Photo by Walker Evans.

While most moviegoers were out at the big cineplexes watching The Force Awakens during the holidays, one small local independent theater closed up its doors without out much notice. The owners of the Grandview Theatre put a “closed” sign up on their marquee at 1247 Grandview Avenue and posted a brief message of closure on their website on December 26th, along with a list of all films shown between December 4th, 2009 (Everybody’s Fine) and December 11th, 2016 (Trumbo).

While the theater originally opened in 1926, the current iteration was launched in 2009 by Jennifer Stancel and David Nedrow, who reopened the business following the closure of The Drexel Grandview in 2008. The duo invested approximately $250,000 in renovations to modernize and re-open the theater, but additional issues have caused the theater to struggle financially.

“Sadly, the costs to maintain and operate the theatre are multiplying faster than we can keep up,” stated the owners on a GoFundMe campaign that launched in May 2015. “We’re asking for your help during this difficult time.”

The GoFundMe had a target goal of $75,000, but only $4,405 was raised.

Grandview cinephiles won’t have to wait too long for a replacement through. Studio 35 owner Eric Brembeck is in the process of taking over the business with plans to re-open sometime in late winter or early spring. Brembeck has kept details of the project fairly vague at this point, opting to reveal renovation information at a later date.