Business booms at The Flame

WELLS Sat, May 10 2008

— The Flame is a nice movie theater with a newly installed Digital Dolby sound system, cushy seats and a wide screen.
But the amenities alone don’t explain why annual attendance at the Wells city-owned theater has increased by thousands of people in the past five years — from about 16,500 in 2001 to 23,000 in 2005. The peak year was 2004 when about 26,000 people saw movies at The Flame.
The historic theater, open nightly Fridays through Tuesdays with a Sunday matinee, shows one new film each week.
There aren’t eight movies to choose from. If you miss the 7 p.m. show, there isn’t another one starting in 20 minutes.
The Flame has one screen and 304 seats. Yet, people still come from as far away as Waterville, Hayward and Mankato to see movies, said theater manager Michael Milks.
“Because it’s cheap,” Milks said. “They’d have to go to a matinee in the middle of the week in Mankato and that still would be (more expensive).”
The low ticket prices — $3 for adults and $2 for children — is definitely a draw, said Ron Hartman of the theater board. A seven-member board of volunteers plus Milks meets regularly to discuss ways to improve the theater and make it more attractive to outside residents.
The city owns The Flame, but the Wells City Council remains fairly hands off, Milks said. Milks determines which movies are shown, among most other decisions about operations.
“I decided if we’re going to show ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ we’re going to show ‘Brokeback Mountain,’” Milks said.
What the city has insisted on is keeping ticket prices the same. Milks thinks prices could be raised slightly without affecting attendance, but the council has opposed the move so far.
“They see it as, they’re providing a service to the town,” Milks said.
Snacks also are cheap. A small popcorn is about $1. A large will cost $5 with butter, which is on par with most commercial theaters.
But soda machines in the lobby make drinks affordable at about $1 apiece, and candy is even less.
That means a family of four, for example, can get in the door for $10 and pay another $10 for snacks.
“We showed ‘Cars’ a while ago and sold out four shows,” Milks said.
Advertising also has helped. When Milks took over as manager about six years ago, he and the board decided to expand ads beyond Wells to various newspapers in the region.
But what keeps people coming back is the ambiance. Located on the quaint main drag of Wells, with a population of about 2,500, the theater makes for an inexpensive weekend trip into the country for families.
People are greeted by Betty Olson, who has sold tickets at The Flame for more than 40 years. Before the theater started issuing paper tickets about two years ago, Olson used to count people as they entered with a hand-held counting device.
“It’s such a fun place, and it’s got a nice atmosphere,” Hartman said.
Municipal theaters are rare, Hartman said. He can’t be sure, he said, but The Flame may be one of the only city-owned theaters in the state.
The theater’s profits are used to pay for improvements, such as the new $15,000 sound system. Leftover profits are added into the city budget.
Besides tickets and concessions, the theater makes money on commercials run before each movie. More than 20 area businesses pay $200 per year to run ads on the screen, which added up to about $7,000 last year.
The theater opened in 1912 and was owned by Sidney F. Heath and C. Anderson. Admission was 5 cents.
Throughout the years the theater went through many changes, including its name before Heath settled on The State Theatre. When the building burned down in 1960, Heath asked the public to submit suggestions for a new name for the new building.
August J. Schultz and Rose Mershon won free passes for submitting the winning suggestion — The Flame Theatre.
The city took over management of the theater in 1996 and formed a theater board. The city immediately put about $65,000 in improvements into the facility, including a new projector, seats with cup holders, a bigger screen, a surround-sound system and a fresh coat of paint.

Photos

Sonja Reeves