Screenland Crossroads to close in May; will reopen somewhere else downtown, probably

• David Hudnall
• Screenland’s days at its current Crossroads location are numbered.

As of May 17, downtown Kansas City will be down a movie house: Screenland Crossroads, at 1656 Washington, just announced that it couldn’t come to a lease agreement with its landlord, and it will be packing up the projectors and arcades in a month.

“The landlord is basically a mortgage-backed security out of New York – we’re part of a collective of its commercial properties,” says Screenland Crossroads owner Jason Chafee. “They’re looking for office tenants looking to pay $18 a square foot, and they weren’t interested in hearing any of our counteroffers. We’ve been trying to negotiate through a leasing agent, but they’re just not interested in hearing the story of what this place is. At the end of the day, it boils down to what kind of return the people holding the note want. And with their offer, we could make it work, but none of the owners would make any money – or else we’d have to increase ticket prices, and we don’t want to do that.”

But Butch Rigby, the owner of the Screenland brand, tells The Pitch that like any James Bond movie, the Screenland will return.