Savin' Maven from Devastating Fire

In the fall of 2023, a life-long dream of reviving historic cinemas was realized as we re-opened the beloved Sticky Shoe theater on Main Street in American Fork, UT. From Halloween through New Year's, we brought dozens of films and events to the community, establishing a hub for reflecting on nostalgia while creating new memories!

New owners purchased the building in the new year, and we pushed on, determined to provide wonderful events for the community. Our deep belief in how vital storytelling is for us as individuals and as a society propelled us through the highs and lows of winter and spring!

Sadly, in June, an electrical fire broke out in the wall of our neighboring tenant. We were so grateful to the AF Fire Department for saving this historic cinema, just before its 75th anniversary!

We had planned a huge summer of incredible events; instead, for the safety of our community, the city disconnected the building from the power grid until repairs were properly completed. At almost half a year, the owners have not completed repairs, leaving all of the equipment we spent thousands of dollars to repair and restore completely powerless and inaccessible. Rather than bringing the summer we planned to our community, we wound up refunding a lot of pre-ticket and rental sales and paying bills with no income….

It is evident the building will remain in this state for the foreseeable future. We are crushed to see this historic cinema neglected despite our efforts, but we are grateful to have been a part of its legacy, and for the opportunity to have had the 9+ months to listen to so many stories from community members of why this place and our work meant so much to them!

Without a place to call home, we are looking to collaborate with other fantastic small businesses to continue to bring fun films and events to our community. Our upcoming collaborations include Pizza & Pictures at Fat Daddy's Pizzeria in Provo, UT, and classic films at the historic Angelus Theater in Spanish Fork, UT in the new year.

We appreciate any help towards our goal to re-coup and re-kickstart this work in our community. Even just sharing this and spreading the word is a huge help and is GREATLY appreciated!!!

The Breakdown:

We initially put in an investment of nearly $50,000 in start-up costs (repairing the projectors, speakers, popcorn popper, the marquee, pos systems, ticketing and website, getting film rights, initial concessions, paint and building repairs, etc)

Funds will go first to recouping the start-up costs; any surplus will support continuing to bring nostalgic films and events to community venues and small businesses, and ideally, securing a permanent new home!