HOULTON, Maine — Should the town of Houlton purchase the private parking lot adjacent to the Temple Theatre?
That was the question town councilors wrestled with Monday evening during a regular council meeting.
A proposal to have the town purchase the parking lot for $91,000 was presented by Town Manager Eugene Conlogue. The proposal was the culmination of discussions between the town and Temple Theatre owner Mike Hurley dating back to before Conlogue was the town manager.
“The parking lot was already being discussed prior to my arrival in October 2012,” Conlogue said. “I believe he initiated the discussion as the earliest piece of correspondence I find in the record was from him to the town in September 2012. The conversation with Mike has been ongoing, but irregular, since I arrived.”
Hurley, who lives in the Belfast area, did not attend Monday night’s meeting. Contacted Tuesday morning, Hurley said he could not attend the council meeting because he was at a movie theatre owners’ convention.
The reason for the sale of the lot, at least from Hurley’s standpoint, is simple. He needs cash flow to aid in his efforts to convert the cinema from 35mm film to digital.
“We have always kind of discussed it (sale of the lot) with the town,” Hurley said. “Because of all the development with the (Riverfront) park and the walking bridge, and with the increased use of the lot, it makes sense. For years, people thought the town already owned the lot. It’s expensive for us to maintain.”
Movie theatres across the nation have been rushing to convert to digital formats in recent years as movie companies continue to shift away from 35mm film prints in favor of digital copies. Studios opted to make the switch from traditional film to digital as a way to save money. With digital, a movie is sent to a theatre on a hard drive, requiring very little effort to maintain. With 35mm films, each movie arrives on three reels and must be spliced together at the theatre.
The slow phasing out of 35mm film copies has been something the Temple has struggled with in recent years as fewer prints are available, creating a longer-than-usual wait time for a first-run movie to come to Houlton. Exactly when studios will stop distributing movies on 35mm film has been difficult to pinpoint.
Some towns in the state have organized community fundraisers to help save their cinemas, while other municipalities have offered tax breaks to help keep businesses afloat.
Hurley previously stated the cost to upgrade is about $60,000 per screen for new equipment, making it a sizeable investment for a small theatre. However, he was optimistic used equipment could be obtained for under $50,000 per screen.
Hurley also owns a three-screen movie house, the Colonial Theatre, in Belfast, which is now fully digital.
When Hurley purchased the Temple Theatre in 2002, the cinema was in a sad state of disrepair and had closed its doors for a short period of time. Hurley renovated the landmark, using much of the original lighting fixtures and other items to preserve its history. The Temple reopened on Nov. 1, 2002 with much fanfare.
In 2004, Hurley purchased the Temple Building, with the exception of the third floor, which is still owned by the Masons, and the adjacent parking lot. For at least the past five years, the theatre has been offered for sale.
A portion of the lot was sold to developers of the Market Square Commons housing project and a right of way exists to that property. The remainder of the lot belongs to Hurley, who once operated Zippy’s snack shack in that location. Area businesses and the general public have used the parking lot for several years.
“If the purchase is approved, it will help the entire downtown business community by ensuring the lot becomes and stays a public one,” Conlogue said Tuesday morning. “This will be good for employees and shoppers alike. It is in the interests of the town to own the last open space in the downtown. It benefits Mr. Hurley and the area to maintain an operating theater in Houlton.”
When neither Hurley, nor the town was able to agree on a potential selling price during conversations, Conlogue had an independent, third-party appraisal done on the property.
“I proposed to (Hurley) last summer that we should get an appraisal to see if we could agree on a price, otherwise, we would likely have ended the discussions,” Conlogue said. “The appraisal did that.”
Funds for the lot purchase would come from the town’s Downtown TIF district, thus not requiring additional tax dollars.
While the property was appraised at $91,000, the town has the lot assessed at $32,700 for tax purposes. If the property were purchased, the town would lose about $711 from property tax revenues per year.
The purchase agreement is contingent upon Hurley obtaining financing for the renovations to the theatre to include the digitalization of its projectors.
Councilor Rob Hannigan made a motion to table the purchase agreement, stating that Monday night was the first time he had seen much of the information. His motion to table passed by a 4-1 vote, with councilor Dan Peabody in opposition. Peabody stated he voted against tabling the matter because he had additional questions he wanted to discuss.
“This is the first time that I have heard anything about a purchase agreement,” Hannigan stated. “I’ve heard in passing in the past that we’d like to (buy the lot). There were a whole lot of conversations that have been going on that the entire council should have known about.”
It was undetermined if, in year’s past, the council gave its town manager direction to pursue purchasing the lot. The matter will be discussed again at the next regular council meeting on Monday, April 14, at 6 p.m. in the council chambers.
