Tim Ryan, tryan@shawanoleader.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski The Crescent Pitcher Show is scheduled to be sold off at a sheriff’s sale in February. The theater, which ran movies after their circulation ended in first-run movie theaters, closed in December.
The Crescent Pitcher Show in downtown Shawano, which closed in December, is scheduled to be sold off at a sheriff’s sale next month, according to court documents.
A ruling granting the foreclosure was issued in October. A three-month redemption period during which owner Paul Routhieaux had the opportunity to make good on the outstanding debt and retain the property expired Wednesday.
BMO Harris Bank filed a civil suit in August against Routhieaux and his parents, James and Jean, who had taken out the original mortgage on the property in 2005, according to the suit. Routhieaux bought the business from his parents in 2008.
The suit maintains Routhieaux also signed a promissory note backing up the debt.
The original amount of the mortgage was $146,250, according to court documents. The suit alleged the unpaid balance and principal left on the debt was $104,191.
Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court Judge William Kussel Jr. in October granted the bank’s motion for foreclosure, ruling that the total amount due the bank with court costs and legal fees came to $106,460.
Court records do not show any response from Routhieaux to the suit and Kussel noted in his ruling that there had been no argument from the defendants.
The property is scheduled to be sold off at 9 a.m. Feb. 12 at a public auction in the lobby of the Shawano County Courthouse, 311 N. Main St.
Late in November, Routhieaux announced the theater would have one more weekend run before closing on Dec. 1.
During an interview after he made the announcement, Routhieaux said he was unable to secure financing for the roughly $50,000 he estimated it would cost for the movie house to convert to digital projection.
Studios have been pushing theaters to go digital and have been making it more difficult to get the 35 mm prints the Pitcher Show had relied on, Routhieaux said.
The original Crescent Theater, at 220 S. Main St., closed down in the mid-1980s. In 1996, Routhieaux and his parents revived it, with the added twist of pizza, sandwiches and other menu items, lounge-style seating with tables and a wait-staff.
The theater showcased Hollywood movies after they left first-run theaters, usually four to seven weeks behind first-run showings — and preferably before they’re on home video. However, the window between first-run showings and a movie going to DVD was getting increasingly narrower, Routhieaux said.