Great Barrington — When The Berkshire Edge last spoke with Cinema Lab CEO Luke Parker Bowles in January, he said that he received enough commitments from investors to purchase the Triplex Theater on 70 Railroad Street, and rename it “The Great.”
In his interview on Jan. 14, he said that the meetings that he had with potential investors were all successful and that he received enough financial commitments to purchase the theater. “We have all been overwhelmed, and it has been fantastic,” Parker Bowles said in the January interview. “It is a reflection of how much people want this theater to stay open. We have been involved with investors from surrounding towns that don’t have movie theaters. The support we have gotten has been truly humbling.”
Flash forward to The Edge’s interview with Bowles on Thursday, March 23, where he said Cinema Lab does not have enough investors to purchase The Triplex. Bowles said that The Triplex, owned for over 28 years by South Egremont-resident Richard Stanley, may be shut down if the company cannot purchase the theater. “Some of the pledges, which I mentioned [in the earlier interview], didn’t materialize,” Bowles said. “If we don’t get enough money raised for this investment, unfortunately, The Triplex will close down. Suddenly, this town won’t have a venue and we won’t be able to do all these amazing things we’ve been planning on doing.
Back in January, Bowles said that he had 15 investors lined up for the project. “We still have roughly about 15 investors,” he said. “Some investors came in, and some came out.” Bowles said that the company has so far raised $250,000 to purchase the property, but needs to raise an additional $500,000 by March 31. “The deadline was given by both Richard and our company’s board wanting to move on,” Bowles said. “We would like the minimum investment to be $100,000. But some of our investors have given us $25,000, and some $50,000. But it takes a lot of money for this project.”
As part of the purchase, Bowles plans a renovation project of the Triplex building, including the installation of a bar independent of “The Great.” When asked if the company would scale back the renovation project if it did not raise enough funds, Bowles said the company would not. “There is no ‘Plan B,’” Bowles said. “We have a very specific design plan that we have. Our reputation is about the kinds of places that we put together, and we are not going to do a ‘budget version’ of this plan. That would not be fair to the town. This project will do so much in adding attendance to Great Barrington. I’ve learned in the hospitality and exhibition business that you don’t try to put a band-aid on something because, ultimately down the line, it will somehow mess things up. We are not going to ruin our reputation nor are we going to give a substandard project.”
Bowles added “it would break our hearts if [The Cineplex] would go away. We’ve grown to love Great Barrington so much, and we know so many people in the community now who have reached out. We don’t want to disappoint people, and we feel like we owe the town something amazing.”
Stanley would not return calls for comment for this story.
The Triplex’s website lists that two movies will be playing at the theater in early April. It does not list any other movies playing past mid-April or beyond.
