The Byrd Theatre Foundation has voted against accepting a donation of seats from The Grand Théâtre Lumière, the main theater for the Cannes Film Festival.

As Brent Baldwin reported in March:

The deal was brokered by Pierre-William Glenn, president of the Commission Supérieure Technique (CST) de l'Image et du Son, which awards the Prix Vulcain de l'Artiste Technicien for technical achievement at Cannes. Many of the same French technicians from Cannes help stage the French Film Festival, and Glenn has been a frequent speaker at the Byrd. Impressed by the theater, Glenn once made a short film about the connection between the Byrd and the French film industry.

One of the seats was displayed at the recent French Film Festival.

But the deal hasn't come to fruition. Melissa Savenko, president of the Byrd Theatre Foundation, confirms the nonprofit board's decision. She says the foundation will elaborate on its plans in a press release later today. We'll have an update on Styleweekly.com.

Update, 6 p.m.: The Byrd Theatre Foundation has released a statement expanding on its its decision:

“We remain unbelievably humbled at this grand gesture, as well as honored by the great lengths so many individuals went through to get the offer on the table,” said Melissa Savenko, Foundation President. “Ultimately our decision was based on the significant out-of-pocket expense to the Foundation, as well as the uncertainty regarding the possible impact on the historic tax credits, which are critical to the Theatre's restoration.” After meeting with the festival leadership following the French Film Festival, the Byrd Theatre Foundation had a window of two weeks to decide whether or not to accept 1,200 seats, to be used on a temporary basis until original seating can be replaced. The Grand Théâtre Lumière will begin disassembling and replacing seats after the Cannes Festival ends, May 25. The impact on pending restoration plans, the logistical barriers and the existing timeline with respect to historic tax credits were cited as the biggest concerns. Additionally, the costs associated with the removal and storage of the original seats, as well as the costs of installation of the Cannes seats, were major contributing factors in to the Board’s decision. The seats from the Grand Théâtre Lumière are constructed with a center bracket, versus the Byrd’s current model using brackets on either side. The installation of these seat brackets poses potential risk in damaging the floor.

The foundation says it expects overall restoration to be complete by 2017, and will release a formal plan within 60 days.

Update, May 9, 12:30 p.m.: In previous reporting, we attributed a $1.3 million cost associated with the Byrd Theatre seats to French Film Festival co-founder Peter Kirkpatrick. That was inaccurate. In clarifying that figure with Style today, Kirkpatrick says it would cost $1.3 million to manufacture the Byrd Theatre seats today. That number comes from a manufacturer that was provided with a sample chair from the Byrd Theatre, he says.

There appears to be no exact estimate available on the total cost of the Cannes donation, which would include such expenses as dismantling, packaging and shipping. The seats would be considered at a gift value of zero for tax-reporting purposes, but the declared value for customs clearing would be between $200,000 and $300,000.

Update, May 12, 10 a.m.: The French Film Festival has responded to the decision of the Byrd Foundation with the following press release, shown here in its entirety: