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Bring Back the Columbia City Cinema!
In May 2011, Southeast Seattle suffered a great blow with the closure of the Columbia City Cinema. Families lost their favorite place to watch movies, businesses lost the crowds the cinema brought into their shops and restaurants, and we all lost a unifying cultural space in our community. Residents and businesses have repeatedly expressed a desire to revive the Cinema. In response to this demand, SEEDArts has been working with a community Advisory Board to create a plan to refurbish and reopen the Cinema.
The former cinema closed because the building required the installation of a fire sprinkler system to comply with current regulations, an expense that the previous cinema owner couldn’t finance. In order to maintain the building’s status as a public cultural and entertainment space, SEEDArts has proposed to rent the building for one year. During this time, SEEDArts and the Advisory Board will embark upon a feasibility study and a capital campaign to raise funds to renovate the building, fix the code violations and establish operations.
The mission of the Columbia City Cinema will be to provide an entertainment experience in Southeast Seattle, to offer a community-based alternative to the commercial film venues, and to celebrate and promote the artistic elements of film. The cinema will offer popular first/second run movies, art house (foreign and independent) films and specialized programming geared towards its diverse community.
What will the programming be?The programming mix for the new cinema will be as follows:
- 200-seat theater: first/second run films
- 117-seat theater: flexible use, including first/second run films as well as independent and art house films
- 87-seat theater: independent and art house films, film festivals and educational film forums
- Lounge (seats 25 on couches with a 6’ screen and video projection): community screenings for events such as the Olympics, Election night returns, etc., and private event rentals.
This programming plan will reinstitute the Columbia City Cinema as a cultural anchor for Southeast Seattle. Along with the programming plan stated above, the cinema will offer special screenings and events to attract members of our diverse community. Southeast Seattle residents will once again be able to choose from a variety of entertainment options in their own neighborhood.
What is the timeline?
We understand that both fundraising and renovations often take longer than planned. We have based our timeline on the longest of each possible time frame… but hope things will move ahead of schedule!
- April 2012: Sign one-year lease with ten-year option
- April 2012 – Feb 2013: Capital campaign (6-12 months)
- Feb 2013 – Aug 2013: Renovations (3-6 months)
- September 2013: Grand Re-Opening
Yes! I want to support the Columbia City Cinema!
Donate Online via Click & Pledge, PayPal or Network for Good:
Information about the project is available by contacting the project leads:
Jerri Plumridge, SEEDArts Director
206-760-4286 | jplumridge-at-seedseattle.org
Kathy Fowells, SEEDArts Columbia City Gallery Manager
206-760-9843 | kfowells-at-seedseattle.org
Bring Back Columbia City Cinema Advisory Board
Jerri Plumridge
Kathy Fowells
Jessica Breznau
Nancy Glazer
Serena Heslop
Melinda Mann
Fionnuala O'Sullivan
Jeffrey Schoenberg
Philip Tavel
Michael Walker
Dani WeissInformation about the project is available by contacting the project leads:
Jerri Plumridge
SEEDArts Director
206-760-4286
jplumridge-at-seedseattle.orgKathy Fowells
Columbia City Gallery Mgr
206-760-9843
kfowells-at-seedseattle.org
SouthEast
Effective Development (SEED) | 5117 Rainier Avenue South | Seattle
WA 98118 | (206) 723-7333
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