“With this debt-free position, we look forward to being able to invest more funds directly in the building to continue to preserve and restore the theater and the Lamar House,” Bergmeier said. The Lamar House, which comprises the façade and atrium of the Bijou, is the city’s third-oldest building, and the theater was built as an addition to the structure in 1909. In 2017, the theater completed nearly $60,000 in renovations to the iconic marquee sign and blade, the atrium and chandelier of the Lamar House and decorative arches in the auditorium. The venue marked its 100th birthday in 2009 with a celebration that has evolved into an annual event called the Bijou Jubilee. With a healthy board, effective management, stable operations and generous community-wide support, the Bijou Theatre has flourished. “It’s a momentous achievement for the Bijou and our community.” “Thanks to the consistent, steadfast support of donors and community members, as well as the leadership of past and current board members, the Bijou is now in the black and will continue to host art, music and entertainment,” Bergmeier said. Without their help, the theater may not have been able to reopen and achieve this level of financial stability and success 20 years after taking on the $900,000 loan.Īfter a 2006 grand-reopening, Bijou Theatre leadership in many forms has worked to make the venue financially stable while paying off the debt. In 2006, several prominent Knoxvillians agreed to serve as guarantors on the debt in order to help reopen the Bijou Theatre as a viable arts center. In March 2005, then-Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam announced a strategy to ensure that the historic Bijou Theatre remained a community treasure for future generations and helped establish federal support for the theater’s restoration and preservation. The theater’s previous operator mortgaged the theater to meet expenses and keep the doors open, a plan that failed in May 2004 when the Bijou was forced to close. The Bijou Theatre, which is now governed by an active board of directors and managed and operated by AC Entertainment, inherited the $900,000 debt from a mortgage loan dated Sept. “But after several victories and setbacks along the way, we can say with confidence that the Bijou has been saved.” “It’s been a long road to ‘Save the Bijou,’” said Courtney Bergmeier, director of development for the Bijou Theatre, referring to the 1970s campaign that kept the Bijou Theatre and Lamar House from being demolished. The Bijou Theatre, Knoxville’s oldest and most infamous entertainment venue, paid off its longstanding mortgage note, at last closing the book on the theater’s in-the-red status.
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