Rio Theatre closer to staying open

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The Rio Theatre is another step closer to keeping its doors open.

Theatre CEO Corinne Lea says her offer to buy the 80-year-old building has been accepted and the deal should be complete by July 7.

Back in January, the property owner put the land up for sale, throwing the theatre’s future into discord. A crowdfunding campaign attracted the attention and promotion of Vancouver-born Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, along with director Kevin Smith.

The campaign raised $500,000, however it was only half the amount needed to put down a deposit on the building.

The exact purchase price has never been revealed, however Lea was approved for a $4-million mortgage earlier this month.

Lea said the theatre is still looking for investors to raise the remaining funds needed to buy the property.

The theatre has partnered with FrontFundr, a crowdfunding site for equity investment to allow people to buy stock in the Rio for a minimum $1,000 investment. The site is processing $8,000 in investments so far, with 37 days to go.

The minimum investment of $1,000 will get you on the guest list twice a year plus one guest, assuming “the event is not sold out” according to the site. A “silver” level investor ($10,000 contribution) gets on the guest list, plus one person, for events once a month. If you want to be an accredited “gold” investor, $25,000 will get you on the guest list for non-sold-out events, plus one guest, twice a month.

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