Anonymous donor gives over $5 million to effort to save West Newton Cinema

The effort to save the West Newton Cinema took a big step closer to reality this week.

An anonymous donor gave $5.2 million to help purchase and renovate the 87-year-old movie theater, according to the West Newton Cinema Foundation, a nonprofit formed by residents to save the theater from demolition. The Boston Globe first reported the gift Monday.

Elizabeth Heilig, the president of the West Newton Cinema Foundation, says $3 million of the donation will go toward the group's primary — and most time-sensitive — goal of raising $5.6 million to buy the theater. As part of an agreement with the local real estate developer that bought the theater in 2022, the foundation has until Aug. 10 to raise that money.

"We do not quite have enough money for the purchase itself yet, but we are drawing close to that," Heilig said.

Heilig said they had raised about $400,000 from over 700 grassroots donations prior to this recent gift. To fill the remaining gap, the foundation is pivoting to recruit other big donors.

In total, the West Newton Cinema Foundation wants to raise $14 million to buy, renovate and operate the theater. According to Heilig, $2 million of this week's donation will match funds to encourage others to donate to the effort. The other $200,000 are unrestricted funds to "help us with fundraising and setting up the operation of the cinema," she said.

Beyond buying the theater, the foundation plans to restore the lobby to its "former glamour" and upgrade the theater's seats, projectors, speakers and accessibility, according to Heilig. They plan to begin renovation work as early as 2025, while keeping the theater open "the entire time."

"One of the great things about a movie theater operations is that most of the action happens after 4 p.m., so we'll be able to phase the work in the morning and keep the theater open for business in the evening," she said.

Prior to 2022, the theater had been operated by the Bramante family for over four decades. However, the COVID pandemic forced them to sell the building that houses the theater to Newton-based Mark Development, which agreed not to redevelop the property if the family could find a nonprofit to keep the theater running. The foundation began its fundraising campaign in April 2023 and plans to take over operations from Bramante if they're able to buy the theater, according to the Globe.

Heilig says saving the cinema means a lot to Newton-area residents, many of whom have been catching flicks there since they were kids. (The building is also a rare local example of Streamline Moderne style of Art Deco architecture.)

"Older residents of town remember what it was like when it was a single-screen, 1,200-seat theatre," she said. "Younger folks remember what it was like in the '70s and '80s when it was first multi-plexed. And people have childhood memories of coming here with their friends."

Saving the theater would also mean preserving access to independent and international films in Newton and its surrounding Boston suburbs, Heilig added. The foundation plans to continue to focus on festivals and its recent "Behind the Screen" expert panels.

"The Cinema shows films that you can't see at mainstream theaters," she said.