FilmScene partners with nonprofit foundation to purchase Pedestrian Mall building in Iowa City

IOWA CITY — The show will go on, thanks to a purchase agreement finalized Thursday.

FilmScene, Iowa City’s nonprofit cinema, has purchased its Ped Mall location in partnership with a local nonprofit. The $2.3 million purchase secures the theater’s home at 118 E. College St. after foreclosure proceedings were initiated by GreenState Credit Union against the building’s former owner, Marc Moen, in March.

The deal was made possible thanks to financing from Resilient Sustainable Future for Iowa City (RSFIC), a private nonprofit foundation started by Michal and Riley Eynon-Lynch in 2021.

“This is a momentous day for our organization and the arts ecosystem in Iowa City,” said FilmScene Executive Director and cofounder Andrew Sherburne. “In local ownership of an important cultural space and historic property, we’re taking another big step toward the greatest small city for the arts.”

The purchase agreement will give FilmScene two years to raise a $230,000 down payment, and will finance its purchase with a favorable 5% interest rate — lower than the current market rate, but higher than the rate of inflation. FilmScene will make mortgage payments to RSFIC over the next 20 years.

Sherburne said traditional financing, which would have required a larger down payment and more demanding terms, was not a viable path for FilmScene to purchase the building.

“We knew we didn’t have a lot of time to move on this,” he said.

Since its founding, RSFIC has become known for offering grants supporting neighborhood socialization projects. In financing the cinema’s building purchase, RSFIC cements a new trend in its services.

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In addition to the theater, it has helped finance two houses in Iowa City via AstraCommons, where rents are kept below market rate and tenants have the opportunity to purchase the property themselves. RSFIC has also invested directly in real estate to allow other nonprofits, such as the Wright House of Fashion, to use for free, generating local community value.

The interest rate from FilmScene’s payments would be enough to help fund RSFIC’s neighborhood projects or the salary for another full-time project manager. It also provides the organization a return on investment higher than traditional vehicles, like certificates of deposit.

“There is a lot of Iowa City retirement money and foundation money invested in Wall Street. Think of what we could do if we invested it here,” said Michal, president of RSFIC.

In keeping the money local, the benefits of the nonprofit’s community investments are multiplied, Riley said.

“FilmScene is turning around and giving presentation space and screen time to Public Space One, tenants unions, housing co-ops, and our friends at the roller derby team,” he said. “Everyone we want to help in Iowa City has a place of honor to present themselves in town because of this. Keeping that power concentrated helps our mission in many different ways.”

FilmScene’s purchase and ownership will allow the movie theater organizational stability to enable confidence in long-term investments like physical upgrades, accessibility enhancements and creative expansion. The Ped Mall location invested heavily in new projection systems, improved seating and lobby enhancements in 2021.

The new move also empowers FilmScene to continue its “five screen” programming vision, which ensures a diverse range of 450 films that incorporate both major releases and independent films. Amid a landscape of corporate-owned chains of movie theaters across much of the country, FilmScene is an anomaly in an industry that has faced large-scale consolidation.

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“As a real American tradition, those movie theaters were part of the public sphere. Going to movies was a way to see your neighbors and engage with the community,” Sherburne told The Gazette. “That has changed, I think. Part of FilmScene’s mission is to do something about that.”

That means being a hub where residents can be in community with one another, he said.

The purchase finalizes FilmScene’s independence throughout Iowa City. Sherburne said the cinema also owns its other space at The Chauncey, 404 E College St., Unit 100.

The organizations will celebrate the purchase with an open house on Aug. 14 from 4 to 6 p.m. at 118 E. College St. The free event will be open to the public.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.

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