Gotham City: Midtown Cinema Project

Gotham City:
Telling Tales of Our Capital Region’s Politics

by Frank Pizzoli

Midtown Cinema Project

Finally Approved By City Council, Theater Loan Sets New Rules

In its first major neighborhood development project decided under new rules governing Capital Projects Fund expenditures, Harrisburg City Council Tuesday unanimously approved a 30-year, three percent interest loan of $250,000 to Midtown Market District (MMD) for development of 250 Reily Street into an independent movie theater.

Dubbed "City Cinema and Merchant Magnet Program", approval allows MMD to buy, develop, and then lease the property to theater entrepreneur Allen Brown. Also, some rental space will be made available to community-based organizations.

Council The total project includes three movie theaters, a gallery, plus additional space, and is expected to cost $423,034, according to MMD records. With council’s final approval of the loan, the rules by which city funds will be used for private and public partnerships have been set.

As background, about one year ago council changed the way it approves expenditures under the city’s CPF. Historically, the chief executive, currently Mayor Stephen Reed, sent one "ordinance" to council listing all fund expenditures. "There could be a hundred requests on there, from street projects to computers," said Oscar Douglas, Harrisburg City Clerk. "Council would approve one big list. Never to be seen again," he explained. After learning that it was the proud owner of an $11 million Civil War inventory, council passed legislation requiring that Mayor Reed, or any future chief executive, submit proposed expenditures on a one-by-one basis.

So, after hearing from MMD’s Todd Shill, lead tactician behind luring Brown to relocate his entertainment venue to midtown, that Brown was interested in relocating his theater to Harrisburg, Reed asked council for a $250,000 "grant". The funds will assist MMD with developing the Reily Shill Street site and, in the process, cajole Brown into opening what is now being called "City Cinema". Brown closed his Palmyra theater last fall when his landlord decided on different uses for the space. While there, he drew many Harrisburg residents to his non-commercial style of film.

Knowing that scores of city residents drove to Palmyra, as well as Philadelphia, Baltimore, and elsewhere to view independent film, MMD principals began the process of developing a plan to bring the venue into midtown. Finalizing significant projects within city limits takes a long time — about 15 years each for the Hilton Towers & Hotel and Whitaker Center. The theater proposal was shot out of a cannon and finalized, at least the loan portion, in about one year’s time. "This should be clear indication of the neighborhood support this project has," said one MMD business owner who requested anonymity, knowing that the discussions that took place this past year ruffled more than a few feathers.

Discussions coalesced around two goals: (1) how to develop the Reily Street property — which Rite Aid founder Alex Grass has agreed to sell for a low $45,000 instead of the actual $145,000 market value, and (2) hopefully convince Brown to relocate his popular film venue, already supported by many city residents, to midtown. Over the course of the discussions, and what seemed like endless meetings, a number of topics emerged either in public or back alley via a relentless chattering of innuendo and opinion. The yearlong discussions among City Council, Mayor Reed, Midtown Market District representatives, and other interested stakeholders proved interesting.

City Council members felt that to award a "grant" to any one group would create a situation they could not support nor sustain. "How can we decide to give money to one group and not another down the road? What about the next ten groups who approach us," said council president Richard House, when explaining his position to MODE for the recent Election Issue Pullout Section.

Mayor Reed in a public ribbon-cutting ceremony in midtown summarized the situation as one of perceptions. He said that the project was perceived as a giveaway to a combined white, yuppie, gay neighborhood in an otherwise African-American neighborhood and city.

City Councilman John Wright, when asked about his position, said firmly that if he were white, he wouldn’t be asked why he was making his decision to work for a loan rather than a grant. He characterized his actions as "good business" having nothing to do with race perceptions.

Fred Clark, now with Mellon Bank and short-term executive at the Harrisburg Parking Authority, reports that his African-American colleagues criticized him for standing up at a council meeting and supporting the project. ‘Uncle Tom’ was the expression he used in describing the reaction he received. "You can’t always point your finger and cry racism about everything," Clark said.

Shill reassured — over and over — that the theater was not planning to screen pornographic films or exclusively gay films. Those who already support independent film know that it is an eclectic blend of good storytelling, relies less on technology and special effects, and, by its very nature, is a wonderful portrayal of the human parade in all its multicultural manifestations. Those who are fearful of the movies’ content can simply attend and decide for themselves.

Regardless of what happened along the way, there are two important outcomes: We have set the rules under which the city’s Capital Projects Funds will be used, namely, on a business-minded basis with tough scrutiny of details, ample time for discussions no matter how sensitive the issues. No giveaways to pet groups.

The second outcome is more immediately exciting — we will soon have a gem in the city’s cap. Working together, midtown merchants can bring much needed traffic to North Third Street – that’s why the words "and Merchant Magnet Program" were added to the project name. Businesses now have a reason to stay open longer and later, market themselves intelligently and cooperatively as an "entertainment corridor". Perhaps new business will open on North 3rd Street because the theater will serve as an anchor. Volunteers, elected officials, city employees, Alex Grass, and a host of other supporters have done their homework. Midtown business owners must now take the test, face the fact that the fantasy of a "destination point" is now a reality — and act accordingly.