Movies back on Buskirk's screen

The Buskirk-Chumley Theatre is back in the movie business, following a surprising agreement reached last week between Kerasotes movie chain and Buskirk-Chumley Management Inc. \nEver since 1995, when the theatre was donated to the Bloomington Area Arts Council, Kerasotes insisted that no movies be shown in the historic venue, so business at their other Bloomington based Kerasotes' owned theaters wouldn't be jeopardized. \nNot anymore.\nAccording to the agreement reached Wednesday, the BCT, 114 East Kirkwood Avenue, may show any theatrical film that has been out for at least a year. This will be the first time since 2000 -- when the nearby Von Lee Theatre closed -- that downtown will be host to a big screen. \n"Thanks to the involvement of several dedicated members of this community, the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre will once again show bigscreen movies," Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez said in a news release.\nBut it might be a while before any movie is actually shown, as the BCT is booked through June with live performances, not to mention the theatre lacks license rights to publicly show movies, a projector and a movie screen. \nSally Gaskill, executive director of the BAAC, said the BCT is hoping for equipment donations from members of the community. \nGaskill said the newly acquired privilege won't take precedence over live performances, though.\nShe said movies won't become the overriding feature of the theater. \n"It's considered a complement," she said.\nFernandez appointed a study commission in 2001 with the intentions of fostering open discussion with Kerasotes about the possibility of allowing movies to be shown at the BCT. Since then, the city also footed the bill for the BCT's $1.2 million-dollar debt.\nGaskill said the BAAC is looking to hand over the venue in the near future.\n"The theatre is now being managed by a non-profit organization, Buskirk-Chumley Management Inc. We own it but we don't manage it. And we aren't planning on owning it after the spring of 2004," Gaskill said. \nShe added that the BAAC intends to offer the theater to the community at that time. She noted, although it would be nice, the likelihood that much profit would be generated by the BCT for the city was slim.\nDanielle McClelland, the BCT director, Greg Volan, president of the BCT Management Board and Kerasotes president, Tony Kerasotes, could not be reached at press time.\nThe Associated Press contributed to this story.