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Clemson mayor wants to see Astro III theater revived
posted by
CSWalczak
on
April 29, 2010 at 3:45 pm
CLEMSON, SC — Clemson’s mayor, Larry Abernathy, is not happy that his college town of 33,000 has been without a movie theater since the Astro III was closed by Carmike in 2008. He wants the city to acquire the deteriorating property with available TIFF and hospitality tax funds and rehab it for movies and other performances. If the current owners, who have rebuffed offers before, won’t sell it, the mayor will launch an effort to being a new cinema to town.
Most of the money the city wants to use to purchase the property — $1 million — comes from TIFF funds, while the balance would come from accommodations taxes and hospitality taxes, Abernathy said.
“That money is supposed to be used to get people to come to Clemson,” he said.
The mayor said he envisions renovating the building and reopening it both as a movie theater and also a space for live performances, such as poetry readings and one-act plays. He said he would like for one of the theater’s screens to be dedicated to art and foreign films.
The full story is at GreenvilleOnline.
Comments (4)
Does it surprize anyone that Carmike let another theatre go to pot. They seem to set up shop in smaller cities. i visited a location in LaFollotte.Tenn and it had to be the biggest dump of a twin theatre. Do they even employe District Managers,because as much as i disliked most of mine they did serve a purpose. Also,Clemson is not that far from Greenville S.C. and folks might just want to catch a dinner and flick there. Same problem Aiken S.C. still has with Augusta,Ga. Nearby,Locals often prefer to drive a little bit for more variety.But from what I have seen of some CARMIKE operations I am sorry they have MIKE in their name.
I TRIED TO GET THIS THEATER LAST YEAR— $9,000 A MONTH TO RENT THIS DUMB AND THEY WONT BUDGE,
If the mayor thought the town needed a good restaurant would he use public TIFF monies to build and operate one? How about a hardware store or a car wash?
YOU ARE SO CORRECT—–