The Vogue Cinema is closed, but owner Jeff Coates is hoping for a community takeover
Downtown Sackville has suffered plenty of slings and arrows in the past few years. Between fires, structural issues, repeated COVID shutdowns, and an ongoing and painfully slow COVID recovery, the downtown core is radically different today than it was back in 2019. And the slings and arrows are about to strike again.
The 77-year old Vogue Cinema is closed, and owner Jeff Coates says he will not be able to reopen the historic theatre, due to debts that have become too large to handle.
“I’ve been fighting and struggling and clawing to stay above water, to keep the place open and functioning,” Coates told CHMA this week. “I never wanted to lose it, but now we’re there. We’re closed, and the place is for sale.”
Coates is heartbroken, but is trying to be realistic after years of taking on increasing debt to keep the cinema technologically up to date, and the building sound.
That said, he’s also still hopeful that the Vogue might have a future, even if he’s not at the helm.
The Vogue is “more than movie theatre,” says Coates. “It’s a cultural centre where so many other things happen than just Hollywood movies. And I think that’s the direction the theatre needs to go.”
Between the Sackville Film Society, concerts by Sappyfest and other local promoters, and Sackville’s vibrant theatre scene, Coates thinks the Vogue’s future might be as a community-run arts space.… Continue