I came across a fundraising drive on IndieGoGo yesterday and am spreading the word here so that we can hopefully help the Towne Cinema in West Liberty KY out a bit. The town was hard hit in March by a tornado, and the cinema sustained a lot of damage.

Here’s the story from Towne Cinema owner Chris Ball:

My name is Chris Ball and my wife Tammy and I own and operate the Towne Cinema movie theater in West Liberty, KY. On March 2nd our hometown of West Liberty, KY was devastated by an EF3 tornado. Along with 90% of the local businesses, our theater was ravaged as well. I’m doing my very best to ask Hollywood, whether it be actors/actresses, movie companies, cinema industry, musical artists, etc, to help us rebuild our little hometown theater. I’m hoping you will take the time to read the below letter, and maybe help us out in ANY way you can think of, and hopefully forward this letter on through the channels into the music, radio and/or film industry. Our little theater has been through so much, as well being one of the very few venues that would host local bands as well as be a location for fundraisers by local organizations and school clubs.  Here is a letter that we have written in an attempt to get help…

The Towne Cinema has been the place to see movies in West Liberty, KY for 40 years. Placed at the intersection of its two busiest streets, Towne Cinema looked extremely tiny at 591 Main Street; a small 8 foot box office. But once you bought your ticket and entered the door, a set of stairs awaited you. And when you descended down you entered into one of the rarest theaters on the planet Earth: an underground theater. That all changed on March 2nd, 2012.

 Around 5:37 PM an EF3 tornado touched down in Menifee County, a neighboring county of Morgan, and began its path towards West Liberty. At 5:47 PM it had landed within city limits and literally followed the most populated street in West Liberty and left a path of destruction. With hundreds of buildings damaged, the Towne Cinema could not escape its path. Although the theater was underground, the Towne Cinema could not escape. The emergency exit doors were blown open and debris was blown and scattered throughout the 200 seat auditorium. The box office door was busted open by debris, showering glass all the way into the concessions lobby. Bus shelters were torn from the walls, popcorn tubs and soft drink cups were scattered everywhere. The popcorn door, amusingly, was only blown opened. It also blew the roof off the building above the Towne Cinema, which let the rain that followed the tornado seep through the floors and through the theaters roof, causing damage to everything inside. The total distance this tornado stayed on the ground was 95 miles. Two days later Mother Nature was not finished playing around with the small urban town of West Liberty. Approximately five inches of snow fell, blanketing the debris and hiding the tornado’s wrath. But as the temperatures increased the snow melted away, causing more ceiling tiles to become heavy and eventually fall inside the theater.

The March 2nd EF3 tornado took out all but four restaurants. It struck all the government buildings and offices. It devastated almost all of the local banks. And it also struck the Towne Cinema. “We don’t own the building but own the equipment, and everything inside suffered water damage because it blew the roof off the building above us and the rain and melted snow seeped through their floor and down into our roof. We are 99% certain that the building will be demolished and we have begun, and almost finished with, salvaging what we could.” says co-owner Chris Ball.

Towne Cinema is no stranger to disasters; in the 1990′s a fire broke out in a local building. Fire never got inside, but the smoke and tons of water thrown on the buildings collapsed the ceiling and flowed into the auditorium, creating a three foot pool. Towne Cinema owners Chris and Tammy Ball have owned and operated the Towne Cinema for two and a half years, purchasing the theater from the late Lanny & Scottye Franklin on June 1 2009. When not running the theater, Chris is also a 911 Telecommunicator with the West Liberty Police Department. The Towne Cinema is located in the heart of West Liberty, KY, and was constructed in 1971 and went operational on Thanksgiving Eve in 1972. It’s a brick and mortar theater; and to the owners knowledge one of only two underground theaters in North America. The projector is over 50 years old, an old Century projector, with a Christie lamphouse. The Towne Cinema projector takes you back in time before the creation of platter systems or digital cinema.

“Our intent is to purchase a lot in our little home town and put a three screen theater with an arcade and maybe some pool tables. I don’t care if we make one red cent; our community needs a way to escape the tragedy our county and community suffered in a way that only movie magic can provide. We’ve located the ground and have begun paperwork with FEMA and SBA to get this project rolling. Our mission right now is to contact as many movie companies and businesses that cater and design cinema equipment, from the screen to the projector to the seating, and see if there is any aid or equipment we could get donated for us to rebuild.  So far we have been turned down by both the SBA and FEMA.”

“We wanted to so desperately replace our old equipment because it is long overdue to retire: the projector, screen, sound system, concession equipment, the seats in the auditorium; we want our community to be able to enjoy and to take pride in an all new theater. The equipment was used when the original owners started the Towne Cinema in ’72, the projector coming out of the old Wolfe County Drive-In. Before all this happened, we had begun to host fundraisers to help pay for the upgrade costs for a new digital projector. Now we need a whole new theater. Our community needs a place where they can let their mind escape from the tragedy and devastation we’ve all suffered and enjoy the best of what Hollywood has to offer. And people are already asking us: when are you reopening? We keep hearing from the community that we are the ONLY thing that our children has besides the local community center gym, and right now it is boarded up due to the damage from the EF3 tornado; the roof is laying in the gymnasium. And with a larger multi-screen theater, we can compete with theaters in the surrounding area and be large enough to have an arcade so we can be a safe haven for Morgan County’s youth. We’re just hoping the film industry will give us a helping hand. After all, it’s little theaters like ours around the country that has helped them become what they are now.”

The Towne Cinema owners would be very appreciative of any help the cinema industry and community can offer. Thanks to you, and everyone else, who took the time to read our letter. If you would like to make a monetary donation please go to www.indiegogo.com/townecinema or if you would like to mail your donation you can do so at: Towne Cinema, 591 Main St, West Liberty, KY 41472. Again, thank you so very much.

Please click the above link to go to their IndieGoGo page and check out the damage and make a donation – Chris and Tammy and the whole community of West Liberty need YOUR help to bring their little cinema back to life, and together we can help them get back to the business of showing movies in the not too distant future!

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