Theater and film house De Schuur in Haarlem is in dire straits. There is a deficit of half a million euros per year. The reason: first corona and then the arrival of two new cinemas: the Filmdome and Kinepolis in Schalkwijk. The dream solution: more cinema seats in De Schuur itself. What’s up with that?
From a financial point of view, the Barn is not doing well. Since last year, the cultural institution in the center of the city has suffered a structural loss of half a million euros per year. Visitor numbers at the film house first fell due to corona and later due to the arrival of the Filmdome and Kinepolis.
Kinepolis in Schalkwijk opened at the end of 2020 and has six cinemas with a total of 937 seats. At the beginning of last year, the Filmdome was added, a stone’s throw from the Schuur. The Filmdome also has six screens and more than 600 seats.
The Filmdome in particular is a competitor with a film offering comparable to that of the Schuur. Nevertheless, De Schuur is still one of the cinemas with the highest seat occupancy in the country, and around 100,000 people are expected to watch a film this year.
Even more halls?
De Schuur wants to expand with two rooms: a cinema with 70 seats and a multifunctional room with room for 60 visitors. That sounds contradictory. But it is true, says spokesperson Sunniva Matla van de Schuur: “It is a film law that the audience grows again with small theaters. You can simply offer a broader programming, so show more titles at the same time.”
There will also be more room for new activities. “Think of the North Holland Film Education Hub, which is now also located in De Schuur. With that hub and extra space for education, we will soon be able to reach twice as many children as now.”
Small investment
The desire for those two extra rooms has been around for some time at De Schuur, but the shortages mean that it is urgent now. Culture alderman Diana van Loenen is in favor of the expansion, says her spokesperson. “Without expansion, De Schuur will run into major financial problems. Then it will no longer be able to perform its current function in the future.”
De Schuur is an important stage and production house for the municipality, with Toneelschuur Productions as permanent performer. “With the expansion, De Schuur can reduce the deficit. The investment required – about 2.5 million euros – will pay for itself in ten to twelve years.”
Incidentally, the municipality has had a ‘second opinion’ study carried out, which shows that there will indeed be more visitors if there are more halls in the future. The building where the new halls are to be located – right next to De Schuur – belongs to the municipality itself.
Of course, the city council is ultimately about such a large investment. Alderman van Loenen hopes that the development committee will consider the possible expansion as early as May.
If the council does not agree to the expansion, two scenarios remain. In the first, the municipality must make up the annual deficit of half a million euros with an extra subsidy. In the worst case scenario, there will be no extra money at all for De Schuur and the end of the cultural institution is imminent.