Vancouver’s Kiggins Theater to close

The lights will go out for good at the historic Kiggins Theater after Monday night’s triple feature.

The downtown Vancouver venue’s operators were a month behind on the rent, said Matthew West, one of two managers for Historic Movie Theaters, a Vancouver business that has run the theater since 2005. On Wednesday, the company gave notice of the closing to the building’s owner, Bill Leigh.

“He wanted us to pay an advance for next month. It’s almost impossible. If we could barely come up with the rent for this month, how could we pay in advance,” West said.

But Leigh, owner of Vancouver-based Leigh Properties, foresaw even greater challenges ahead for the theater, based on its past performance.

“They’ve been there a long time and it has struggled to a degree all along,” said Leigh, who has owned the theater and its adjoining retail space since 2008, when he paid $650,000 to purchase the site at 1011 Main St.

The landmark theater, which opened in 1936, is named after entrepreneur J.P. Kiggins, Vancouver’s mayor for 15 years between 1908 and 1935.