BRUNSWICK — Gracia Babbidge knows her way around a cinema, having been the manager of the Eveningstar Cinema since 2004. She was a projectionist back when most movie theaters used actual film reels and oversaw the theater’s conversion to digital.

Now, with the owner of the Eveningstar Cinema looking to sell the single-screen theater in Brunswick, Babbidge is hoping to crowdfund the necessary capital to purchase it.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Eveningstar Cinema, which opened in November of 1979, as well as Babbige’s 15th anniversary working with the theater.

Babbidge was working at a different movie theater when she first visited the Eveningstar Cinema, the then-Hoyt’s Cinema at Cook’s Corner.

“The very first time I came here was as a customer,” said Babbidge. “I had seen previews for The Full Monty and thought, that looks like a lot of fun. Up until the week leading up to its release date, we thought we were going to be playing it there. And then we found out that (Hoyt’s wasn’t) getting it, but there’s another theater in Brunswick that’s going to be playing it.”

So she visited the rival theater for the first time in 1997 to see the movie.

“I thought this was a groovy little theater,” she recalled.

She would go on to work at a handful of other theaters before finally returning to the small little cinema in 2004 when she saw a “help wanted” sign on the theater’s marquee on Maine Street. She was hired as an assistant manager, working directly under the owner.

Eight and a half years after he bought the cinema, owner Barry Norman is looking to sell it, and Babbidge wants to keep it alive as the new owner.

She doesn’t have the capital to purchase it and has been unable to secure a loan to cover the cost.

That’s why she’s launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money. As of Monday night, four days after she kickstarted the GoFundMe campaign, she’s raised $1,700. That’s a nice start, but it’s well short of the $50,000 goal.

According to Babbidge, Norman is willing to be flexible about when she pays the full amount, but she’d like to raise $17,000 as soon as possible to move things along.

For Babbidge, it’s important for the Eveningstar Cinema to continue in its current form, complete with its popcorn with real butter, couches in the theater and a beer and wine list.

“We try to get the little details right,” said Babbidge.

“The Eveningstar has been one of the top-rated specialty cinemas in the area,” she added. “There are a lot of people in Maine who have an appreciation for films that don’t make it to the multiplexes. Some of those people will drive to Brunswick from pretty far off.”

Donations to Babbidge’s campaign can be made at gofundme.com/eveningstar-changeover.

nstrout@timesrecord.com

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