Senator Theatre Operators: Improvements Coming Soon
The theaters operators posted a note on Facebook announcing they have building permits from the city.
Photos
The operators of the Senator Theatre placed an announcement on their Facebook page Wednesday regarding the status of the rehab of the landmark.
According to the announcement, the operators have building permits from the city in hand, and have hired A.R. Marani Inc. to build the additional theaters.
James “Buzz” Cusack and his daughter Kathleen Lyon took over the operations of the theater about a year and half ago. They intend to restore the main theater auditorium, and add three new screens to the building.
The cost of the project is expected to be about $3 million. According to the note posted on the Facebook page, the Cusacks will now make a $900,000 investment in the rehab of the theater. Much of the project's costs are being paid for with city and state loans as well as historic tax credits.
The note also addresses criticism regarding the condition of the historic art deco theater’s marquee. The operators say the entire roof on the building needs to be replaced. But until the roof is replaced water running above the marquee will continue to cause the lights to go out.
Recently a group called Friends of the Senator launched an online petition urging the Cusacks to take better care of the theater and began collecting photos of the marquee with its lights out.
Click here to read the full note.
Clarification: The name of the builder working with the Senator's operators to add theaters to the building has been changed. The name of the company was posted wrong on the Facbook note announcing the changes.
Balt Observer
9:39 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Truly fantastic news. Looking forward to seeing the new, improved Senator!
David Taylor
8:27 am on Thursday, March 29, 2012
I'm pretty sure that rain didn't cause the problems with the sound system... I wanted to see Hunger Games there but they reduced it to Mono :(
Bawlmore Hon
1:33 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
I have been to see it myself and will be returning this weekend and i can tell you that they are not running in "mono". Now, i'm not a sound expert but one recently got into a debate with the FOTS over this and they deleted the post and banned the user. Fortunately their responses remain but the users are gone AND members of the TFOTS managed to get screen shots of the full debate in case they try to claim ignorance.
Bawlmore Hon
1:37 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
Films have not been reduced to mono. This was a rumor started on the Friends of The Senator facebook page. Visit www.facebook.com/SenatorTheatreFriends or read the comment directly from the management themselves at www.facebook.com/TheSenatorTheatre for clarification.
Bawlmore Hon
1:52 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
I'd also like to point out this image from a gallery posted by someone on the FOTS facebook page. If you notice the "The" is unlit. This was under Kiefaber's reign if i'm not mistaken. Interesting... http://www.flickr.com/photos/patgavin/4817464116/in/set-72157604512669462
David Taylor
2:16 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
Barbara – I'm sorry, but your link just takes me to a new Facebook group that was created just a couple days ago, and it has the same comment you posted here. It doesn't mention any details about the sound problems or about any "experts" explaining what's wrong, and I'm sorry, but I don't see any announcement on the theater's page about the bad sound either, maybe I'm missing it.
We don't get a night out very often, and frankly, I wouldn't risk a bad experience by going to the Senator now. The sound may or may not be broken, but the pictures don't lie and the ongoing lighting issue tells me a lot. Maybe if they fix it up and start maintaining it again, we'll be back then, but for now I think I'll pass. Best of luck, I think we all want to see it returned to its former glory!
November 2011
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/374859_10150405726493565_142425853564_8439376_1032530473_n.jpg
March 2012
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/430371_10150618693463565_142425853564_9156013_558299260_n.jpg
2009
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/9034_143497628564_142425853564_2650428_6229139_n.jpg
Bawlmore Hon
2:43 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
David, the marquee is indeed in terrible condition and perhaps you're right in waiting until after the renovations. However, those of us that have continued to patron The Senator can at least clarify that there has not been an issue with the sound. That was simply a rumor created by the FOTS. The page that I linked to (True Friends of The Senator) appears to be a new fan page for supporters of The Senator.
IamGayle
3:03 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
But the curtains were removed from the auditorium correct??
True Friends of The Senator
4:06 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
IamGayle, we believe that we can help clarify that. We have inquired about the curtains and were informed that the goal in their removal was to find any traces of the original fabric. You would be happy to learn that they consulted their sound engineers prior to their removal and the sound engineers confirmed that as they were not acoustic curtains there would be little to no difference in sound. Having actually been inside we can confirm that the sound is impeccable and not, as your group has claimed, in mono.
IamGayle
9:18 am on Thursday, March 29, 2012
Strange. The problem with the lights, etc. being neglected only started happening when they took over....
(response from BO in 5...4...3...2...1....)
IamGayle
9:19 am on Thursday, March 29, 2012
And according to Ms. Cusack, it's 3.5 (though technically it's over 4 million bucks to date)
IamGayle
11:26 am on Thursday, March 29, 2012
The Cusacks are making a $900k investment? Oh you mean not them exactly, but the money given to them by us, the state etc is being used for this. The $400k he was (earlier) said to have invested isn't actually money though, I believe it's property he's putting up.
Bawlmore Hon
1:30 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
Visit facebook.com/SenatorTheatreFriends to become a TRUE friend of The Senator. The following is a recent post on the TFOTS' wall explaining the origins of the "mono" sound rumor.
A MEMBER’s FALSE SPIN
“A number of (They-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named) members have been reporting bad sound for months now, and there have been a number of first person reports from this fi...lm. It’s in mono. Some of the staff there have revealed that to those who complained.”
THE TFOTS RESPONSE
We know the terrific staff at The Senator quite well. We have inquired about these rumors and were not shocked at all to learn that they are FALSE! The majority of the films that have been presented at The Senator have run in DTS with the exception of a few that have run in Dolby Digital*. This has been confirmed by the projectionists directly. We can also confirm that not one member of the staff (incl. management) have ever “revealed” films playing in mono because it is simply NOT true.
We experienced “The Hunger Games” over the weekend at The Senator and we can confirm that what we heard was not in mono.
Have you attended “The Hunger Games”? Give us your thoughts on the sound!
*The difference between these formats is virtually indistinguishable (admitted by people at Dolby, DTS and Sony). However, DTS is, from a technical stand point, the most accurate reproduction of the master. Most theatres only offer Dolby Digital. The Senator is fully capable to run in either format.
Balt Observer
1:33 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
I recently became aware of the True Friends of the Senator Facebook page too, Barbara. What a great idea! This has been needed for a long time to counter the constant cockamamie stories put out by that "other group".
Max Genus
8:10 am on Sunday, April 1, 2012
I think David Taylor hit the nail on the head. The outward perception that the marquee lights (or lack thereof), in addition to complaints by attendees about the sound mix (hard to hear dialogue) - whatever the cause - makes for huge red flags when movie-goers pick a venue.
The news about money and promises of fixing up The Senator _are_ _great_. But, until people see something more than the dejected look of the historic facade, scaffolding that's become a permanent fixture in the outer lobby AND can come away without feeling like their viewing experience would have been better at a multiplex (something I thought I'd _never_ say about The Senator) even long time fans are going to at least hesitate when choosing where to spend their entertainment dollars.
Honestly, I think fixing the marquee should be a priority. It's intitial (& sometimes first) impression/curb appeal is _HUGE_! That can either be positive or negative and sadly right now, it's quite the "turn off". :(