Criterion Theater in Bar Harbor Sold [UPDATE]

One of Bar Harbor's historic landmarks was sold today, as the Criterion Theater in Bar Harbor was sold by Erin Early Ward. The sale was brokered by The Swan Agency Sotheby's International Realty.

One of the principles in the new ownership group is  Michael Boland, and the group that purchased the Criterion is The Bar Harbor Jazz Festival.

Below is the press release we received from Michael Boland on Sunday afternoon, October 12th.

Great news for Mount Desert Island – the Criterion Theatre has been sold to a not-for-profit group that intends to restore it to its’ all original 1932 glory.

The restoration will happen over the next 6 months (mimicking the original, amazingly short time of its original construction period of 6 months) and the brand new (but old) Criterion Theatre will re-open for films, dance, music, theatre and anything else the community deems of interest in May of 2015.

The Bar Harbor Jazz Festival, a 501c3 arts organization founded by Michael Boland in 2002, was the recipient of an extremely generous donation from a foundation controlled by a summer resident.

It enabled us to purchase the theatre outright, leaving no debt, create a small endowment, and renovate the property.  Michael Boland, former owner of the Criterion, is the President of the board and is joined by Bill Ferm, Shane Ellis, and Richard Cleary amongst others.

Mr. Boland will be working with a General Contractor to manage the renovation, which starts Monday morning, October 13^th,  with a full mold remediation by Eastern Mold.   The board will be hiring an Executive Director, and set the path for the next 80 years and more for our community gem.

The current plan is to be open year round – 7 nights/week for 6 months and 4-5 nights/week for the other 6 months.  We will be featuring mostly movies in the summer but certainly look forward to a smattering of other offerings, including live music, theater, puppet shows, spoken word, dance, and anything else that seems like a good fit.    We have been using a rough tagline of 75%/25% with regards to film vs. other.

We are in need of 2-3 other major donors – at this point we own the property outright, have enough to start a small endowment, hire the director, remediate the mold, buy a digital projector, and finish the basics.  We don’t have enough money for new seats which alone amounts to $350,000 bill.  We hope to identify additional generous folks to get the vast majority of the renovation completed this winter as opposed to in 2 or 3 stages.

Now that the real estate and all other assets are owned outright by a not-for-profit we are confident that any such donations will be put to very good use, protecting this very special place so that it may celebrate its’ centennial and many more birthdays into the future.