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Jan. 19, 2006
 
RUTHERFORD ON FILM: Another Last Picture Show in Huntington: Keith Albee to Close Jan. 22; Four Spring MU Artists Series Shows Will Go Forward at The Keith; Theatre Now Owned by MU Foundation
 
By Tony Rutherford Huntington News Network Writer
 
Huntington, WV (HNN) -- One of the few fully functioning first-run movie palaces left in the United States will cease operating as a movie theatre Sunday Jan. 22, 2006.. Huntington’s Keith Albee survived the downfall of vaudeville, a flood, the development of television, and mall competition, but the Thomas Lamp atmospheric theatre built in 1928 could not withstand the opening of the Marquee Cinemas 16-screen multiplex at Pullman Square. “We are not getting enough film products to come close to breaking even,” Derek Hyman, president of the Greater Huntington Theatre Corporation said. Since the land on which the historic theatre sits has already been given to the Marshall University Foundation, “we are making a donation of the remaining time on our lease,” Hyman said. The 99-year-lease on the building expires around 2027.
 
Hyman attempted to work a “partnership” with the Marshall University Foundation to continue operating the Keith as a hybrid movie theatre and performing arts center until the Foundation could clarify their plans for the building.
 
“We would have continued to operate as a movie theatre and helped them by paying some of the costs of building operation, but an agreement [with the Foundation] could not be reached.”
 
The 2005 movie downturn was only a contributing factor to his decision. “It helped push us further in the red,” but he added that with the new Marquee Pullman Square megaplex, the Keith Albee “can not be use for anything other than a performing arts center.”
 
Hyman’s family opened their first Huntington theatre, The Lyric, in 1912. A.B. and S.J. Hyman then built the Keith at 925 Fourth Avenue, which at one time had been the site of the Zenner-Bradshaw Department Store and The Huntington Advertiser. When it opened newspapers called it “a perfect theatre…comparable in every detail with the finest theatres everywhere.” The decision to hand over the keys to the Marshall Foundation has “everybody” in the company upset as “we’re all family.” But in the long run, “We have to do what is best for the theatre and best for the city.” He foresees three or four job losses but predicts that will be hired at Marquee.
 
Although the showing of mainstream movies ceases Sunday evening, the Marshall Foundation will ensure that the curtain goes up there for “Bugs Bunny on Broadway” (March 15), “Sleeping Beauty” (March 27), “Willy Wonka” (April 13), and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (April 24) , which are the remaining Marshall Artists Series shows for the Spring semester. The venue for the Spring International Film Festival has not been determined.
 
The final films to play at the Keith Albee are: “Hoodwinked,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Wolf Creek,” and “Cheaper by the Dozen 2.”
 
Asked if he regrets not investing in the Pullman Square theatre, Hyman said, “I don’t think so. My concerns were not about what happened when it initially opened. Once someone builds new theatres in Ashland and/or at the Huntington Mall, the number of people at Pullman will be too small for the expense of the building.”
 
Originally, Hyman’s family was asked to invest approximately $5,000,000 of their company’s money to complete the theatre at Pullman. When they declined to make the personal investment, state funds were used to finish the theatre which was leased to Beckley-based Marquee Cinemas.
 
“If I had been offered the same deal as Marquee, I probably would have taken the chance,” Hyman said. But, under that circumstance, he would have closed down the Keith, Cinema and Camelot prior to the opening of the Pullman theatre.
 
Dana Sutton, Presbyterian Campus Minister at Marshall University, said he was neither “greatly surprised nor distressed” by the news. “Every time I’ve seen a film in the Pullman Square Theatre, I’ve been thankful for the comfort (especially leg room), clear view and great audio.” As for the Keith, “it’s a grand old theatre but clearly there has not been sufficient funding to keep it up to date with regard to sound system and seating,” Sutton said.
 
A couple of other preservationists have suggested that the closure might inject the missing adrenalin into the efforts of currently slow acting decision makers. According to Hyman, officials at the MU Foundation and at Marshall are “studying” the situation.
 
GHTC closed the Camelot Theatre Jan. 5, 2006. The projection equipment has since been removed. The company will continue to operate the Cinema IV in Huntington, Park Place Stadium Cinemas in Charleston and the soon to open Fountain Place Cinema 8 in Logan, WV.
 
Contrary to the gala that celebrated the Keith’s opening, Hyman has no special plans for Sunday night. “We’ll just close the doors.”