Business & Tech
Mahwah Family Leading Fight to Save Ramsey Movie Theater
The family has started a Kickstarter campaign that has raised nearly $70,000 in 28 days. However, they need to raise another $55,000 over the next week in order to receive any of the money.
When the Ramsey Cinema on Main Street in the borough was sold earlier this year, it's fate remained in limbo.
Since the beginning of the month, Mahwah residents Laura and Dave Rose, and their business partner Karen Emmert - who all own Planet Swirl next door to the theater - have been trying to raise the funds necessary to convert the theater to a new mandatory digital platform and keep it open as a cinema.
The trio started an online Kickstarter fundraising campaign on Oct. 1. If they can raise $125,000 by Nov. 4, they will be able to keep the money, and use it to renovate the theater's screens.
"We only have 7 days left," Laura Rose said in a note to Patch Tuesday. "We have raised just over $70,000 in 28 days. The program ends on November 4, and we must hit $125,000 in order to be funded."
Laura, a mother of four, says she's been trying to get the word out throughout the Mahwah and Ramsey communities about helping donate to the cause since deciding to take over the theater after it was sold in September.
Hala Alain, the owner of S.H.E. salon two doors down from the theater, purchased the property from theater owner Peter Vivian, in hopes of expanding her business. However, after a public outcry to save the theater, she agreed to lease it to the froyo shop owners if they could raise the funds to keep it open.
The theater is facing a mandatory digital conversion, which all movie theaters must complete by the end of the year.
Rose said she hopes they can raise the money through a community effort.
Check out the Ramsey Cinema Kickstarter Campaign here.
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