Senator Theatre

The sight of a few ladders outside the Senator Theatre did not prepare me for the scope of the restoration project that is transforming this Govans-Belvedere Square landmark, a Baltimore treasure being taken apart and reassembled. There will be three newly constructed boutique theaters, too, making a four-screen complex. The $3.5 million infusion of much-needed capital improvements comes not a minute too soon. The 1939 movie house is a favorite address of many film fans, but let's face it: The beloved Senator was shabby.

The sight of a few ladders outside the Senator Theatre did not prepare me for the scope of the restoration project that is transforming this Govans-Belvedere Square landmark, a Baltimore treasure being taken apart and reassembled. There will be three newly constructed boutique theaters, too, making a four-screen complex. The $3.5 million infusion of much-needed capital improvements comes not a minute too soon. The 1939 movie house is a favorite address of many film fans, but let's face it: The beloved Senator was shabby.

City officials changed the Senator Theatre 's locks Thursday as the historic movie palace came under the management of James "Buzz" Cusack, and his daughter, Kathleen. But a crew working for Tom Kiefaber, the building's previous owner and operator, spent the day packing up his personal belongings as police officers guarded the doors. C. Lawrence Jenkins Jr., the city's special chief solicitor, said that Kiefaber's crew was in the building with the city's permission, but he said he did not know how long the move would take.

Wasn't it just last year that firefighters and police officers had their hours reduced because of a lack of city funds ? Wasn't there talk of closing some of the city's summer places for children? So how is there so much money available for the mayor's VoIP project, for IndyCar races that cost the city millions and for bailing out the Senator Theatre ? How much benefit do the citizens of Baltimore gain from any one of these? Anne Hackney

Towson University and its radio station, WTMD-FM, have withdrawn their proposal to turn Baltimore's historic Senator Theatre into a studio and performing arts center. The request to withdraw the proposal came from Towson officials shortly after noon Wednesday, said Kimberly Clark, executive director of the Baltimore Development Corp., the quasi-public agency that will decide who operates the 71-year-old movie house. The city took over operation in July after then-owner Tom Kiefaber could not keep up with mortgage payments and the theater was put up for auction.

It really was the last picture show. Baltimore's most passionate advocate of historic movie houses stood before the stage last night, and addressed a standing room only crowd of about 1,000. His voice cracking a little with emotion, he said, for the final time: "I'm Tom Kiefaber, and welcome to the historic Senator Theatre ." Kiefaber, 58, ended his at times controversial career at the Senator's helm — and the family history of 71 years of continuous operation — by presenting two free public screenings Wednesday of " Star Wars: A New Hope," the George Lucas classic about Jedi warriors fighting against seemingly insurmountable odds.

Baltimore's historic Senator Theatre would be leased to new managers and continue to operate as a setting to see first-run movies, under a recommendation to Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake from the Baltimore Development Corp. The development agency's board of directors voted in closed session Thursday to recommend that a group headed by Charles Theatre owner James "Buzz" Cusack and his daughter, Kathleen, be allowed to lease the York Road landmark for up to 40 years and renovate it for continued use as a movie theater, according to BDC President M.J. "Jay" Brodie.

A foreclosure auction of Baltimore's beleaguered Senator Theatre has been set for 10 a.m. April 20 at the Baltimore City Courthouse, 111 N. Calvert St. Baltimore's 1st Mariner bank, which holds a mortgage of some $900,000 on the 70-year-old North Baltimore landmark, announced earlier this month that it would be foreclosing on the theater, after owner Tom Kiefaber had missed several months of scheduled payments. Kiefaber closed the theater March 15, saying he could no longer meet payroll.

The city of Baltimore wants the Senator Theatre's former owner, Tom Kiefaber, out of the theater by Sunday. Kiefaber, who has booked the "Twilight" franchise film "Eclipse" to open two days later, believes the city is giving him a "shove out the door," he says in an open letter to Chief Solicitor Larry Jenkins. He is not going without a fight. He writes that he might "remove and protect" the theater's sound and projection equipment. Kiefaber has been running the Senator on a month-to-month basis since April 13, according to a licensing agreement with the city.

Despite the Monumental City's monumental fiscal and other problems, the Gucci liberals who purportedly govern it and their state and federal counterparts have decided to provide $1.25 million in loans, grants and tax credits to well-connected insiders to renovate an old movie theater, which no doubt will screen only films favored by the high-brow set ("City panel approves deal for Cusacks to run the Senator," Aug. 26). As a resident of the northern suburbs, I suppose that I should be grateful for the availability of this facility, which is much closer to my home than the downtown theme park where I might otherwise go for entertainment.

It's easy to see why the city's sale of the Senator Theatre gave Comptroller Joan Pratt heartburn. The city paid $810,000 for the movie palace three years ago and this week sold it for a $310,000 loss. Worse yet, the city is hardly washing its hands of the seemingly snakebit property. It will hold the mortgage — and charge a minuscule 2 percent in interest. The city is putting up an additional $700,000 loan to the theater's new owners, who are also receiving a loan from the state and another from a bank.

Baltimore's spending panel agreed Wednesday to sell the historic Senator Theatre at a $310,000 loss — over the objections of the city's comptroller. "I just think it's too generous," said Comptroller Joan M. Pratt, citing the city's purchase of the theater at an auction in 2009 for $810,000 and the selling price of $500,000. The Board of Estimates approved the sale to the Senator's current operators by 4-1 vote. Pratt cast the lone "no" vote. Senator Theatre LLC, a company controlled by James "Buzz" Cusack and his daughter, Kathleen Lyon, has leased the theater from the city since August 2010.

Baltimore's Board of Estimates is expected to approve the sale of the Senator Theatre to its current operators Wednesday for $500,000. Senator Theatre LLC, a company controlled by James “Buzz” Cusack and his daughter, Kathleen Lyon, has leased the theater from the city since August 2010. The city bought the Senator a year earlier, as it was nearing foreclosure, then selected Cusack and Lyon to run it. The father-daughter team also has a 40-year lease on the Charles Theatre, they said.

The Baltimore Development Corp. has agreed to sell the historic Senator Theatre to its current operators, officials said Thursday. The BDC's acting president, Kimberly A. Clark, announced the sale to Kathleen Cusack and her father James "Buzz" Cusack at a board of directors meeting but did not disclose the terms of the sale. Reached by phone, Kathleen Cusack said details were still being worked out. "It certainly makes more sense for the city and for us," she said. "It's a step in the right direction.

The former owner of the Senator Theatre told a police officer "he wished to be arrested in an attempt to get the media involved," according to charging documents in the Aug. 13 incident outside the Baltimore cinema. Tom Kiefaber was arrested that day and charged with trespassing. Below is the text of the charging document; it also appears as a related item (see left). There are seven charges filed against Kiefaber by James "Buzz" Cusack, current operator of the Senator: five counts of trespassing, one count of harassment and an accusation of illegal dumping (at the Senator on Aug. 8)

Tom Kiefaber, former owner of the Senator Theatre , was released from jail Tuesday and gave his own account of events leading to his arrest Monday at the cinema, denying that he has trespassed and harassed the current owners. Kiefaber had been charged Monday with trespassing and taken to Central Booking downtown. Later that day, a Baltimore district judge issued a temporary peace order prohibiting Kiefaber from contacting Kathleen Cusack, who operates the Senator along with her father, James "Buzz" Cusack.

Towson University and its radio station, WTMD-FM, have withdrawn their proposal to turn Baltimore's historic Senator Theatre into a studio and performing arts center. The request to withdraw the proposal came from Towson officials shortly after noon Wednesday, said Kimberly Clark, executive director of the Baltimore Development Corp., the quasi-public agency that will decide who operates the 71-year-old movie house. The city took over operation in July after then-owner Tom Kiefaber could not keep up with mortgage payments and the theater was put up for auction.

Days after operators of Baltimore's Senator Theatre accused former owner Tom Kiefaber of trespassing at the movie house and harassing workers, Kiefaber was arrested Monday at the site. Police were called to the York Road theater Monday morning where Kiefaber was being "unruly and inappropriate," said Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. He was making threats and refused to leave, Guglielmi said. Kiefaber was charged with trespassing and taken to Central Booking downtown.

In less than five minutes, Tom Kiefaber said, he was left with nothing. "They've taken my home, my principal residence. They've taken my job," Kiefaber, the one-time owner and operator of Baltimore's storied Senator Theatre , lamented Thursday morning. He was standing feet from the steps of the Baltimore County courthouse, where minutes earlier his home and 8 acres on York Road in Sparks had been auctioned off. "My mission at this point is to retrieve my home from this corrupt nonsense," he said.