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Silver screen to shine once again at Sylvia Theater

The silver screen at York's Sylvia Theater is coming back to life.

For the first time in more than 30 years, films will again be shown at the North Congress Street theater, starting later this summer.

"In a lot of small towns like York, the movie theater was literally the center of the town's social life," said Sylvia owner Paul Finnican. "People have been telling me they're tired of having to drive 20 or 30 miles to watch a movie. I believe it can work here."

Finnican, who restored and opened the Sylvia three years ago as a music hall, said he will continue to showcase live music. But there will be more emphasis on the movies during the week and possible weekend matinees. The theater is currently closed for a second phase of renovations to improve acoustics and to install a retractable movie screen and projection equipment. Finnican originally spent more than $200,000 restoring the 4,800-square-foot building and installing 200 seats. He estimates the movie equipment would cost $30,000.

Thirty years ago, practically every small town in the region -- Clover, Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Chester, Shelby, Gastonia, Monroe and Lancaster -- had a single-screen movie theater. Usually, it was the only one in town and it dominated the town's main street on Saturday nights.

However, by the early 1970s, small-town main streets were hit hard with the exodus to the suburbs and strip malls and ... massive multiscreen movie theaters. Theaters like the Sylvia became like the centerpiece in Peter Bogdanovich's film "The Last Picture Show" and closed.

Why does Finnican believe he can buck prevailing trends and succeed with a single-screen movie theater?

Because of a mixture of small-town nostalgia and an evolving marketing niche.

Plus, the Charlotte banker has discovered that entrepreneurs in other small towns have begun successfully restoring single-screens.

Earlier last week, Finnican visited the Pal Theatre in Louisville, Ga., about an hour west of Augusta.

"If you have a small town with an old single-screen theater that can be restored and people are driving 30 minutes or more for a movie, you can probably make it work," said Bryan Machalk, who also operates a theater in Sandersville, Ga.

Contrary to what you might think, Machalk does not resort to obscure, B-grade films shown at "dollar-flick" shows like "Rottweiler in 3-D." He's currently showing "Shrek 2" and the new Harry Potter film. Next week: "Spider-Man 2."

"To compete with the multiplexes, you have to provide what the people want with their movies -- pizza, burgers, beer, wine, whatever," said Machalk. "It's hard for a couple to find the time to go out for dinner and movie. So we combine them. ... It's a challenge to serve everyone during an hour-and-20-minute movie, but it can be done."

Steve Newton is president of Cinevision, an Atlanta film equipment company that supplies movie theaters. Newton has visited the Sylvia and is working with Finnican.

"These days, I probably get three to four calls a week from someone in the Southeast who is considering reopening a small town, single-screen theater," Newton said. "It's a fairly narrow niche. ... You'd never build a single-screen in an urban area. But in these small towns, if you're able to find an old movie theater at the right price, you can make a go of it."

Finnican plans to have the Sylvia reopened and showing movies in time for York's Summerfest on Aug. 28. He plans to add items like pizza and hot dogs at the snack bar.

He's also considering other angles such as combining film and music and possibly creating a York Film Society to show different genres or feature the films of directors such as Ingmar Bergman or Sam Peckinpah.

• "We had Richie Havens here recently, maybe we can have him back and this time, feature the Woodstock film and then have him step out from behind the screen and play his song `Freedom.' "

Finnican also mentioned showing the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and maybe have a bluegrass musician who performed in the film.

• "If I could get someone to manage a film society and book films, I think a film society could be a great idea. Maybe every other Tuesday they could show a vintage or historic film. I feel like there's enough interest for something like this, particularly if we could draw people in from Rock Hill and Gastonia."

Finnican says he loves bringing the Sylvia back to life and is looking for ways to bring people back inside the theater that was darkened for over a quarter century.

"Contact me at the Sylvia," he said "We have a great small-town theater. I want to hear from the community on how we can best make it work."

Want to Know More?

Visit the Sylvia's Web site at http://sylviatheater.com or 
e-mail info@sylvia theater.com.

or call the Sylvia at (803) 684-5590, anytime.

Dan Huntley - Charlotte Observer