New Community Effort to Save Belfast’s Colonial Theatre

When the Colonial Theatre in Belfast closed their doors last September, that was after 110 years. They opened in April 1912, on the same day the Titanic set sail.

The movie theatre was closed due to the retirement of longtime owners Mike Hurley and Therese Bagnardi. A new owner has not yet been found.

But there are plans to keep going into the future.

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First lets go back to when it closed 6 months ago and recall what owner Therese said at the send off evening.

As we all know, life is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re going to get. Everyone wishes for a wonderful life and, even though sometimes it feels like an impossible mission running a movie theatre is as good as it gets. As time goes by …as these 27 years have gone by…Mike and the staff and I have been so lucky to be able to use the magic of light & sound to bring adventure, romance, history, mystery and comedy to our screens for many to enjoy. It has been a beautiful life, indeed and not possible without an audience, so thank you, thank you very much. Although Mike and I will be leaving the theatre…and surely would take the cannoli were there any…we frankly, my dears, do still give a damn and say Belfast, we have no problem. Movies are a fundamental thing of life…as you have heard on the theatre recording over the years, the Colonial is located in the Heart of Belfast, and this heart will go on. And now, I bid you a warm goodnight and good luck.

What is Next?

A group of movie-loving and community-minded residents have come together  the Save Our Colonial Theatre (SOCT) Steering Committee. The committee aims to turn the iconic landmark into a thriving nonprofit community center for entertainment and education.

Our goal is to preserve the Colonial Theatre’s position as downtown Belfast’s entertainment locale for featuring new and classic movies, live entertainment and important civic meetings.

said Eric Buch, Steering Committee leader and Belfast resident.

Save Our Colonial Theatre hopes to step in and find the right mix of funding to keep the movies running and lots more programming happening for another 100 years.

Donations for Save Our Colonial Theatre can be made online at www.centertheatre.org/soct or by mailing a check to SOCT, c/o Spencer Stephens, Treasurer, 52 Union Street, Belfast, ME 04915.