The Senator Theatre will continue showing movies and playing host to other events in the coming weeks, even as the city prepares to put the 70-year-old North Baltimore landmark up for auction.
Owner Tom Kiefaber plans to continue showing a slate of older films (such as Stagecoach, playing through May 28) until a new owner is found. He also plans to open the facility for other uses, including concerts and private gatherings, to show potential buyers the "great vitality" of the Senator.
"If you've ever had the fantasy of sitting in the theater by yourself, with everything cranked up, now is the time to approach us," he said.
The city officially purchased the troubled theater's $950,000 note from 1st Mariner Bank on Friday, said Kimberly A. Clarke, executive vice president of the Baltimore Development Corp. The date for a foreclosure auction will be set next week, she said.
"They generally take about 45-60 days," she said, "so we're hoping to have the auction by the end of June."
Anyone willing to pay at least the total amount the city will have put out for the building - a little over $1 million, including fees and other costs associated with purchasing the mortgage - can buy the Senator, Clarke said. If bids are lower, the city will take over the property and conduct a nationwide search for someone to either purchase the theater outright or manage it, with the city retaining ownership.
For weeks, Clarke said, people have been calling the BDC to express interest in the Senator, which attained national prominence under Kiefaber's ownership as one of the finest single-screen urban movie houses left in the U.S. Not all of them have the wherewithal to buy the theater, she said, but all are concerned about its fate.
Some "are just people who are passionate about historic theaters, who probably don't have any money at all," Clarke said.
Kiefaber, who has often been critical of the city's actions toward the Senator, praised what he labeled a "new spirit of cooperation" between him and the city, with a common goal of ensuring the theater remains a vital presence in the Belvedere neighborhood. But he continued to say the city should not be in the business of running a movie theater, and that efforts should concentrate on finding a private owner, a nonprofit organization or some sort of public-private partnership able to keep the theater running for decades.
Wednesday evening, some 75 people gathered for a meeting at the Senator to hear about the city's plans. Several opposed a move to protect the theater's interior, a proposal approved May 12 by the city's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation. Kiefaber and others say the move, which gives the commission review power over proposed changes to the auditorium and other interior features, lessens its value and could prevent potential owners from bidding.
Wednesday, both Clarke and state Sen. Joan Carter Conway, who called the meeting, questioned the timing and wisdom of the commission's action. But Friday, Clarke sounded less concerned: "I don't think it's as much of a roadblock as some people portray it to be."
