(Atlantic) The City of Atlantic may soon be without a theater if the Atlantic Board of Adjustment approves a rezoning request from the New Life Church.
(Update: The City of Atlantic says the Board of Adjustment meeting originally scheduled for 7:30 am Monday, December 12th will be postponed due to lack of a quorum of members available at that time. A new public hearing will be re-scheduled and the public will be notified when that meeting will take place.)
Atlantic Chamber Director Bailey Smith says the Chamber and CADCO recently attempted to purchase the Atlantic Atlas Cinema; however, Smith says the owners turned down the offer.
Atlantic Executive Director Bailey Smith says CADCO and the Chamber formed a buyer’s group to attempt to purchase the property. Smith says CADCO and the Chamber often combine resources daily to ensure current business needs in the community are met while focusing on recruiting entrepreneurs and businesses that will continue to grow Atlantic. Smith says one asset we have always relied on in recruitment efforts is the movie theater, now known as Atlas Atlantic Cinema.
Running a theater when you’re not allowed to be open is one thing. Running a theater when Hollywood halts production and sends movies straight to streaming is another. Smith says the organizations are very aware of the struggles COVID-19 brought and what the business community had to endure with closures.
Smith says CADCO assisted in financing the theater and has been supportive throughout three years of ownership. During the pandemic, the Chamber offered the theater a business grant to help alleviate costs and ensure the theater was a community event to help boost its revenue. Smith thanks the community for all their support and popcorn purchases to help the theater during this time.
The Andersons, the Atlas Atlantic Cinema owners, released the following statement: “We are hard at work this winter on our movie schedule, our merchant movies, and our winter popcorn samplers. We continue to rent the movie theater to the New Life Church on Sundays and will support them as they appear before the board of adjustments to get a conditional use permit for their activities in the theater building.”
