New Canaan’s highest-elected official said Monday that the town likely will make an announcement next month regarding a new operator for the movie theater downtown.
Town officials “will probably have an April announcement” on the Playhouse on Elm Street, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan.
“We have several active discussions going for reopening the movie theater,” he said during a regular meeting of the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure.
“Maybe April is optimistic, but at least it’s in the works,” Moynihan said.
The theater was ordered closed one year ago as the COVID-19 pandemic set in, and Bow Tie Cinemas then terminated its lease agreement. Immediately, movie theater operators showed interest in The Playhouse, and Moynihan said in January that the iconic 1923-built movie house will likely would be back up and running this year.
The cupola-topped structure, home to two nonprofit organizations as well as a florist, does need a new roof. Last summer, the town approved an approximately $20,000 contract with a Valhalla, N.Y.-based firm to get design and engineering plans for a roof replacement at The Playhouse. The actual roof has been estimated to cost about $230,000, officials said.
Responding to a request for an update, New Canaan’s superintendent of buildings, Bill Oestmann, said during the committee meeting that bids for the work are due back in two weeks.
Moynihan noted that the roof job is a bonded project.
“So it’s funded,” he said. “And we are talking about putting solar panels on the new roof so that we can use electricity on the Town Hall campus because the properties are contiguous, so we get to do that if we want to.”