Iowa City to give $75,000 to downtown cinema

Gregg Hennigan

Mar. 5, 2014 10:08 am

The City Council Tuesday night voted unanimously to give $75,000 to a nonprofit organization that runs a movie theater in downtown Iowa City.

FilmScene opened a 70-seat art-house cinema last fall at 118 E. College St. The council voted to give it $35,000 next fiscal year and $25,000 and $15,000 the two years after that, respectively.

FilmScene is projecting a net loss of $179,000 the next three years before it starts to turn a profit.

The organization wants to eventually move the cinema to a

high-rise building proposed for the eastern edge of downtown.

The entrance to FilmScene on the pedestrian mall is shown on Friday, September, 27, 2013 at 118 E. College Street, Iowa City, Iowa. (Adam Wesley/The Gazette)