COBOURG - Owner Ken Prue's rent arrears on the Northumberland Mall Theatres have resulted in the movie house being closed.
"I arrived at the theatre 20 minutes ago and saw a bailiff's notice that the theatre is closed until further notice," Prue told Northumberland Today at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
"The locks have been changed, and I have received notice that I will have five days to go in and remove my business and personal effects.
"The locks have been changed, and I have received notice that I will have five days to go in and remove my business and personal effects.
"I have been trying to do refinancing to carry on, but I haven't succeeded," he sadly allowed.
Since coming to run Cobourg's only movie theatre about two and a half years ago, Prue has been struck by the changing state of the industry and the many challenges it faces. Now he's getting an unwelcome firsthand look.
He said he had been current with his rent, but began falling behind within the past few months.
"I have been struggling to make this work, but I haven't been about to generate enough money to do everything," he said.
"I owe my landlord some back rent, but only for 2014. I have made a proposal to pay them off over a period of time, but they declined. I was in the process of drafting a second proposal when they put a bailiff's notice on the theatre. They have changed the locks.
"I have indicated to the bailiff that I actually wanted to operate the business and find a solution that will let me operate the business. I am hopeful there is one out there.
"I love operating this business for Northumberland and, while business has been hard, I have been trying to find a way to keep carrying on and I would still like to do that. I know this theatre is an appreciated asset in the community, and I'll do my darnedest to try to figure out how to meet my obligations in such a way that I can continue to operate this movie house for the people of Northumberland."
Bayfield Realty Advisors are the latest of a string of owners Northumberland Mall has had over its 25-year lifespan, Prue said.
Bayfield owns about 13 malls across Canada, Prue continued, many of them distressed malls. But while the economy in general is bleak, he added, Cobourg's is uniquely bleak.
And Northumberland Mall is in rough shape. With Zellers gone and another 13 storefronts vacant, he estimates that translates to a vacancy rate of more than 50% for leasable space.
"I don't benefit from a lot of traffic. I am basically the traffic generator for the mall," Prue said.
Property manager Paul Kiidumae said Bayfield has tried to work with Prue as these troubles developed — even, at one point, bringing in another operator to work with him and give him advice.
"We tried to help as much as we could," he said.
In the end, Kiidumae said, Bayfield did not consider that Prue followed through on his promises sufficiently. Given that the landlord has a responsibility to investors, he said, the situation could not go on.
"They decided to terminate the lease and see if we can't find another operator to take over," Kiidumae said.
Given that the equipment on the premises does belong to Prue, he agreed that a new operator would have to bring in his or her own equipment. Prue has stated that, if no arrangement can be worked out with the landlord, he plans to take his equipment with him.
"I have an appointment time with the bailiff to do that, which gives me a few short days to make an arrangement — or else I pull my projectors, servers and movie gear out, and that's it for movies in Cobourg.
"It makes me really sad to say that. I am really passionate about cinema, and entertaining families and older people particularly. I have been doing that in Cobourg for almost 12 years on a not-for-profit basis separately from owning this theatre, so I hope I can find a solution.
"If I can't, I'll take what I can of my equipment with my tail between my legs and go home, I guess."
And at this point, Kiidumae said, "the lease is officially legally terminated. Should Ken come up with a plan that is acceptable, they would have to renew the lease at that time."
