Parsons city commissioners on Monday approved incentives totaling $325,000 to facilitate the reopening of Parsons Theatre, which closed in October 2024.
RT Entertainment Inc. of Iowa is working on purchasing the Parsons Theatre and opening it this month. The company bought theaters formerly owned by B&B Theatres in Iola and Chanute, the Sterling Six Cinema and the Roxy 4 Theatres, in the last nine months.
The incentives include a $150,000 forgivable loan (forgivable over 10 years at $15,000 a year) for upgrading one of the screening rooms, a $125,000 grant to assist in upgrading a second screening room and a $50,000 incentive based on a tax rebate at $5,000 a year for 10 years. Most of the incentives are based on the theater being open.
Last week, Rod Mayer from RT Entertainment talked with city commissioners about his company’s plans. He said RT has theaters in smaller towns such as Parsons. Having Parsons, Chanute and Iola in proximity will help management support the theaters’ operations.
Mayer said he’d been talking with Parsons Theatre co-owner Lee Salyers for a while. He said theaters had a rough time when forced to shut down during the pandemic. The writers and actors strike happened after pandemic restrictions were lifted, which was hard for many smaller theaters.
He said RT theaters struggled but had more resources than owners of single theaters, so RT got through and is now thriving.
Mayer said technicians
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are looking at the machinery at the theater in Parsons and getting them ready for reopening. He also plans to upgrade some seats in the theaters to heated recliners.
“To really make theaters work, even in small towns, or maybe especially in small towns, you really have to have those nice seats. Heated recliners are what people really want. That’s a huge investment,” Mayer told commissioners last week of placing 300 to 350 of the recliners in the screening rooms. He said he’s still working on the layout for the upgrades. Upgrades will take a year to 18 months to complete once the planning process starts. A theater in a small Minnesota town had similar upgrades and business doubled since the installation, he said.
“People love it. They love coming to the movies, and now they come instead of once or twice a month they’ll come every week or even multiple times a week,” Mayer said.
Commissioners Leland Crooks told Mayer last week that he appreciated his perseverance working toward the purchase in Parsons.
“Without you it’s really hard to find a solution because we don’t know how to run theaters,” commissioner Eric Strait told Mayer.
“I think it’s going to be a really good thing for the town,” Mayer said.
He said the incentives from the city helped the company balance operating income and debt load.
“I was not comfortable taking on another pile of debt without any sort of … it’s all risk for us. We have to come in and make it work. I’m pretty confident that we will. My numbers show that we should do just fine here,” he said.
Mayer did not attend Monday’s meeting.
Mayor Verlyn Bolinger read the incentive package for the third time in a public meeting. The commissioners then discussed the incentives with city economic development director Jim Zaleski.
The first two incentives are based on the theater being open. The money comes from two economic development sources, one a sales tax for economic development and the other from the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad gave the city $1 million in 1988 after the city withdrew its objection to the U.P. taking over the Katy Railroad. The U.P. fund is to be used for economic development and the fund balance is $672,765.
The economic development budget, funded by a portion of a city sales tax dedicated to economic development, will replenish money paid for the first and third theater incentives over 10 years. The economic development budget will also repay the U.P. fund at $25,000 a year over five years.
Zaleski said the economic development budget has $801,000 in it. Between the two funds, he said the city can offer the incentives for the theater purchase.
He said the process has been frustrating at times over the last months.
“It took a long time to get down to this. And all three parties had to give and take along the way,” Zaleski said.
Commissioner Kevin Cruse offered his thanks.
“It preserves what we really need to keep in town, so thank you for your work, Jim.”
After the discussion, commissioners voted unanimously to offer the incentives to help with the purchase of Parsons Theatre.
Juneteenth
Sontana Johnson, the CEO of the SEK Juneteenth Foundation, discussed the holiday celebration with commissioners. The events run from June 19 to 22.
The Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in 1863, but slaves near Galveston, Texas, didn’t hear about the proclamation until June 19, 1865. So that day has been celebrated as Freedom Day and was made a national holiday in 2021 and a state holiday in October 2023, though the first time the holiday was taken in Kansas was in June 2024. The county adopted the Juneteenth holiday in 2023 when setting holidays for that year.
Johnson said Donald V. Watkins, who was born in Parsons, will be the speaker at this year’s Juneteenth event. He is a son of Levi Watkins Jr., former principal at Douglass School in Parsons. Douglass School opened in Parsons in 1908 and closed in 1958.
She told city commissioners she is updating the itinerary for the celebration, which will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 19, with a parade march in downtown to the Parsons Municipal Auditorium, where Watkins will speak. Watkins will also walk the area where the Douglass School was located on Friday. Food trucks, inflatables and competitions will take place Saturday in Glenwood Park, which will also be the site of a Sunday worship service to end the celebration.
Lot purchase
Commissioners also approved a $40,000 loan from the city’s U.S. Department of Agriculture revolving grant funds to offer gap financing for the purchase by Out N About Supportive Services the former Parsons Eye Clinic, 220 N. 32nd Dr. Terry Rothstein operated the clinic but retired and closed his practice in April.
Zaleski told commissioners that the USDA gap financing offers a 4.25% interest rate, which is favorable in the current market. The city’s loan position will be second to the bank offering primary financing.
Out N About will use the facility for day programs for its clients who have intellectual disabilities. The facility will not be used as a group home, commissioners heard.
Commissioner Strait said he was glad someone was going to use the building instead of having it sit empty.
Zaleski said previously that the USDA grant fund would still have about $100,000 in it after the Out N About loan.