The Senator Theatre is a cultural anchor and community asset that's worth saving. And the push now is for the city to rescue the 70-year-old landmark. But the city shouldn't be expected to go it alone. A move by the administration of Mayor Sheila Dixon to avert the April 20 auction of the theater should be the first in a series of steps to have the theater reopened and preserved as a single-screen movie house.
The theater, which is now closed, needs this intervention. Its owner is facing foreclosure because its debts exceed $2 million. First Mariner Bank is seeking to collect what it can on the more than $900,000 it is owed from Senator owner Tom Kiefaber, who has struggled to keep the historic theater afloat at great personal expense. A study group that reviewed the theater's operations in anticipation of financial help from the city has found that the theater, even with a new owner, couldn't operate under all this debt. It recommended that the city move to take control of the Senator by negotiating a delay of the pending auction and then foreclosing on its $600,000 note.
