The Bow Tie Cinemas theater chain is seeking to terminate its lease on New Canaan”™s Playhouse theater.
According to a report in the NewCanaanite.com blog, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan informed members of the town”™s board of finance that the chain is eager to exit its lease before its 2022 expiration. Bow Tie Cinemas signed the lease after the town acquired the property for $2.3 million in 2000; the lease has an option to renew through 2027.
“We will begin to look for alternative arrangements for an operator for that facility,” Moynihan said.
Built in 1923, the two-screen Playhouse closed in March at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, reopening briefly for two weeks in late June before closing again after only being able to obtain second-run Hollywood films that failed to bring audiences back.
The theater shares the property with a street-level florist shop and two nonprofits based in offices on its second floor.
The Playhouse is the second Fairfield County theater where Bow Tie is withdrawing. Earlier this year, it announced it would not renew the lease on its Wilton theater, which has since been leased to the Ridgefield-based nonprofit Prospector Theater.