I remember back in the 90's that about a half dozen of these old neighbourhood main street movie theatres were run by a single company. I recall it included the Revue, the Fox, the Kingsway, the Capitol, possibly the one in Little Italy on College Street...
With a shift toward more event based cinema, the curators who introduced the shows and held post-screening Q&As at the Revue started to become as much of a draw as the movies themselves
www.theglobeandmail.com
Some interesting bits........they're top line revenue is great for a venue of this size:
Its very clear that staff/The Revue Film Society have put a lot of effort into building the theatre into a successful business.
But also clear is that the building owner, who bought it in order to save it as a working cinema is genuinely passionate and a bit angry that he feels the building hasn't been more cared for...
The Film Society notes they've spent at least $500,000 in improvements on the building, including have the whole thing re-plumbed.
I imagine the owner is more concerned with the original exterior/marquee never having been restored.....though that goes unmentioned...
Its a shame the owners and operators have been not able to have a more fruitful dialogue.
I'm pretty sure the rent for the Revue was set at a very favourable level relative to market, in part to make sure there was money for building restoration.
Keeping in mind that the owner was 79 when he purchased the property and is now 96, and is not the CEO of a real estate empire or such.....
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Leasehold improvements are not an uncommon issue in Commercial Leases and can cut both ways, with the landlord performing those and recovering them through the rent, or allowing a tenant to lead and usually crediting the rent in exchange.
