Aron Theatre faces dire financial situation
Revenue hasn’t bounced back since the pandemic as people stay home and stream movies
The Aron Theatre Co-operative Inc. has issued a public plea for more people to come to the movies and concerts it hosts in the wake of a third year of financial losses.
“The bottom line is in order to keep the theatre going, we need people to come,” says Russ Christianson, founding president of the co-op and current general manager. “They have to buy tickets. They need to come to the movies. They need to come to the concerts. We're just barely making it and we're still about 30 per cent below pre-pandemic levels on movies.”
On Saturday the Aron sent an email to members and posted a notice on Facebook asking people to attend its shows.
A financial report by Christianson shows that in 2023 the theatre had an operating loss of $31,500 on revenue of $171,000 and operating expenses of $125,000. The biggest expense was payroll of $62,500, which was 10 per cent under the budget of $69,300.
“The Aron has been a gem in our community since 1947,” Christianson says in a status report. “Thirteen years ago, our community saved the theatre from becoming an empty building on the main street of Campbellford. Now, four years after the beginning of the COVID-19, the theatre is on its way to recovery, but we are not out of the woods.”
The theatre closed in March 2020 as COVID-19 spread and remained shut for 18 months, reopening in September 2021 after installing a new ventilation and air purification system.
Christianson says the theatre “was kept alive by the combined efforts of volunteers and the financial support from members, bondholders, grants and a federal government loan.”
A $40,000 CEBA loan was paid back last year, which earned a $10,000 grant.
The theatre lost money when it initially started as a co-op but “from 2015 to 2019 we made money, and then the pandemic hit. Over the past four years, with grant support, we have accumulated a small surplus of $4,500.”
“If we can't generate enough cash flow to pay the bills, then we're going to have to do something different with the theatre,” Christianson said in an interview. “That would be a shame because we just invested in the new projector and sound system. There's not much else we can do this theatre to improve it.”
A $79,900 grant from the federal government’s Community Services Recovery Fund, which was administered the Community Foundation of Campbellford/Seymour and Northumberland paid for the new laser projector and sound system.
Christianson noted that membership prices haven’t increased since 2013 and ticket prices are about half those charged by chains like Cineplex.
“It's not like we're going to close immediately, we're recovering, but we really need people to come out and buy tickets,” he said.
Since the email went out on Saturday “we have received some generous donations.”
Just as the pandemic hit, the Aron board had decided to change its management structure and place more emphasis on community involvement and concerts, in an effort to generate revenue from non-movie sources.
Competition from Netflix and the many other streaming sources has been hammering movie theatres everywhere. The Hollywood writers’ strike delayed many new films, which has hurt revenue.
Cineplex has had success with concert movies about Beyonce and Taylor Swift, but they aren’t a draw for the older Campbellford audience, Christianson says.
He said the Aron has had some success with concerts, but that has been hit and miss, and there are other new music venues such as the Campbellford Legion and the Grand Maple Event Centre in Hastings.
The Aron, the people’s theatre, is a gem in our community. A true coop owned by the community. We have to keep the Aron running! Volunteer, buy memberships, come to the movies and concerts. Make suggestions as to what you’d like to see at the Aron. It’s so rare and such a privilege to have a village theatre owned and operated by the community.