Art Theater jump-starts efforts to form co-op
Efforts to turn a downtown Champaign movie theater into a business operated by a co-op are moving forward.
Sanford Hess, manager at the Art Theater, announced Wednesday that the theater will kick off an ownership drive on Dec. 16 in an attempt to get people to buy in to the business.
Hess said the theater needs to make the switch to a digital projector in order to remain in business. He said due to the expensive equipment, becoming a co-op is the first step in making that switch.
- Sanford Hess talks about the need to from a co-op.
Hess said a digital projector would cost around $80,000.
Right now, the Art Theater is asking for donations to cover costs associated with the switch to a co-op, including legal fees.
You can get more information at the theater's website.
Actually, as a coop it wouldn't be "their" business. It would be "our" business, as in "he community's" business. The Art would no longer be "owned" by Hess, it would be a community organization. The donations are to help get the coop started, and people will have the opportunity to buy into the business, similar to a credit union or the common ground food "coop". The bottom line is without the coop, the Art goes "byebye" and we as a community are stuck with watching poorly presented movies at cooperate run multiplexes.
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