond in Skyfall from that projector more than once. The 35MM projector still was in great condition, and I recently saw a great pre code classic there last week (I'll have a review of it soon).

Unfortunately, the owner lost the vision he had when he reopened the theater and talked about keeping it open "for generations to come". In this recent interview with the Chicago Tribune, his attitude is anything but optimistic. He complains about the admission price, the single theater, and the horrors of borrowing money.

Adding to the hardship is the fact that the theater is not in the best location in the city.

Most people I know that have attended the classic film screenings have had to travel half-way across the city, a commute of anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour (or more). And it's not close to any trains or subways. Two other neighborhood movie houses - The Music Box and The Logan - are doing much better and drawing in healthy crowds each week, offering more to the audience than what the Patio has been able to do. Both have multiple screens. The Logan has a bar and hosts events throughout the week such as Trivia nights. The Music Box is probably the #1 theater in Chicago to see art and foreign films. And both are near train stations and downtown Chicago, which makes a big difference in my opinion.

Another independent theater in the Chicago area is experiencing some great fundraising success. Just this morning I heard that the 101 -year old Wilmette Theater raised enough money on Kickstarter to avoid shutting its doors (read the piece from CBS Chicago here). The owners of the 2-screen theater in suburban Chicago successfully raised $70,000 to purchase a digital projector for their second screen (they already had one digital projector for their other screen).

This article from the Chicago Tribune reports on yet another success story:

"Tim O'Connor, co-owner of the Catlow Theater in Barrington -- and a recent donor to the Wilmette Theatre's Kickstarter campaign – said the online fundraising mechanism prevented his own historic, single-screen movie house from being shuttered in 2012. "We had 60 days to raise $100,000 in donations for a new screen and a new digital projection system, but when we reached our goal in the first seven days, people were asking us, 'what else do you need'" recalled O'Connor, who said the Kickstarter campaign ended up raising $175,000."

It all goes to show that it's not easy to run a decades-old movie house.

There are some success stories, and there are some failures, as in the case with the Patio.