The Main Street Movie House is closing, failing to come to a lease agreement with the owner of the Hooker Fulton building.
“The landlord has another use for that space,” said business owner Todd Hennard. “Hopefully whatever they are using the building for will be something kids and families will be able to use, as there’s not much else to do in town.”
It’s an untenable situation for everyone involved, said landlord Michelle Aaron-Simmons, who spoke with The Era, explaining it isn’t that she has someone else lined up for the space. It’s that the theater has struggled to pay its rent.
“There hasn’t been a lease since 2008,” she explained. “I hired an attorney to have a lease drawn up. We couldn’t agree to it. It’s been on a month-to-month basis.”
She said Hennard had contacted her earlier this month, saying the theater was struggling and asked for a break on the rent.
“There’s not a lot of people going to the theater right now,” she said. “You go downtown and you’ll see, there’s not enough people there to support the theater. Ever since COVID, people have been able to stream movies easily from their own homes.”
That had a huge impact on businesses all over, including on movie theaters, Aaron-Simmons said.
Hennard said he’s been subsidizing the theater’s operation for a few years.
“Rent isn’t the biggest issue. Utilities are very expensive,” he said. “I have been putting money into it from other businesses to keep it open for a couple years, but I was almost happy to do it.
“We built a stage and bought sound equipment to do concerts and shows there to supplement the theater income,” he said. And he outlined some of the community events the theater has participated in — Kiwanis Kid Fest, YMCA parties, Evergreen Elm events and free holiday movies.
Aaron-Simmons said she’s worked with Hennard, and because of contractual obligations he has with films, allowed him to select the date for closure. That will be the first week of August. Hennard owns the equipment and the theater chairs, all of which will have to be removed.
Does that mean Hennard — a businessman whose work has been noted with a Key to the City of Bradford by city council — might be able to make a go of it elsewhere?
“I do own the equipment, but to find a building big enough and to remodel it will be cost prohibitive,” he said. “I feel bad for the community. But who knows, maybe the next business will be a better use of the space.”
As for Aaron-Simmons, she isn’t sure what could use the space, but has faith that something positive will come along.
“I have to think about what might succeed in the future,” she said. “We have to be creative.”
The theater space has been used as such almost steadily since 1935, when it opened on Christmas Day. It was closed for a period in the early 2000s, but brought back in 2003 with help from the community. It was sold by the Downtown Bradford Revitalization Corp. to Hennard in 2013.
