Great Barrington — The “Save the Triplex” group, led by residents Nicki Wilson and Hannah Wilken is moving forward with its plans to buy the movie theater.
The theater, located on 70 Railroad Street, is owned by South Egremont resident Richard Stanley through his Mahaiwe Triplex Theater Inc. company. The Berkshire Edge has repeatedly tried to contact Stanley multiple times since Luke Parker Bowles, CEO of Cinema Lab in New Jersey, announced in November that his company intended to purchase the Triplex. Aside from one quote given to The Berkshire Edge in December, Stanley has not returned repeated calls for comment for stories.
A person who answered the phone at The Triplex on Monday, May 8, but did not identify himself, told The Berkshire Edge, “Richard is almost never here. He practically lives in Mexico.”
Meanwhile, Parker Bowles would also not return calls for comment for this story. Previously, Cinema Lab was looking for investors to help purchase the building from Stanley. At one point, Parker Bowles said that Cinema Lab was poised to buy the building. However, funding eventually fell through, and while Parker Bowles said that he would not give up on the possible purchase of The Triplex, various media reports indicate that Cinema Lab’s purchase of the building has fallen through.
In the meantime, as of press time on Wednesday, May 10, after one month of fundraising, Save the Triplex’s GoFundMe campaign to raise $150,000 has raised $113,342. The campaign has received 497 donations, including several donations of $10,000 and $5,000. Wilson said that there has also been over $200,000 in pledges and an “in kind” donation from photographer Gregory Crewdson.
According to Wilson, Stanley is asking $1 million to purchase the property. However, “Nothing is definite with Richard yet. We have presented to Richard a Purchase and Sales agreement and are currently working through the details,” Wilson told The Berkshire Edge. “We will have enough money for the initial down payment. We will still need to raise funds to go to The Triplex itself. We still have to pay for startup costs and other things.”
Wilson said that the group intends on raising $1 million, and also intends to move forward with making The Triplex a nonprofit movie theater. “We haven’t raised $1 million yet or anywhere near it,” Wilson said. “But we have enough money to begin with negotiations. When it comes to nonprofit theaters, a certain percentage of their yearly income comes from donors. Once we own the building and start the programming, we’ll be able to attract a number of big donors. But our board has not had a discussion about what we will be doing after we reach our GoFundMe goal.”
Wilson said that the group has already established a business plan, and is in the process of establishing programming. “We are going to be working with Adam Birnbaum who is the booker for over 50 cinemas, including The Triplex,” Wilson said. “We will have regular commercial films, but we will also have art films. We are hoping to offer a very diverse schedule, including foreign language films, horror movies in October, and holiday films in December. We are also planning to screen films by local filmmakers.” Wilson said that the group also expects to host events for other nonprofit organizations and schools, but that they have not been in contact with other organizations as of yet.
She said that the group also plans renovations on the lobby of the building, including adding new seating, but that full plans and a schedule for renovations have yet to be worked out. “Let’s own the building first, and then we’ll have a discussion about renovations,” she said. “We want to spruce up the place, but that’s going to take time and money. One step at a time. Richard Stanley built the theater 28 years ago, and a lot of things need to be updated in order to make it really attractive and appealing to the people who will be coming to us.”
Wilson added that she, along with the group, are all thankful for the community’s support. “You know the cliche that ‘it takes a village’? Well, it takes a community, along with the people who have volunteered and who have donated,” Wilson said. “It has been so exciting for myself and our board that so many people from all walks of life have come together to help us to get this theater together for the community, to be operated by the community.”
For more information about Save the Triplex, go to its website.
Note: Wilson previously told The Berkshire Edge that “We’re expecting very shortly to sign an official agreement, and take possession of the theater in the next month or so.” However, in an email after this article was published, Wilson wrote “There is not a definite time that we will be in the Triplex. I said we are hoping in a month or so to be in there, but everything depends on us working through the final details.” She also told The Berkshire Edge “We have a very definite financial agreement.” However, in her email after this article was published, Wilson wrote “Just to be clear, nothing is definite with Richard yet. We have presented to Richard a Purchase and Sales agreement and are currently working through the details.”
