Amid a/perture cinema's financial woes dowtown leaders cite the economic importance of the arts

Downtown leaders say a/perture cinema’s financial woes could cause a ripple in the Winston-Salem economy if the theater were to close.

A/perture’s board says it needs to raise $100,000 by the end of December to continue operating.

Jason Thiel, the president of Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership, Inc., says life without a/perture would mean fewer dinner-and-a-movie nights in the arts district.

“It particularly would hurt with the closure of the Stevens Center while it's closed, which is also a big economic generator," he says. "But arts is economic development, and as a nonprofit, it plays a big role in the core of our downtown success.”

Nationally, many cities are struggling with fewer people downtown during the day as many workers have shifted to remote settings. 

Locally, Thiel says new businesses have come and gone and the downtown footprint now has places like Innovation Quarter and Industry Hill that are drawing people to new areas. 

Those kinds of shifts can create challenges for existing venues in the heart of the city, he says.