ST. LOUIS — Cinema St. Louis, the local nonprofit behind annual film events including the St. Louis International Film Festival, said Thursday that it is buying the Hi-Pointe Theatre.
The movie theater, located at 1005 McCausland Ave. in the Hi-Pointe neighborhood along the city of St. Louis' western edge, opened in 1922 and has been owned by the family of George and Georgia James since 1977. The Jameses' daughter Diana Grayson and her husband, Bill Grayson, currently run the operation, according to the theater's website.
CSL said Thursday that it plans to buy the theater as its new base of operations and programming starting in January 2023. Terms of the sale weren't disclosed.
The nonprofit didn't immediately respond to a request for more information about the purchase and if it will affect CSL's current offices at the Centene Center for the Arts, at 3547 Olive St. in the Covenant Blu-Grand Center neighborhood.
The Hi-Pointe Theatre is the oldest continually operating, single-screen movie theater in the St. Louis area. (The Lincoln Theatre in downtown Belleville, owned by Sandy and Dave Schoenborn, is a three-screen, first-run movie house, built in 1921.) The Hi-Pointe Theatre also is the only locally owned and continuously-operating so-called "arthouse" theater here, CSL officials said in a press release.
CSL said in the release that it's presented programming for more than 30 years when it's "been able to secure venues." Buying the Hi-Pointe Theatre "would allow the organization to offer diverse, year-round programming and affordable experiences in the most continual and sustainable manner possible," officials said.
Read the full story on the St. Louis Business Journal website.
