BANGOR, Maine — After two Bangor entertainment venues announced they’re permanently closing this week, the city is grappling with how to keep the arts alive.
The Queen City Cinema Club, a restaurant and live music venue, announced its closure on Sunday. The Bangor Arts Exchange announced it will be shutting down its operations at the end of October.
"I worry about the health of arts and culture in Bangor," Jen Shepard, executive director of Penobscot Theatre Company said.
In a Facebook post, Queen City Cinema thanked those who supported them, but wrote that their business was "almost always empty."
The Bangor Arts Exchange is closing because the building's new owner wants to redevelop the space.
The Bangor Arts Exchange was opened in 2017 by the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and Launchpad, a nonprofit arts incubator.
The historic building is where the Bangor Symphony Orchestra first started playing in 1896.
"It's been a wonderful space for us to use for the past roughly 12 years, and it takes us back 120 years," Berney Kubetz, president of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors, said.
Now, it just houses the organizations' offices and The Ballroom. The mid-size event space hosts the Bangor Symphony Youth Orchestras, live music and entertainment, weddings, and more.
"We are aggressively exploring other opportunities in downtown Bangor where we can continue to perform," Kubetz said.
Amid these closures, other arts organizations in Bangor, like the Penobscot Theatre Company are struggling, and looking for ways to stay afloat.
The Penobscot Theatre has been facing financial difficulties this year.
Though the theater is working to fundraise and pursue grants, Shepard said they're projecting an $80,000 loss by the end of the year.
"That still puts us in great peril," she said.
They're looking for support from the community.
"If we are to continue, we need Bangor and the greater Bangor area to reach back out to us," Shepard said.
The City of Bangor is trying to find ways to help out arts and entertainment businesses that are struggling with higher operating costs.
"I'd love to have everybody in the same room to say, 'how can we collaborate, how can we make this work,' because we need all of those things to be here, to really make our downtown and our community vital for everyone," Anne Krieg, Bangor director of Community and Economic Development, said.
The community is staying hopeful that the arts in Bangor can continue to thrive.
"I think we'll see from the arts community what we've always seen, which is resilience," Shepard said.
Looking ahead, Kubetz said, "I think the future for Bangor and the Bangor area arts is a bright one."
The Bangor Arts Exchange will continue holding events through the end of October.