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Ogdensburg may take over closed cinema; owner offers theater to city at no cost

Posted 11/14/14

OGDENSBURG – Ogdensburg may take over the former Ogdensburg Cinema. At Monday’s City Council meeting the board received a letter from the theater’s owner Gill Jones offering the cinema to the …

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Ogdensburg may take over closed cinema; owner offers theater to city at no cost

Posted

OGDENSBURG – Ogdensburg may take over the former Ogdensburg Cinema.

At Monday’s City Council meeting the board received a letter from the theater’s owner Gill Jones offering the cinema to the city at no cost.

The theater closed in July 2012 after struggling financially.

Jones said he had been losing money on the theater for years and kept it open for the community's sake.

In February Jones considered reopening the theater, if he could secure funding for the new digital equipment.

He requested a $100,000 loan from the city's Growth Fund, but was only approved for $60,000.

Jones declined the offer, accusing city officials of not supporting his effort to provide the service.

Jones also cited the industry’s move toward digital projection as a factor in the closing.

“The digital has got to be in place in a year or so. I am not going to open it here until funding is available," he said in April of 2013. "I'm not getting any cooperation from the city. I had the machines repaired, but I wasn't getting any support."

City council at the meeting asked City Manager John Pinkerton to review and consider Jone’s gift.

Several councilors said they would like to see the theater reopened, but none openly expressed interest in accepting the theater.