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With Bijou Art Cinemas Closing, Operators Sought To Continue Venue

Brian Bull
/
KLCC

After 40 years of movie screenings, the Bijou Art Cinemas in Eugene is closing.  Now the facility needs a new owner.

Darren Stone is the principal broker of Jennings Group, which manages and leases the building space for its owner, Wilcox Venture LLC.  He told KLCC given Bijou Art Cinema’s history, it’s hoped someone will step up to continue its movie-showing tradition.

”It’s kind of an icon of Eugene," said Stone. "It’s the kind of thing the community wants there.  The university wants there.

Credit Brian Bull / KLCC
/
KLCC
A sign on the side of the Bijou Art Cinemas, posted earlier during the pandemic.

"It goes back to 1925, and it has that original character and architecture of that era of churches.  That energy is there.  You’re walking into a movie venue, but the light that comes through the old stained glass, I mean, there’s just nothing else like it.”

While the pandemic is still a concern, Stone said other independent venues like Broadway Metro have done innovative things to keep going, like booking private showings.

Copyright 2021, KLCC. 

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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