The Senator Theatre on York Road is the area's biggest-screen venue for first-run Hollywood movies. But despite an enthusiastic and loyal local following, the Senator has been hit hard by competition from newer, multiplex theaters offering a greater variety of entertainment fare, and for some time now the venerable Baltimore landmark, which serves as an anchor of the Belvedere Square community, has been struggling under an increasingly unsustainable burden of financial woes.
Last week, Baltimore's Board of Estimates voted to purchase the $950,000 mortgage of the ailing business to prevent it from being sold at auction and potentially being put to a use that doesn't fit in with the neighborhood's character. The city has poured several million dollars into Belvedere Square in recent years to create an entertainment and shopping destination. Mayor Sheila Dixon hopes the investment will still pay off if the city can quickly resell the Senator to another theater operator who can return it to profitability.
City Comptroller Joan Pratt says that scenario may be too optimistic. She points out that Belvedere Square is likely to be successful whether or not the Senator remains a theater and that, even if does, any future owner may still require substantial city aid. The building needs extensive repairs to its roof and interior, which does not presently conform to requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and it will still face major competition from the nearby multiplex in Towson.
The city already has used public funds to help keep the Senator afloat. In 1999 it awarded the theater a $180,000 grant, and three years later it guaranteed half of a $1.2 million loan the Senator received from 1st Mariner Bank. It was the bank's threat recently to foreclose on the property and put it up for auction that prompted the city to purchase the Senator's mortgage.
Having invested so much in Belvedere Square, the city can hardly just walk away now. Despite Ms. Pratt's misgivings, keeping the movie theater open is likely to be an important part of the neighborhood's success. But Ms. Pratt is also right in saying Baltimore shouldn't be in the business of owning theaters, and that the city needs to get out of the movie business as fast as it can. When it does, it should make sure that whoever it turns the keys over to will be a responsible owner who understands that from now on the business will have to sink or swim on its own.
