It was standing room only at the Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay Tuesday night as locals packed the seats and the aisles to weigh in on the future of the historic venue; ultimately a commitment to continue to talk and listen was what was resolved.

The Bahle family, who have owned The Bay since 1976, announced plans last month for the theater to go dark at the end of the year. Initially, theatre manager Erik Bahle wanted to hold a forum to discuss the future of the theatre sometime in January. But a loud community response following the announcement prompted Bahle and his family to move the community forum up to Tuesday night.

Following an upbeat introduction wherein retired theatre director Bob Bahle talked through The Bay’s storied history, the forum turned to the matter of the closure. Erik Bahle said he and his family “do not have the energy to run the theater anymore” and pitched an idea for the venue’s future survival.

“[Our slogan] has always been ‘The Bay: Small Town Theatre, World Class Cinema,’” he said. “But we can’t do it ourselves anymore, so we’re heading in the direction of ‘The Bay: By the People, for the People.’ We don’t know what’s next after us, but it would be pretty cool if we could take this place and go the community route, whatever that is.”

Present to speak on the concept of a community-run theater was Rick Schmidt, a co-owner of the Garden Theater in Frankfort. Schmidt said he and his partners were initially inspired to buy the Garden Theater in 2008 because of the success of The Bay. Working with his wife and a pair of business partners, Schmidt bought the theater and later sold shares of the business to members of the community.

“Everybody has a stake in this thing,” Schmidt said. “We don’t make money. We don’t pay ourselves. But the marquee lights are on.”

The nonprofit model, which has been utilized by the State Theatre and Bijou by the Bay in Traverse City, was also discussed. Bahle said he does expect The Bay to rely largely on volunteers going forward, a strategy that has helped the State and Bijou flourish. At minimum, he said The Bay will require three paid positions to keep moving: a full-time manager to handle programming, staffing and scheduling, marketing and publicity, and other key day-to-day operations; and two projectionists, to manage the actual film screenings. Beyond those roles, Bahle believes community volunteers or stakeholder could run the venue.

At this point, The Bay Theatre is not technically for sale, nor does the Bahle family anticipate listing it on the market. The current plan is for the theater to cease operation after a closing film on New Year’s Eve.

“This building will sit vacant or dark until we come to a decision as to what’s next,” Bahle said.

When asked if the December 31 termination date is firm, Bahle said he would be willing to entertain the notion of operating the theater a bit longer – or at least playing a role in its operation – to help transition to new leadership. The “end goal,” he said, would be to keep the theater from going dark and instead manage a passing of the baton from one leadership team to the next throughout the winter months.

The forum concluded with a motion from the audience to schedule a follow-up meeting next Tuesday at 6pm at the theatre. That meeting will consist primarily of community members who have the desire and time to play an active role in taking over operations. Bahle invited those individuals to stay after the meeting to begin divvying up tasks and roles.

Those interested in getting involved or staying current with the latest developments can stay in touch here.

“The whole point of this forum is to let people know we are open to ideas,” Bahle said early in the meeting. “The theater deserves to live on, and it deserves to live on in fashion that goes so far beyond what it is now.”