SEQUIM — City leaders are forming a joint movie theater venture with Olympic Theatre Arts to raise money for the thespian organization and test-screen interest in a small movie theater downtown.

“The plan is to utilize the gathering hall, to set it up theater-style,” said Sharon DelaBarre, who chairs the Olympic Theatre Arts board.

The hall, which has a sound and lighting booth and a overhead projector, seats about 100 and is adjacent to the main theater at 414 N. Sequim Ave.

DelaBarre, who has been an active member of OTA for about 15 years, said the idea is to present classic movies that would not compete with first-run films at the Deer Park or Lincoln theaters in and near Port Angeles.

“We would serve popcorn and other goodies,” DelaBarre said.

“It’s also about building community.”

Establishing a movie theater downtown was a topic that came up during community charettes on a downtown plan in which residents were urged to come up with suggestions to improve downtown.

A movie theater was high on the list.

The Sequim City Council voted Monday to authorize City Manager Steve Burkett, Mayor Ken Hays and Mayor Pro Tem Laura Dubois to work with DelaBarre and the theater group that operates Olympic Theatre Arts Center on North Sequim Avenue.

Theater details later

They were authorized to come back with a plan that would specifically detail the theater operations.

“We don’t envision a money-losing operation,” Hays said.

The early-evening movies, at a price range of between $3 and $5, would be shown once a month for 12 months, with a council review of the program after six months, the council decided.

OTA and the council were leaning toward the $5 ticket price to raise the most money.

City leaders said it would require at least 30 to 40 movie-goers to cover the cost of the movies.

“It would probably be Wednesday evenings because that’s when there is not a lot going on,” DelaBarre said.

Also discussed was having two to three weekend nights during the school year dedicated to teenagers.

It is projected that for 12 months, the total direct-cost expenditure for the city would be no more than about $2,000.

Proceeds would go to Olympic Theatre Arts operations and the city of Sequim-supported Music & Movies in the Park.

Music & Movies in the Park is going into its sixth season at the James Center for the Performing Arts on the green at the Sequim Water Reuse Demonstration Park, off North Blake Avenue and adjoining the city’s Carrie Blake Park.

“If this thing is going to fly, I think you’re going to need advertising,” Councilman Don Hall said.

Hays said the city could not pay for advertising.

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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.