The final credits will not roll on the Lumina Theater in Southern Village in Chapel Hill in September as previously announced. Theater management said in an email on Wednesday that the theater will remain open until at least January 15, 2020.
Officials with Southern Village developer Bryan Properties, which owns and operates The Lumina, said last month that the theater would close in September, drawing a massive response from fans.
“There have been changes to the national and local movie market that has caused our attendance numbers to slide,” officials wrote in an email at the time, adding that the outdoor movie series will continue. Ownership did add that a community meeting would be held at some point in the summer to gather feedback from residents and visitors.
Bryan Properties project manager Dixon Pitt said in an email Wednesday that management met with residents this week and agreed to keep the theater open until early 2020.
“That will give them more time to dig into additional information and begin a fundraising campaign,” Pitt wrote.
A fundraising campaign allowed a new group to take over ownership of the Chelsea Theater in Chapel Hill in 2018, switching the business model to a non-profit and hosting independent films and adding film-related discussions.
There is no word on any official fundraising campaign underway for the Lumina.
This would be sad.