The County, The Ambler, Bryn Mawr Film Institute, and The Hiway: 4 Non-Profit Theatres in PA

I spoke on the phone today with John Toner, President of Renew Theaters. Mr. Toner is the Executive Director of the County Theater in Doylestown, PA and the Ambler Theater in Ambler, PA and the Managing Director of the Bryn Mawr Film Institute in Bryn Mawr, PA. He sits on the board of the Hiway Theatre in Jenkintown, PA. Each of these four theatres is a non-profit, community based historic theatre.

I got in touch with John Toner because I hoped a historic theatre expert such as himself could shed some light on The Senator’s precarious situation. We discussed the theaters he works with as well as The Senator.

The County and the Bryn Mawr Film Institute have two screens each. The Ambler has three screens. The Hiway has only one. Mr. Toner told me the more screens the better for historic theatres trying to remain in operation.

The single screen of The Senator here in Baltimore could be augmented by expanding the facility. I know various plans for expansion already exist in Tom Kiefaber’s archives. Mr. Toner said he thought some kind of expansion of The Senator would be a good idea.

I asked Mr. Toner if he feels it is important for historic theaters to be owned by non-profits. His reply:

“It’s the only feasible way that I know to make them succeed. I haven’t seen any commercial large seating theatres that are for-profit, (except for the occasional ones that have bands).”

Such theatres are primarily music venues, having left their roots as movie theatres mostly behind. John Toner told me these music venues also typically have over 1,000 seats. He thought that at around 860 seats, The Senator was a bit small to be a for-profit music venue, though it could work as a multi-purpose performing arts center.

Mr. Toner told me, “I don’t know of any single-screen 800 seat movie theatre that’s operating in the United States that’s a for-profit.” He added that it was impressive that Tom Kiefaber has been able to keep The Senator open as a single-screen for-profit movie theatre for as long as he has.

Since Baltimore City’s steering committee recommended against The Senator being a non-profit on the assumption that a non-profit would require ongoing subsidies from the City, I asked Mr. Toner how the non-profit theatres he works with in PA are funded. He told me that in fact NONE of them gets ongoing subsidies from the cities in which they are located. They raise money from other sources, primarily foundation and private money. I learned from these theatre’s web sites that they receive sponsorships from businesses and sell memberships. Mr. Toner also told me that they have received some state money from the State of Pennsylvania, and that the Ambler has received some county money.

I also did some research on the web sites of these theatres, which yielded additional information.

The County Theater building dates to 1938. It was run by a local film society from 1982 to 1992. It re-opened as a non-profit community-based project in 1993. In 1996, they started a capital campaign to purchase the building and do further renovation. This capital campaign exceeded its goal and the non-profit acquired the building in 1997. A major renovation was also done in 1997.

The non-profit is currently sustained by memberships, private donations, and business sponsorships. It received a Keystone grant from the State of Pennsylvania in 1998 and has also received support from at least one local foundation.

Their web site states “As a non-profit we do many additional things like historic restoration, special programming, and educational outreach. Our operations are driven by cultural and educational values. (With our Board of Directors keeping a sharp eye on the bottom line, of course.)”

“Being a non-profit also allows us to accept tax-deductible contributions to help us accomplish our mission.”

And elsewhere on the web site it says “Being non-profit allows us to accept charitable contributions to keep the theater running and to make needed renovations.”

The Ambler Theater first opened in 1928. It stopped showing 35mm films about 1970. Starting in the 70s, it operated as a Christian theater, but closed in 1997. It was sold to non-profit in 2001.

It cost $2 million to renovate. The Ambler’s three screens include two small auditoriums in what used to be the rear of the orchestra seating.

The Ambler is currently sustained by memberships and business sponsors, as well as the state and county money that John Toner mentioned.

The Bryn Mawr Film Institute is located in the former Bryn Mawr Theater building, which was originally the Seville in 1926, but was renamed the Bryn Mawr in the 1950s. It closed in 2001. It re-opened as a non-profit in 2005.

The Bryn Mawr is currently funded by memberships, business sponsors, individual donations, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

The theatre now known as the Hiway first opened as a theater in 1913 and had several names and owners over the years, but was known as the Hiway for the longest period in its history. The Hiway was purchased by a non-profit in 2003. An extensive $2.1 million renovation was done, and the theatre reopened in 2007.

In answer to the question of why they are a non-profit, their web site states:

“In the world of the multiplex cinema, it is very difficult for an independent theatre to be profitable. However, a movie theatre is very beneficial to the vitality the surrounding business district and can provide many benefits as a community resource. Because we can not solely rely on ticket sales to cover the operating expenses involved with running the theatre, Memberships and Sponsorships and Advertising from individuals and businesses as well as grants from all levels of government and foundations help off-set the costs related to the day to day business and allow us to provide new and innovative programs.”

(Photos are from the theatre’s respective web sites.)

John Edwards Wins Two Key Union Endorsements

John Edwards has won two key union endorsements in his campaign for the presidency.

Yesterday, the Carpenters Union endorsed Edwards.

"Our endorsement is based on the Senator's outspoken support for all of organized labor and his focus on America's working families," said Carpenters President Douglas J. McCarron. "In addition to his support for labor, our leadership was particularly impressed with the Senator's strong stand on trade."

"We also believe that Senator Edwards will have a great appeal in a general election," McCarron continued. "He has the ability to reach out to moderate voters, including the members of our union, and to address their very real concerns about jobs, health care and the economy."

Their formal endorsement will come on September 8th, at a rally in New Hampshire.

On Labor Day, the Steelworkers Union will endorse Edwards at a rally in Pittsburgh.

Edwards has made support for unions a key feature not only of his campaign, but of his advocacy for many years before his campaign. I'm glad to see the unions are recognizing his work. These endorsements are well deserved.

Road to One America: the Youngstown Business Incubator and Hill House in Pittsburgh

This is my third and final diary about the stops on John Edwards's Road to One America Tour that I visited on July 17, 2007. Previously, I've written about the Mount Pleasant neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, where residents are plagued by predatory lenders and home foreclosures, and also Beatitude House in Youngstown, Ohio, a transitional shelter for homeless women working to get back on their feet. Today's diary focuses on the last two stops on the tour that day: the Youngstown Business Incubator in Youngstown, Ohio and Hill House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Youngstown Business Incubator was a very unusual stop on the Road to One America Tour. Youngstown used to be a big steel town with a lot of manufacturing jobs, but it has fallen on hard times. The Business Incubator is working to create partnerships between business, education, government, and the community to attract better jobs and high tech jobs to the area and train local workers to take those jobs. It is a model for how communities that have lost manufacturing jobs can transition to business models that will be more competitive in the new global economy.

John Edwards met with local business leaders in a roundtable discussion at the Youngstown Business Incubator. I was able to record some of the meeting on video before the battery died in my camera.

Here are some key points that were made during the discussion:

YBI links entrepreneurship and education, helping to keep kids in schools and help local businesses to create job opportunities. These job opportunities help local graduates stay in the Mahoning Valley.

Youngstown is making an effort to become the poster child for what needs to happen throughout the Great Lakes. This is a major transition, which requires local, state, and national help.

The key to the success of YBI is in creating partnerships on many levels. This includes private sector/public sector partnerships, profit/nonprofit partnerships, and business/government partnerships.

John Edwards called it a model for what can be done nationally.

Later that afternoon, Edwards visited Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he toured the facility at Hill House, then gave a rousing speech.

Hill House is a community organization which has multiple programs for education of youth at different ages, as well as Senior services and other community services. Prior to Edwards's speech, three graduates of various Hill House programs spoke about how those programs have helped them.

The first success story was a young woman who had participated in their Mission Discovery science education program, become a counselor in the program, and is now about to enter college on a full scholarship.

The second success story was that of a young man who, although once a gang member and drug dealer, learned parenting skills and life skills through their fathers program, and now coordinates that program.

The third success story was a woman who had at one time been addicted to drugs, homeless, and had her children taken away from her. The Hill House helped her to get clean, get her life back on track, get housing and get her children back.

After the speeches by the graduates of Hill House, John Edwards spoke about some of the problems facing working people in this country, some of the things he had witnessed on the Road to One America tour, and the programs he would propose to help solve these problems.

We've got 37 million people in this country who live in poverty. 15 million live in deep poverty. I mean intractable, deep poverty. It is not OK. The work that Dr. King began in Marks, Mississippi - that work has to continue today, and he has left this legacy in our hands. He has left this responsibility to us.

Here's an excerpt from his description of his visit to Cleveland earlier that same day:

In a one block radius - 38 homes in foreclosure. 38 homes. And this is not a poor neighborhood. These are working, middle-class people. The one thing that we've got to make sure everybody in this country understands and knows in their gut is that this cause, this march that we're on to end poverty and give opportunity, real opportunity to everybody, is not just about the poor. Everybody's at risk. Everybody is vulnerable.

One new thing I want to say a word about tonight is what we need to be doing about our schools. I'm sure some of you followed this U.S. Supreme Court ruling that turned Brown vs. Board of Education on its head. Taking away the power of schools to voluntarily desegregate - huge mistake. Huge mistake. But we don't just have racial segregation in our schools in America. We have huge economic segregation, and everybody knows it. [inaudible due to applause] ...it's not true that we have one public school system in America - oh, no we don't. We've got two public school systems in America. We've got one for those who live in wealthy suburban areas and then one for everybody else. One for kids who go to inner city schools and poor rural schools and one for everybody else. We have got to build one public school system.

His proposed solutions for economically segregated schools include bonuses to good schools that take in kids from the inner city and creating magnet schools in the inner city that will attract kids from all over.

Toward the end of his speech, Edwards called on all of us to help in the fight to end poverty.

What we need - what we need, brothers and sister, is we need a movement. We need a movement to end poverty in this country. We need a movement to lift up all those people that I've seen in the last day and a half. I carry them around inside me. I do. When I say this cause is the cause of my life - as long as I'm alive and breathing, I'm going to speak for them. I'm going to fight for them, and I'm going to stand up for them, but I need you. I need you in this cause. They need you. They need your courage. They need your strength. They need your voice to be heard, because it is the only way that they're going to have the chance that they're entitled to. It is the only way that they're going to have the dignity that every human being in this country ought to have. You know, if I can paraphrase Gandhi, you've got to be the change that you believe in. You can't stay home and help somebody else is going to do this for you.

After his speech, Edwards stayed around to answer some questions. I had a hard time getting close enough to him for my camera to pick up the audio, but here's a short clip where I think you can hear him OK. In this video, he's talking about football, affordable housing, and magnet schools.