Wauwatosa neighbors plan to discuss creating community-led nonprofit to reopen Rosebud Cinema

 

WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) ---- The doors at Rosebud Cinema have been shut since the pandemic but the community wants to see them open again.

The theater is located on North Avenue in Wauwatosa near 68th Street. It's a bustling area with many other businesses around but Rosebud sits empty.

Rosebud is owned by Barczak and Neighborhood Theater Group. The owners also own Times Cinema and The Avalon Theater in Milwaukee. Rosebud is nearly 100 years old, and the building means a lot to the community. "Local chain. It's a single screen theater that's existed in Wauwatosa for many decades," said Wauwatosa District 1 Alderman Andrew Meindl. Worker shortages over the years have been a strain on the owners and the pandemic ultimately closed Rosebud's doors.

A group of community members are hoping to get creative to keep the theater around. While there are no plans to reopen the theater right now, a community meeting will be held next month to discuss the possibility of forming a non-profit that would allow the community to take ownership of the theater.

"I'm a big believer in something called mutual aid. Usually, it involves emergency management but mutual aid in this context is where the community comes together and helps each other and, in this case, helps a business or a facility foster and bloom in the community," said Meindl.

He says it's worth the effort because losing this landmark would be a shame. “When you have vacant storefronts in the community, that does impact economic activity.... So, you want to make sure every storefront is as active as possible," Meindl said.

The community member organizing the effort to reopen the theater declined to do an interview for this story.

The next community meeting on the matter is set for Sept. 9 at 1pm inside the theater. Interest has been so overwhelming that organizers had to close the RSVP list because they have already hit capacity.