The local activist group Chapel Hill Alliance for a Livable Town (CHALT) recently created a campaign to save the Chelsea Theater, located in the Timberlyne shopping center, after the theater released a statement in November saying that it may possibly close.
The theater was opened by current owner Bruce Stone in 1990 and has become known for screening independent and lesser-known films.
Junior Robin Huang appreciates the theater’s unique atmosphere and hopes it will not close. “The Chelsea is such an intimate and special place,” Huang said. “I would hate to see it have to go.”
To save the theater, the new lease for its location in Timberlyne would need to be signed by April 1.
“Now in the last year of our current five-year lease, with only a handful of months to go, we must make some serious choices about the future of the Chelsea Theater,” the statement on the theater’s website read. “Given the advancing years of the current owner, it might be difficult committing to another five-year lease.”
However, the statement also provided an email address for parties interested in purchasing the theater or contributing in the effort to continue the legacy of the Chelsea Theater. CHALT got word of the news and created the Save the Chelsea campaign in response.
CHALT held a meeting for those interested in the campaign at Flyleaf Books on January 21 to “present [CHALT’s] ideas and assess the level of community support,” Del Snow, a founder of CHALT and the Save the Chelsea campaign, said.
The campaign, however, is considered a separate entity from CHALT, as some members of Save the Chelsea have no affiliation with the activist group. Both organizations are non-profits.
Save the Chelsea is currently seeking to raise $150,000 to purchase the theater. A GoFundMe page, with a listed goal of $50,000, has been created.
Science teacher Alan Rissberger has visited the Chelsea Theater a couple of times. “I enjoyed it,” he said, “and I hope someone [can] save the theater.”
Snow described the campaign’s mission statement as an effort to “preserve the existence of a venue for ‘art-house’ movies in Chapel Hill.”
Recently, the Chelsea Theater has shown films such as Lady Bird, Call Me by Your Name and The Shape of Water, among others.
“The Chelsea is my favorite theater because it makes me feel like I am going back in time and they show all the best movies there,” junior Delia Vaisey said.
If the group succeeds in raising enough money to purchase the theater, members of the campaign hope to “expand the offerings in response to the community by adding more local films, documentaries [and] special talks,” Snow said. CHALT also plans to make the theater a non-profit and upgrade its sound system and seating.
CHALT will offer yearly subscription plans to citizens who want to support the campaign, which will give a discount for tickets to the theater.
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