page_title: Rosendale Theatre
section_title: Preservation campaign
hierarchical_section_title: Rosendale Theatre / History / Preservation campaign
caption_attribution_description: English: An old vending machine that dispenses candy, in the Rosendale Theatre lobby.
context_page_description: The Rosendale Theatre is a three-story, 260-seat movie theater and performance venue in Rosendale Village, a hamlet and former village in the town of Rosendale in Ulster County, New York. The building was opened as a casino in 1905, and began showing films in the 1920s. By the 1930s, a stage had been installed for live vaudeville and burlesque acts. The casino was eventually taken over by the local government, and used to house the town's fire department.
  A tile setter, Anthony Cacchio Sr., rented the building in 1949 and converted it into a movie theater; it opened on February 18, 1949 with a screening of the film Blood on the Moon. Cacchio owned the building outright by the mid-1950s. During this time, a severe flood damaged the Theatre's interior, and all the equipment had to be replaced. In its early years, the Theatre showed about 300 different movies each year, making it unpopular with film distributors. Denied easy access to first run films, the Theatre turned to independent movies and art films, and eventually began exhibiting live performances.
context_section_description: The unexpected November 2008 death of Rocco Cacchio prompted the family to sell the business. In November 2009, a real estate developer offered to purchase the Theatre from the Cacchios, who sought between $400,000 and $500,000 for the property. A private local group, the Rosendale Theatre Collective (RTC), had formed in October 2009 to purchase and preserve the Theatre. The RTC was advised by a committee of 17 people, which included actors Aidan Quinn, David Strathairn, Melissa Leo, Denny Dillon, Mandy Patinkin, radio personality Bruce Morrow, screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, and author Kim Wozencraft.
  The group planned to raise a total of $100,000 for a down payment on the Theatre before a March 15, 2010 deadline, raising $13,000 by December 9, and reaching $25,000 by December 18. New York State Assemblyman Kevin Cahill indicated support for the group in his January 2010 newsletter. Cahill had enjoyed the Theatre as a child, and urged the RTC to "hang onto the vintage candy machine at all costs".
  The Cacchios expressed a desire to sell the Theatre to the RTC rather than to developers, because the RTC consisted of friends of the family and other residents whom the Cacchios trusted to maintain and preserve the Theatre. To make the transfer of ownership easier, the Cacchios agreed to continue operating the Theatre until such a deal could be reached, and to assist in the operation of the Theatre after its sale to the RTC. By late February 2010 the RTC had raised $45,000, and needed to reach a total of $600,000. After a down payment of $160,000, and paying the full cost of the property, the remaining funds would cover renovations to the building. Over $8,000 was raised in a silent auction on February 28. More than 100 people attended the auction, including Congressman Maurice Hinchey.
  By March 2010 the RTC had been approved as a 501(c) nonprofit organization. The group managed to raise between $55,000 and $80,000, less than half the amount required for the down payment, and the deadline was extended to May 15. A benefit on March 28 was expected to raise $5,000. One local newspaper, the Blue Stone Press, speculated that the RTC's 501(c) status would benefit the group financially. New York Times reporter Peter Applebome, feeling that "[o]ne of the best barometers of whether a small town has a pulse is the [condition of its] old downtown movie house", speculated that the effort to preserve the Theatre bode well for Rosendale.
  The RTC entered the Pepsi Refresh Project on March 1, hoping to receive between $5,000 and $25,000 during the April competition. Created by PepsiCo in 2010 as a way to distribute $33 million that would otherwise fund its Super Bowl ads, the contest sought to provide funding for community projects. The ten projects receiving the most votes would each receive $50,000 grants. By April, the RTC was courting large institutions, such as IBM, for funding. Other planned activities designed to raise funds in April and May were a series of potlucks, a writing workshop, a music benefit, an online auction, and a screening of rare 1970s films at activist Jay Blotcher's house. Most of the RTC's funding came from individual donations between $25 and $100, and roughly 60 fundraisers were held in total.
  The Theatre outpaced 362 other Pepsi Refresh entrants, and was in first place by the middle of April. The RTC attributed its success in the contest to its use of social networking services, notably Facebook. The group considered moving to a digital projector with the forthcoming grant to replace the existing projector, an expected cost of $100,000. By late May, the group had won the April competition and was waiting for the Pepsi funds, before tendering a down payment on the Theatre, initially planned for June 10. The closing date of the sale was pushed back to allow time to finalize the deal. In mid-June, the Playback Theatre planned a benefit for the RTC in which improv actors would perform skits based on audience members' stories of experiences they had at the Theatre.
caption: The Theatre's vending machine, installed shortly after the 1955 flood; Assemblyman Kevin Cahill urged its preservation
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