Belcourt Theatre thrives with artistic, foreign films, docus

Shafts of sunlight poked through the roof.

Rainwater dripped everywhere. The facade outside was crumbling.

It was the early 2000s, and the prognosis for the Belcourt Theatre was grim.

The old theater, which opened in 1925, seemed to be lurching toward its grave. It had been good run, but when the membership number dipped to 300 lonely souls, the Belcourt seemed to be dying.