101006 — It took two auction tries, but the former Meadville Cinemas building and business, at 952 Park Ave., apparently has a buyer through eBay, the Internet auction site.
“We should have a signed sales agreement this week,” said Clint DeMarsh, vice president of Epic Theatres of DeLand, Fla., the theater’s current owner. “We’re hoping to close within 60 days.”
The winning bid was $119,100 by “jonridecoasters” and was one of only two received, according to the bid history listed on eBay. The only other bid was for the listed minimum of $119,000 by “bndenterprise.”
DeMarsh declined to reveal the identity of the winning bidder for the four-screen theater.
Attempts to contact the winning bidder through eBay’s message center were unsuccessful.
“I know he’s a theater operator and he likes the Meadville market,” DeMarsh said. “He’s securing financing (for the project). We’re not offering financing.”
The four-screen theater closed in late April and went for sale on eBay’s real estate section in May.
However, in an interview in April, Frank DeMarsh, president of Epic and Clint DeMarsh’s brother, told the Tribune that The Movies at Meadville, a 10-screen first-run movie theater complex that opened in September 2005 in Vernon Township, was a factor in the closure.
Jon Goldstein, general partner of The Movies at Meadville, said Monday he welcomed the competition, but “I don’t know how they’ll make it work.”
“If I would have thought there was a reason to buy it, I would have bought it,” he said.
Epic’s original asking price for the business and 9,600-square-foot building was listed on eBay at $180,000 — $120,000
for land, building and seats with another $60,000 for theater equipment. The property got some offers, but Epic wanted an outright sale.
It went to an auction format for 10 days Aug. 19 with an unnamed reserve — or minimum — bid. However, it only received six bids then and the highest was $75,100.
It then went back up on an eBay auction with a minimum of bid of $119,000.
The Meadville Cinemas began in 1968 at its current 952 Park Ave. site when Chester DeMarsh, Clint’s father, built a two-screen theater. It was modified to four screens in 1985.
It had shown first-run movies until January 2006 when it switched to “subsequent run” movies all the time at $1-a-seat for every showing. Subsequent-run movies are ones that have been out for several months and then can be offered at discount prices. The staff was also reduced from about 12 to four during the transition.
The theater then closed following its April 27 showings.
Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com
Local News
Winning online bid for former cinemas is $119,100
- Local News
-
-
Conneaut Lake Park roars into 120th season
Conneaut Lake Park’s 120th season is officially under way with its in-keeping-with-tradition, four-day Memorial Day weekend opening, and the “crowds are coming in,” Jack Moyers said Saturday.
-
Area communities ready to celebrate Memorial Day
Editor’s note: The following Memorial Day events have been reported for publication in The Tribune. All events are Monday, except those in Edinboro and Shermansville, which are planned for Sunday. -
Remembering Civil War Bucktails
A glimpse into daily life of the Civil War era is easy to see in Crawford County.
-
Area Memorial Day events
The following Memorial Day events have been reported for publication in The Tribune. All events are on Monday, except the one at Edinboro that is planned for Sunday.
-
Civil War soldiers highlight Meadville Memorial Day events
A courageous Meadville man — wounded three times but remaining on a Civil War battlefield until he was too weak to continue — is being remembered this Memorial Day as the Meadville Area Memorial Day Committee continues its mission of observing the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States.
-
Police: Locals admit to killing Ohio woman
Two Cochranton women were arrested and jailed on homicide charges early Thursday after allegedly admitting they killed an Ohio woman and buried her body in a shallow grave near their residence recently.
-
Reader 'Faces' are coming in
Mom's car dash, Meadville, PA
Lucy Kedzierski, 12, looks at the face every morning waiting for school bus!
She took this with a cell phone. -
North Street Project sure to be 'very disruptive'
With the preliminary traffic control plan for Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s North Street Project complete, Meadville City Manager Joe Chriest summed up the anticipated impact of the project, which is expected to span the entire 2013 construction season. “This is going to be very, very disruptive,” he said Wednesday.
-
Boat business booming in warm weather
It’s been a booming business in boats this spring, according to some area boat dealers.
-
City leaders not concerned after financial downgrade
During the past five years, Moody’s Investors Service has assigned three different ratings — all within the range of “upper medium grade” to the City of Meadville’s bonds. In 2007, the city was given a rating of A3, the lowest of the trio. In 2010, the city’s bond rating was raised to A1, the highest ranking in the “upper medium” category. Monday, Moody’s gave the city’s $10,000,000 General Obligation Bonds, Series of 2012, which went on the market Monday, the middle rating of A2.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
