Ottawa County news. (Port Clinton, Ohio) 1931-1956, 1955-03-18
IMPORTANCE OF THE THEATRE
TO THE COMMUNITY
reprint from THE Small City Business Man"O

The motion picture theatre has become neces>
sary institution in every community Not only
has it provided amusement and relaxation for the
family; in every town the moving picture theatre
has been the center of community, civic and char
liable activities, continuing source of knowledge
and information supplementing the schools, an
inexpensive method of travel in foreign lands and
an important medium for the dissemination of
safety programs, Government messages and the
sale Of its Securities during Two world Wars, and
in all times of emergency.
Not only has it these accomplishments to its
credit, the local movie theatre has played an inn
portant part in promoting the business welfare
of its community. With its promise of whole
some entertainment for the entire family the
theatre has been the magnet which has attracted
people from all of the surrounding community
into the center Of the town to the greater pros
perity of the towns merchants and the commun>
lty A town or community without a theatre is
a dead town" To realize this it is only neces>
sary to imagine modern community without
motion picture theatre.
A healthy movie business is good for the eco
nomic health of any town because the local movie
hires local towns people for its staff it advertises
IN the local papers, it uses local utilities and ser
vices, pays real estate and other taxes and repre-
sents large local property and equipment invest
ment. In other words the local motion picture
exhibitor although he deals in shadows on a
screen, is Just as much of local merchant as the
corner drug store or automobile dealer whose
merchandise is tangible 1t is a matter of record
that greater proportion of the dollars taken in
at the local movie theatre remains with and is
spent in the community than the dollars taken in
by almost any other business, including automo>
biles fuel, dry goods building materials, appli>
ances and SO forth. All together the movie the
atres in the United States pay out more than
S2OO,0OOO00 annually in salaries and wages
There already is widespread evidence of the
destructive effects every type of business caus>
| ed by the stay>at>home society that TV has been
creating. When movie house is forced by TV
to close down, many another business is forced
to 60 with it. Viz, the following editorial COM
ment from the Feb. "a, 1855 issue of the Coral
Gables (Fla.) Times:
These towns where movie houses didn't
| weather the storm of TV have seen business
| districts dry up after the closing of the the
aires. Unless merchants willing to spend
money TO create their own tOOt traffic 1t will
| always be true that movie houses help draw
considerable amount of the population into
town to take look at window goods
/ And this editorial comment from recent issue
of the newspaper in Clifton, Tex, rejoicing over
the prospective reopening of the picture house at
neighboring Valley Mills:
1T has been dscouraging there to the
/ chants note the lack of cars ON the streets
after dark since their picture show closed,
| especially on Saturday, nights. During this
period of adjustment to the many new TV
sets in Texas, many of the shows have been
| having difficulty in drawing the customers
| they need to carry ON business. But let the
| show close its doors and the other businesses
of thetown Immediately learn how much the
| picture show mean to the town as
| drawing card"
/ The County receives certain proportional the
Ohio State Sales Tax. If the people shopped in
surrounding counties the loss in revenue to the
L