Longtime theatre hopes for happy ending

JACKSON CENTER, Ohio (WDTN) - Jackson Center has the same number of traffic lights and movie threatres, one.

But that balance is about to change and it's not because they're suddenly going to put back the light that was taken out a few years ago.           

"Any small town threatre that can't convert will have to close," says the theater's manager Ryan Sosby.

The Elder Theater has been a fixture in Jackson Center for so long that the paper touting its grand opening also contained an ad for war bonds and offered a suit for just under $17.

But the theatre has stood the test of time.

That is until now, and saving what has become the the last remaining theater in Shelby County will take the kind of heroic effort normally reserved for the movies it shows.

"Unfortunately if we don't raise the money around November we'll have to close up," Sosby says.

The problem is 35 millimeter film has gone the way of nickel candy.

For the time being, you can find both at the Elder Theatre.  It has a nickel candy machine from the 40's in its lobby.

But soon movies will no longer be released in film, so digital projectors are becoming as necessary to a theatre as a popcorn machine in the lobby.

But they can prove costly.

"They run about $66,000 which is a pretty big amount of money for a small town theatre to come up with," Sosby says.

Especially one that only charges $4 a ticket, $3 for matinees.

So the Elder Theatre has started a campaign to raise that money. It has until the end of the year.

It's hoping for one more "Hollywood" ending.

"I know a lot of people who would be heartbroken if we closed the theater," Sosby says.

To donate to the Elder Theatre, visit its Facebook page by clicking here .