Linton —
New life is being breathed into a defunct movie theater in downtown Linton, but not as a place to watch shows on the big screen.
Instead of a movie theater, the former Cine Theatre on Main Street in the southern Greene County town will become a enior housing complex with an exercise studio, hair salon, computer center and more.
The Cine is “just a really cool building that’s been a fixture in Linton for a very long time,” said Jeff Doris, developer of the project with his wife, Vickie. “With a lot of work, we’ve figured out we can repurpose this and provide seniors with hopefully a better standard of living.”
Work on the project has been under way for about three years, Doris said. If all goes well, eligible seniors could begin renting apartments in about 18 months.
On Tuesday, Indiana Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman went inside the old theater, which is currently a vacant shell with considerable damage to the roof and rusty iron framing along the ceiling. Skillman, as head of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, has helped direct tax credits to the project to help attract private financing.
“It always requires a public-private partnership these days to implement such a strategic plan for housing or any type of community development,” Skillman said standing outside the theater building, which stopped showing movies in the 1980s with the film “On Golden Pond.”
The theater opened in 1938, one of the first commercial buildings in Linton to have air conditioning, Doris said. One of the first films shown there was “Gone with the Wind.”
In addition to public tax credits, the Cine senior housing project has been supported by the Linton town council, which granted the project a 10-year tax abatement.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Jeff and Vickie for making this investment in their community and helping to improve the quality of life for their friends and neighbors,” Skillman said.
The Cine housing facility will include 41 apartments, including studios, one- and two-bedroom units, Doris said.
A property management company will run the facility, which will be owned by individuals purchasing the tax credits, said Stan Palma, an area planner with Palma Architects of Indianapolis, which helped guide the project.
The Cine Theatre was designed in an Art Deco style by Chicago architect Erwin G. Fredrick, Doris said. It could seat 850 patrons.
“We think this will be a truly unique place,” Doris said after showing the shell of the theater to Skillman and members of the news media Tuesday. Many of the seniors who will live in the Cine housing development probably spent evenings watching movies at the old theater.
During early cleanup efforts, “a few ladies poked their heads in the back door,” Doris recalled. “One of them started crying remembering she had her first date here,” he said. “It struck a chord with her.”
Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@
tribstar.com.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Looking up: Indiana Lt. Governor Becky Skillman, in white, toured downtown Linton Tuesday with Stan Palma of Palma architects in Indianapolis, Linton mayor John Wilkes and Jeff and Vickie Doris of Linton Redevelopment LLC.
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Skillman stops in to check on Linton development project
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