The term community theater has something of a retro, Andy Hardy ring to it ”“ “We”™ll put on a show” ”“ but a group of film buffs and art lovers is hoping to use the term to keep a historic movie house operating into the future.
The nonprofit Rosendale Theatre Collective (RTC) has put up a $20,000 binder to run the lofty brick theater on Main Street in the middle of Rosendale and is fundraising to garner the additional funding and procure a mortgage by April to purchase the facility and keep it open. The theater dates to 1900.
The group raised about $25,000 in a matter of weeks to successfully meet the conditions of the owners, who seek to sell the facility after decades of family ownership, but hope to see it remain as a theater serving Rosendale and movie buffs with low-cost, high-quality film fare.
Owned by the Cacchio family of New Paltz for 60 years, the facility is a linchpin for community businesses, sitting among several popular restaurants along a stretch of historic buildings in the Ulster County town. Before serving as a theater, it was a casino and the building has served as a firehouse.
The theater not only shows Hollywood releases but also features art and independent films, hosts live theater events, fundraisers for various causes and informational forums for community activists. It is a huge single-screen theater that harks to the day when today”™s shoebox multiplexes would have been unthinkable.
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The total purchase price will be between $400,000 to $500,000, said organizer “F-stop” Fitzgerald, a professional photographer and Rosendale resident who is a spokesman for the RTC. He said an engineer has assessed the structure and found it is structurally and mechanically sound.
He said the RTC has an array of ideas to make the theater even more of a mainstay in Rosendale. Currently fundraising is being handled under the umbrella of the Children”™s Media Project of Poughkeepsie, and the RTC hopes to adopt some of the programmatic and educational ideas used by that group so as to fully utilize the theater. There is a large amount of vacant usable space above the movie theater, which could serve as a dance studio or live performance space, and there are plans to continue the recent spate of live theater performances on the new stage. Children”™s theater is also being considered as another venture to house in the theater.
“We”™ve committed ourselves to having it continue primarily as a film theater, but over the last few years it has expanded into live theater and music and we will continue to do those things,” said Fitzgerald.
The RTC is a diverse collection of film buffs, artists, business people and residents who seized the opportunity offered by the Cacchios to take control of the operations of the theater while the financial details and fund raising are completed. The fund raising was ad-hoc, but the group is not setting up a board of directors and will eventually hire an executive director to operate the theater.
While heartened by the rapid accrual of the money needed for the binder, Fitzgerald is under no illusion that raising the rest of the money is a done deal. He cites the names of a few Hollywood stars with homes in the area who he hopes will be able to help with fundraising, and also says that businesses with deep pockets will be approached.
“We”™re really looking for angels,” he said. But he notes that the bulk of revenue so far has come from ordinary people who enjoy the Rosendale Theatre and want to see it continue and grow and said that any donation of any amount will be welcome and put toward the project.
Anyone interested in helping can contact the Children”™s Media Project of Poughkeepsie or can call 657-5759
