The Edge Theater was approved a $10,000 a month, $120,000 total, incentive by the City of Greenville during Tuesday’s city council meeting.

The incentive is for a 12-month period and was approved by the council under Resolution 2022-5. The council stressed that the incentive would only be for one year.

Dee Blackmon, Greenville city clerk, explained that The Edge Theater has been closed for the last couple of years due to COVID.

“They have experienced a tremendous financial loss,” Blackmon said. “The city is trying to help the movie theater stay open and help our school system as well.”

In exchange for the incentive, the movie theater will allow groups of children ages 4 to 18 free admission to view movies that have previously been showed at the theater.

“It includes other groups,” Blackmon said. “If the football team or drama team, or whoever, want to go see a movie they will just need to contact the theater and they will get the movie, if they can, that will beneficial for them to watch.”

“We have gone through a tough last few years,” Greenville Mayor Dexter McLendon said. “(The theater) is also going to try to give something to the kids to take back home that will give a break on what the parents would spend when they come. In other words, trying to get them to come back to the movies and increase this. It is a tough time for movies. We are going to try this for a year and see how it works. We are going to do everything we can to keep the movie theater open.”