Senator Theatre owner Kiefaber on Dan Rodricks' radio show Wednesday

Senator Theatre owner Tom Kiefaber will be on Dan Rodricks' midday radio show on WYPR on Wednesday, April 1st at noon. Sean Brescia, who has been assisting with reorganization plans for The Senator, will also be on the show. Tune in to hear the current situation with The Senator.

Senator Theatre Reorganization Announced -- Radio Show Today!

This morning, The Senator Theatre's listserv sent out a Senator Theatre Reorganization Plan outlining how the theatre's operations will reorganize for interim programming and eventually under new management. Some highlights of the plan:

1. Buy time to delay the foreclosure and auction process.
2. Reorganize interim operations.
3. Structure a viable acquisition model.
4. Transition The Senator to new ownership and operation.

...

We are aggressively evaluating our best options to buy the time required to reorganize interim operations and structure an acquisition that is in the best interests of the community, The Senator Theatre and its future. Short of an "angel" scenario materializing before the end of the month, it may be that a Chapter 11 filing is the best and possibly the only option for buying critical time.

Under this scenario, we would work with our creditors within the structure of the court to settle The Senator's debts, while allowing for interim operations to help pay bills, and the development of a viable opportunity for acquisition. We remain hopeful and open to any number of prospective acquisition models that may emerge through reorganization.

The costs of the reorganization process include legal and consulting fees and expenses, utilities and other essential operating expenses, interim payments to creditors, and underwriting for fundraising events. The willingness of individuals and community organizations to help fund these efforts is critical.

...

In the coming days and weeks we'll continue to provide updates on our evolving plans for implementation of sustainable interim programming models. The goal is to reorganize under new ownership with a viable business plan based on supplementing state-of-the-art film presentations with an expanded array of enhanced multi-purpose uses to attract new audiences in synergy with the Belvedere Square commercial district.

Why are expanded uses and new audiences so important? There is simply no long-term sustainability in an antiquated single-screen business model based solely on first-run films.

On an annual basis, first-run film grosses and the high percentage fees demanded by the studios fall short of meeting fixed monthly overhead costs, even with a significantly reduced debt load. The minimum two to four week uninterrupted runs required by the studios, combined with their substantial film rent commissions, create a significant deficit between fixed overhead and potential revenue, which simply cannot be overcome under the first-run, single-screen model.

Read the whole plan on The Senator's web site.

In a related event, Tom Kiefaber and Sean Brescia will be on the radio today on the Anthony McCarthy Show. From 5 to 6 PM, listeners can call in to ask questions about efforts to save The Senator. Call in with your questions! 410.319.8888

The show will be streamed live on http://www.weaa.org/.

Baltimore's Senator Theatre to Close

This press release just showed up on PR Newswire. Sad day. Please note the time change for the upcoming town hall at The Senator, which will now be held on Monday, March 16th at 7:00 PM.

Baltimore's Senator Theatre to Close


HISTORIC LANDMARK HEADED TO AUCTION AND UNCERTAIN FUTURE

BALTIMORE, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The historic Senator Theatre has been pursuing a transition to community-based ownership, but debt and operational deficits are threatening to derail the plan. The theatre's mortgage is in default and analysis of current cash flow indicates that closure and an auction sale are imminent.


"We just received notice that accelerated foreclosure is proceeding, said Senator owner Tom Kiefaber. "It's alarming to be in such a precarious position at this critical point when so many people who appreciate The Senator want it to remain in operation through this transition to a community-owned resource."


Results from recent round table discussions, online forums and town meetings demonstrated strong support among Baltimore's business and residential communities for the theatre to remain open as ownership transitions from Kiefaber to a new non-profit, community owned entity. Historic theatres nationwide have undergone non-profit conversion to expand educational and entertainment programming and ensure their preservation.


In response to Kiefaber's advocacy of community ownership of The Senator, leaders from across Baltimore recently formed The Senator Community Trust. The non-profit entity plans to commence raising funds to purchase the theatre in its mission "to preserve, protect and restore Baltimore's cherished landmark, the historic Senator Theatre."


A town hall meeting will be held at The Senator on Monday, March 16th at 7pm.


Kiefaber has agreed to a request from The Senator Community Trust to make the theatre available for the town meeting as an open forum to provide the public with the facts and discuss how this situation is likely to affect The Senator and the extended community. The Trust has invited city and state officials and members of the city's ad hoc Senator Steering Committee. All concerned are welcome and encouraged to attend.


A recent public offer by Mayor Dixon's office to Kiefaber is intended to reduce the theatre's debt and facilitate The Senator's conversion to non-profit ownership as a proviso of the deal. "I have notified the city of my acceptance of their offer, but the details are yet to be resolved. It's an involved process that's being pressured by the foreclosure timeline," Kiefaber said.


Sean Brescia of Clearpath Management, who has been working to demonstrate the viability of multi-purpose uses for the theatre and helping coordinate efforts among the various parties, said, "These scenarios take time to develop properly and no one, including the city, is going to have the chance to identify the most viable opportunities ahead if the outcome is forced by foreclosure."


There has been much public speculation regarding the city's offer to Kiefaber, which is conditioned on the city's determination that a non-profit Senator Theatre is sustainable. In an apparent contradiction of the stated terms of the offer, that pivotal decision may have been made already.


According to a member of the city's Senator Theatre steering committee, "We have looked at many examples for a nonprofit and not one of them exists without considerable subsidy. That is not possible in today's environment." In reference to the newly formed Senator Community Trust, the representative added, "If the Trust wishes an active role, they should begin raising the several hundred thousand [dollars] required to bid at auction. There are likely to be excellent and well-financed bidders there and it's my guess that is likely to be where we are in a few short weeks."


"I don't presume to speak to the city's intentions," Brescia added, "They need to speak for themselves. There seems to be a lot of confusion about their perspective and the participation of city officials at Monday's town meeting would greatly benefit public understanding of the situation. In any case, the theatre is headed rapidly to auction. It's now up to people to make their voices heard and ask the city to follow through on their offer if the community wants to have any say in the Senator's uncertain future."


Contact:
Clearpath Management Senator Management
866.944.4409 x1 410.435.3583
info@clearpathmanagement.com info@senator.com





SOURCE Clearpath Management

WBAL Radio interviews with Sean Brescia and Tom Kiefaber on The Senator

Sean Brescia and Tom Kiefaber were interviewed about The Senator yesterday, in response to the article that came out in the Daily Record. Listen here.

Excerpt of WBAL taped interview with Sean Brescia

Sean Brescia of Clearpath Management, who is assisting in The Senator's transition to community-based non-profit, recently taped an interview with WBAL Radio when they called him in response to the Daily Record article. He sent me an excerpt of that interview:

SEAN BRESCIA: Look, there is no doubt that Tom Kiefaber has become a pariah of sorts in this whole situation. There is a lot of blame being thrown around, and a lot of facts and figures being quoted out of context-- A lot of focus on the past in general.

I think it’s no secret that certain folks downtown have lost faith in Tom’s leadership and the ability for this situation to be resolved within the walls of the Senator under current management.

And let’s face it, there is clearly a history of financial turmoil that on the surface seems to point to that.

But if you dig a little below the surface of the sensationalism, you actually find an equal number of people who commend Tom, in national circles even, for having somehow been able to keep this little single screen presentation theatre operational for as long as he has, when all of the practices and trends of the industry have basically conspired against the very existence of these types of historic theatres for decades now.

We can spend a lot of time as a community and as a city, pointing fingers, and blaming Tom at every media avail. One group can cite a bunch of financial assistance that was never fully realized. Another group can point to a complicated history of trends that got us to where we are now.

Or we can start getting really frank about the timeline in play here and put our heads together to try to find a solution that is in everyone’s interests. There are a number of interests that have to be balanced here:

The bank, certainly
The community
The city
The state
And other creditors

The bottom line is that Tom Kiefaber remains open and fully engaged in a proactive effort to make this transition, including transition of ownership and management to a new structure-- one that ensures strong influence and direction from the community going forward, balances the interests of the city and bank, and ensures the continued legacy of The Senator.

That has been his goal for some time and that remains his goal. But there is no easy exit strategy here for him. There’s a loyal staff involved and a family that this weighs extremely heavily on. And the interests of the community are also most important to him.

I think it’s a great sign that the city has formed a steering committee to explore scenarios for The Senator. But let’s be honest, there is a clear disconnect between the conversations being had behind closed doors downtown and the voice of the community which right now isn’t even being heard. Councilman Henry who sits on the steering committee himself has said that, “the committee is not seeking community input.”

Why would they not be seeking community input from the people who live with The Senator in their backyards and across the street from their businesses?

Tom is ready to be out of the way on this thing, BELIEVE ME, but there are a number of prerequisites to any deal that simply aren’t being shared publicly, much less even addressed, and should be.

The cleanest, most expeditious path to a viable and sustainable solution for The Senator going forward is going to be found through a cooperative integration of ideas and goals that balance all of the interests involved.

The city’s steering committee has not yet identified a viable non-profit that could assume ownership and operation of the Senator. The community has formed one. These people need to start talking to each other right away.

Its time everyone stops wasting sound bites on pointing fingers and assigning blame, and start working together out in the open to find a solution.

Maryland Daily Record Feature on The Senator

There's a feature today in the Maryland Daily Record, which outlines the parallel but differing efforts being taken by Baltimore City and the local community as represented by The Senator Community Trust LLC. I want to bring out a couple of quotes from the article here:

At this stage, the committee is not seeking community input, said councilman and committee member Bill Henry, who represents the district in which the Senator is located.

“None of us know anything about actually running [a theater], so we’re saying let’s not focus on that right now,” Henry said. “Right now we just need to make sure we save the real estate so someone can have a crack at it.”

And then compare that to this...

Ideally, Brescia said, the trust could work out a temporary refinancing of its loan with First Mariner, then as a nonprofit immediately begin fundraising with the help of the city and state to take it off of the bank’s books.

“The idea is to get everybody off the hook,” he said. “While we’d like the city and state involved, they need to be off the hook for the long term and we can’t burden our taxpayers.”

Susan McCarter, former executive director for the League of Historic American Theaters and now a Johns Hopkins University professor, said that most historic theaters that have survived have done so as a nonprofit. But the successful ones have been a marriage between community and government ideals.

“If you involve a community in some way in maintaining the theater, it has a chance of being healthy,” she said. “I think the problem arises when people who don’t have a local stake in it are making the decisions.”

And this...

As far as the Senator Theatre is concerned, there’s no lack of community and business interest; just one of time and agreement between two groups that believe they have the property’s best interests at heart.

“There is definitely a disconnect with the city’s way of trying to figure out a solution to this problem and our thinking,” said Brescia. “It’s a good indicator of intent that they established this task force — now we’re looking to bridge the gap between the community’s idea and what the city’s exploring.”

Food for thought.

Press Releases from The Senator Community Trust LLC

The Senator Community Trust LLC is a new community-based organization with a mission to preserve and protect the historic Senator Theatre. The group put out two press releases in the past 24 hours. I'm just going to quote them.

********************FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***********************

Baltimore Community Organizes To Support Historic Senator Theatre

Community and business leaders announce the formation of The Senator Community Trust LLC
to ensure the survival of the cherished historic landmark Senator Theatre.

Baltimore, Maryland, February 25, 2009 – A group of local community and business leaders announced today that they have organized to realize the goal of community-based non-profit ownership and preservation of the historic Senator Theatre.

Recognizing the need for the community to take the leadership in implementation of the vision to establish The Senator as the premiere community-based entertainment and educational venue in the area, the group has formed The Senator Community Trust LLC, which is now in the process of seeking non-profit status.

This vision is based on extensive feedback during a series of public meetings that began in early 2008.

“We’re encouraged by the city’s willingness to get involved. We take that as a very positive sign of their belief in this transition to community-based entertainment and educational facility,” says Sean Brescia of Clearpath Management, who has stepped up to help coordinate the goals of Senator management and The Senator Community Trust.

Brescia adds, “We are grateful for the city’s support of this vision and identification of economic development funds that could be allocated to help with the stabilization and transition process, and look forward to continuing this dialogue with them as we proceed.”

Efforts to preserve and protect the historic Senator Theatre have garnered national attention, most recently when actor David Arquette drew attention to the issue on his MySpace blog. Arquette writes, “Why do I care? Because I’ve seen it, I’ve walked through its sacred halls, I love it and I want my daughter to see it, wander through it in awe, and love it as I do someday soon.”

About The Senator Community Trust LLC: To foster the vision of the Senator Theatre as a community-based non-profit organization, a group of local community and business leaders has organized The Senator Community Trust, LLC. The Senator Community Trust has as its mission the preservation, protection, and restoration of Baltimore’s cherished landmark, the historic Senator Theatre. The Senator Community Trust is working with theatre management toward community ownership of the theatre building.

Contact:

Sherry Holland-Senter
The Senator Community Trust LLC
P.O. Box 39781
Baltimore, MD 21212
senatorcommunitytrust@gmail.com

Sean Brescia
Clearpath Management
1000 Fell Street, Suite 623
Baltimore, MD 21231
443.708.3084
sbrescia@clearpathmanagement.com

# # #

and...

February 25, 2009

************FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE************

Ace That Assessment: Senator Theatre Offers “Edu-tainment” Program for Area Schools

Baltimore, Maryland, February 25, 2009 – Beginning today for the next two weeks, The Senator Theatre will be hosting a series of “Test Preparation Shows” to area school children through a program sponsored by Amped Up: Family Amphiteater. The program is part of the developing vision of The Senator Theatre as a venue for educational, cultural and entertainment events.

The Senator Theatre management team has recently expanded the theatre’s offerings to demonstrate the Senator Theatre’s future as the premiere multi-purpose entertainment venue in the area, working with Sean Brescia of Clearpath Management to showcase a wide range of local musical talent. Through the “Test Preparation Shows,” the Senator Theatre is also demonstrating its potential as an enhanced learning destination for students.

A motion picture screen used for entertainment purposes can serve as a "graphic interface for enhanced learning" when utilized for educational purposes. Another key aspect of the experience has to do with the special purpose, controlled environment nature of the facility itself. Attention is seized and distractions are minimized in this unique enhanced learning environment that represents a scaled up version of the illuminated screens that they have been conditioned to direct their attention to from early childhood.

.
About The Senator Community Trust LLC: To foster the vision of The Senator Theatre as a community-based non-profit organization, a group of local community and business leaders has organized The Senator Community Trust, LLC. The Senator Community Trust has as its mission the preservation, protection, and restoration of Baltimore’s cherished landmark, the historic Senator Theatre. The Senator Community Trust is working with theatre management toward community ownership of the theatre building.


Contact:
Sherry Holland-Senter
The Senator Community Trust
senatorcommunitytrust@gmail.com

Michael Amrhine
Amped Up!, Inc.
A+ Assemblies, LLC
info@2ampedup.com
877-226-7338

PDF versions can be downloaded here:

SCT announcement
Edu-tainment at The Senator

The Senator Sessions

The weekend of concerts at the Senator Theatre on February 13, 14th, and 15th appears to be shaping up nicely. In a February 2 press release, Sean Brescia of Manifesto Promotions, the promoter organizing the concert weekend, is quoted:

"We set out to demonstrate some new uses and audiences for this historic landmark. People have known about the Senator's ongoing financial troubles for some time now, but this is about the community stepping up to show the city, and even a national audience, that the Senator and irreplaceable arts and entertainment assets like it around the country are worthy of public and private support to preserve and transition them to new uses for the future."

Organizers are continuing to add to the bill, but the press release currently describes the several separate events as follows:

THE SENATOR SESSIONS - A New Generation of Entertainment for a Baltimore Landmark


FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13


Save the Senator: A Baltimore Revue

Music and the Arts Converge for a Cause

Live at the Senator Theatre

Doors 8PM


From historic movie house to entertainment showplace - The Payola Reserve, Wye Oak, US Royalty, the John Hardy Boys, and local radio legends Rob Timm and Alex Cortright (WRNR) have teamed up to help save the historic Senator Theatre. Join them and more for an evening of live music, film and performances and help preserve and transform this Baltimore landmark into a premier live entertainment venue. Proceeds benefit the Senator Theatre's operations and preservation efforts. Tickets available now at www.MissionTix.com.

Show Details


SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14


Acoustic Love Songs and Other Comedies

2-7PM


Featuring: a Song Circle of Baltimore Songwriters John Seay, Sahffi and Paul Iwancio; the Ellen Cherry Trio; the Ken Kolodner Duo; the Ily Aimy duo; Smooth Kentucky; and the Swing States Road Show.


SUNDAY BRUNCH, FEBRUARY 15


Left Bank Jazz Revisited


A tribute to Baltimore's Left Bank Jazz Society of the 60's and 70's, featuring guitarist Michael Raitzyk, Ebony & Irony (a duet of vocalist Joyce Scott and pianist Lorraine L. Whittlesey), and the Craig Alston Ensemble (saxophonist Craig Alston, pianist Todd Simon and friends).


SUNDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 15


The Psychedelic, Post-VD Massacre Cleanup/Benefit

7PM-12AM


Come see the already mind-bending critically acclaimed TELESMA, playing in front of trippy, 30 foot high digital projections in the Senator's beautiful theater IN 6.1 SURROUND SOUND! The evening will feature a community drum circle, and local jam bands Adrian Bond and Telesma.

This is sounding like an amazing weekend!