RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
2008-11-01 22:45
I thought it might be time to start a new thread re: the Grandview Theatre.
A brief introduction...
I'm David Nedrow.
I grew up primarily in small towns in Ohio, New Cumberland and Mineral City to name two of them. The first movie I remember seeing was Disney's 1969 re-release of "Peter Pan" at an old theatre in Mineral City. Late at night a few years later, the roof of this theatre collapsed under the weight of a heavy snowfall and the entire building was subsequently razed. My first theater-related "bummer".
My family moved to Lancaster, OH, where I graduated from Lancaster High School in 1982.
In 1987, I received my first college degree, a BA in Film from OSU. I later received a BS in Computor Science from Franklin University, and have a few hours left 'til an MS in CS, also from Franklin.
I started making movies when I was 8. The stories were made up on the spot, and generally "starred" any number of friends and their pets. Many of these films have not stood the test of time. Acting styles and special effects have changed. No longer can a seven year-old pretend to drive over a cliff in a rusted out 1940 Ford truck (stuck in a hay field), which, when it explodes, somehow becomes a Tonka dump truck filled with hay, fire crackers, and gasoline. Today's audiences simply wouldn't buy it. ;)
I was both an assistant manager and manager at the Drexel North for, I think, 7 years. I was there when Bruce Bartoo came along and brought us the 24-hour Science Fiction Marathons (and their offspring). The DN had a couple of things going for it -- it had an enormous auditorium (800+ seats) and, subsequent to Cinema East closing, the widest scope screen in Columbus.
I know people have questioned whether we know what we're getting into. We most certainly do. We have no illusions as to how much work, dedication, and money this will take.
My wife and I have one goal: keep the Grandview Theatre operating as a movie theater, and hopefully provide enough extra money for us to pay our bills at home. Clearly, a 300 seat theater isn't going to make anyone rich, but I believe it can be successful in its own right.
As many of you have read, Jennifer and I plan renovating the interior. The landlady is very excited about us taking this on, and her team will be doing maintenance on the exterior (starting tomorrow, actually). We're planning on a whole new environment for the interior and are talking with several interior designers who specialize in renovations and venue decorating. The existing concession stand will be demolished and replaced with a new, streamlined counter. We will work with the designer to come up with a means of mitigating the light that spills into the auditorium through the large picture window above the stand. This will allow us to actually light the inner lobby AND prevent steam from the popper entering and distorting the beam path of the projector.
Jeff and I have agreed to a transfer of ownership for all of the equipment in the theater. I will be working with a technician to fully evaluate the booth equipment to see what is salvageable and what needs replaced. I know at the minimum that a second projector must be added so that we are able to run studio archive prints. We have budgeted for a completely new booth if that becomes necessary. There are two things that a theater MUST provide to its patrons -- a steady, keystone corrected, fully focused image on the screen, and sound that is clear and intelligible. I think many of you who have been to the theater in the past few years are aware that those are current problems. We plan on addressing both of them.
Some people are worried that we may be underestimating our costs on this. Don't worry. I've been working the cost/benefit, budgrting, and capital numbers for two months now. We know how much we can spend, and we know how much we need in reserve to take us through the lean times. Others wonder why we would consider putting so much of our own money into a facility we don't own. This happens all the time in the restaurant business. You have a leased space that you need to turn into and environment that pulls people in and keeps them coming back. Or, at least not saying, "I'll never go there again". ;)
We are also planning fund raising events to raise money for "extra" equipment and renovation work that we would like to have and do, but simply can't be fit into our opening budget. Of particular interest is raising money for a physically new projection booth and a Digital Cinema installation (in parallel with the film projectors) in 2010. Another project that will need a creative solution is expanding the bathrooms to provide more comfort and handicap accessibility.
Oh, one more note before I open the floor to questions. The theater will once again be accepting the four major credit cards. National City (now PNC ?) has really helped get all of those pieces in place. Thank you Bill Hamm.
Now, any questions?
Launched in August 2010, TheMetropreneur.com is a local online resource devoted to small business development and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to tell the stories of Central Ohio's business community, foster regional economic development and assist entrepreneurs with its resource-heavy focus.