The historic Rosendale Theatre will move into the future under the guidance of a modern business model. A not-for-profit collective of community volunteers has officially taken ownership of the Main Street attraction, with plans to continue showing movies while also expanding the types of entertainment offered in the old-style, single-screen venue.?Under a final agreement announced Aug. 19, The Rosendale Theatre Collective (RTC) announced that it had bought the Rosendale Theatre from the Cacchio family, which had run the movie house for more than 60 years. The group, a registered 501(c)3 organization, paid $385,000 for the business, the culmination of a campaign that raised money through dozens of potlucks, an Internet social networking campaign that won a $50,000 award from Pepsi and appeals to well-heeled movie lovers as far away as Long Island and New York City to support the continued existence of a rare single-screen, 300-seat movie theater.  ?“It”™s been a great rollercoaster ride,” said F-Stop Fitzgerald, a professional photographer who served as chairman of the RTC board of directors and is now moving to fill the post of executive director. “It took nine months, just like any other baby to deliver.”?To maximize the value of the theater, he said that entertainment options beyond film would be presented. “While our mission is clearly to remain a film theater showing independent, documentary, those sorts of films, we do see the need for live events as well,” he said.?The theater will stage live performances in drama, dance and music.
The Rosendale Theatre has already partnered with the Woodstock Film Festival and that arrangement will continue. There are also plans to hold screenings for live events elsewhere in the country and the world. Â Â ?“We have a few fun programming concepts in addition to the films,” Fitzgerald said.?The building is about 100 years old and served as a firehouse before it was a theater. Fitzgerald said the building is structurally sound, but will need some modernizing and continued maintenance. The third floor is unused and plans are to create rehearsal space and offices. ?But first on the agenda is to run a theater in the black.
“Our big challenge is meeting the mortgage each month, which is substantial and at the same time accruing money for renovations,” Fitzgerald said. “So we will still take donations, write for grants, still raise funds, that will continue for awhile.”?Meanwhile, the theater is still letting the show go on. For more information, go to rosendaletheatre.org.
