Colusa Theatre officially closes doors

Show’s over, folks; a new marquee sign reading “Thanks for the Memories” was placed this week to mark the official closure of the Colusa Theatre.

Mike Wilkinson, the building’s owner of 20 years, did not return requests for comment on the theater’s closure. However, a sign above the theater door also reads “For sale or lease” – meaning someone in the community could opt to resurrect the theater.

There’s no information about potential buyers.

Wilkinson started managing the historic movie theater back in 1996, one year after it had been closed. Prior to his stewardship, the theater had been operating in Colusa for 64 years. The theater initially opened after the department store originally in the building closed up shop in the 1930s.

In the early 2000s, Wilkinson started running into financial trouble with the theater. According to Appeal-Democrat archives, the theater stopped making money when movie studios adjusted the pay scale – moviegoers were charged more to see new releases, but now all movies cost the same.

Before the industry changed its strategy, Wilkinson was able to make ends meet by playing older movies between larger releases. The new prices negatively affected his profit, and attendance rates started to plummet.

Wilkinson also encountered problems as new technology was incorporated into films; his projector was unable to play some of the new releases. Faced with the possibility of closure, the community of Colusa rallied together to buy Wilkinson a new projector through various fundraisers.

The idea was to help keep the theater open. On Nov. 1 of last year, Wilkinson announced via Facebook that the Colusa movie theater was closing, and interested parties should contact him about acquiring the building.