Valley Morning Star ★ www.valleystar.com ★ CULTURE ★ EDUCATION ★ HERITAGE ★ FASHION ★ FOOD ★ HEALTH ★ LIFESTYLES ★ Saving the Border Downtown Mission theater remaking itself as an arts venue By SARA PERKINS The Monitor he Border Theater is in a fight for its life, bidding to survive the cutthroat cinema market. No longer allowed to screen first-run movies, the 65-year-old, single-screen theater is adopting the model used at Cine el Rey in McAllen and several other Texas movie houses — hold arts performances and incorporate film screenings into special events. “I think this is the best chance to keep it open,” said Roberto Peña, the theater’s operator since 2001. Peña got word in July that movie distributors would no longer allow him to show first-run movies because the downtown theater competed with Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 theater, also located in Mission. After a few months of featuring “sub-run” pictures — movies that have been out in theaters for weeks or months and are nearing their DVD releases — he opted to close shop at the end of October. “I know that if I had a first-run movie tonight, I could fill that theater,” he said sadly last week. “Sub-run” flicks and independent films don’t pull in the family crowds who buy popcorn and other concessions — the lifeblood of the theater business, he said. But loyal locals have launched an effort to save the Border, a local landmark adorned with Western- themed murals. “We don’t want this historical landmark to be turning into anything else other than a community center,” said Lizette Martinez, who, with her husband, Joe, and his Inner-city Christian Youth Program, has jumped into the effort to schedule performances, themed movie nights, benefit concerts and art shows in the space. They had their first event Dec. 7. On weekends throughout December, the theater is featuring free screenings of seasonal classics like “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” and asking visitors for donations. Alex Jones/The Monitor The Border Theater in downtown Mission no longer can show the first-run movies that used to bring in crowds. After being shut down for a while, owner Robert Peña says the theater’s landmark neon sign no longer functions. T See BORDER ★ C2
