‘Simply another victim of COVID-19.’ Kentucky Theatre shuts doors on 98th anniversary
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Kentucky Theatre turns 100
The Kentucky Theatre has survived fires, livestreaming and COVID, and now reemerges to face the next centennial.
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Exactly 98 years after opening for the first time in 1922, the Kentucky Theatre on Sunday closed amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The theater, a downtown Lexington landmark, was “simply another victim of COVID-19,” said manager Fred Mills, who has worked at the theater for more than 50 years. On Sunday, a few days after the end of the group’s lease of the historic space, the city allowed for a few more showings to give the theater “a quiet goodbye,” Mills said.
A lack of new movie releases, dwindling moviegoers and overall pandemic-induced financial uncertainty have closed theaters — some temporarily, and some permanently — across the country.
The city, which owns the theater, intends for the closure to be temporary. But once the theater can reopen, there will be a bidding process to see if the current management group will return.
“We’re hoping that this is a temporary pause,” Mills said. “Some research shows that ... it might take a while for theaters to come back.”
The Kentucky Theatre Group, which operates the Kentucky Theatre, had to terminate this month its decades-old lease with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. The group hopes that by late spring or early summer of 2021, it will be able to jump through the “various necessary hoops” to lease the historic theater from the city again and reopen, Mills said.
This isn’t the first time the theater has closed over a disaster. Damage from a fire in a neighboring building caused the theater to shut down in 1987, and the work of “very loyal fans” and support of city-sold bonds allowed the theater to reopen in 1992, Mills said.
Whether the Kentucky Theatre Group is at the helm or not, the theater has to return, Mills said.
“Our fans, those folks that even if they haven’t been down lately, they are very disturbed and upset. This has been their home for decades, it’s a very important part of their lives,” Mills said. “I’ve always said the Kentucky Theatre was the heartbeat of Main Street.”
KY Theatre appreciated for its history, unique showings
The Kentucky Theatre was special not only for its historic architecture, but for its willingness to play independent and classic films that may not make it to other theaters in the area.
A group of four Asbury University film students was in the audience for the 1943 classic “Casablanca,” the last film shown Sunday.
Matthew Smitley, Josh Sanders, Katie Consiglio and Gavin Reed have been going to the Kentucky Theatre for years and have gotten to know Mills. The theater has given the film students the opportunity to see independent, classic and foreign films they might not otherwise get the chance to see on the big screen, Smitley said.
“There’s just something magical about the neon sign, the old regal cinema type style, there’s just something magical about it that you don’t find in modern cinemas today,” Sanders said.
Consiglio’s high school used to have its short film festival at the theater. Her first film was shown there, which propelled her to study film in college.
“There’s nothing that can represent the theater experience like walking into an actual movie theater and I kind of felt that tonight walking in,” Reed said. “I was like ‘I’m really going to miss this,’ because everything about it just really special.”
“Casablanca” is one of Reed’s favorite films, and he saw it for the first time in a cinema at the Kentucky Theatre Sunday.
“Having that black and white kind of light shining down on you feels very romantic and fantastical in a way,” Reed said.
Fans, longtime manager want theater to come back
Tom and Janet Potts live a few blocks away from the theater and have attended it regularly. On Sunday, they saw the last movie.
“It would be a shame if it were shuttered forever,” Tom Potts said. “For the people downtown, it’s a great source of entertainment, you’d hate to see everything from the past go away.”
Forming friendships with Kentucky Theatre fans, many of whom are “movie buffs,” has been as enjoyable as the films , Mills said.
“It’s hard to put into words, I’ve been here well over fifty years,” Mills said. “I’ve seen lots of changes in the theater industry, lots of change in the theater itself ... it’s such a special place, it’s such an elegant building. We’re very fortunate that the city has this theater.”
Mills urged the theater’s fans to stay tuned into future developments and be in touch with their council members and the city. Even if Mills’ group is unable to operate the theater, it needs to come back, he said.
“This is too important to just let the building go to the wayside,” Mills said.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 12:10 PM.
