The marquee at 2589 N. Downer Ave. looks the same as it did last year. So do the lobby, the two auditoriums and the concessions counter. Inside, the only changes since Milwaukee Film reopened the theater in April 2024 have been small cosmetic updates. On February 27, 2026, the nonprofit bought the building it had been renting, using money from anchor donors and a low-interest loan from The Helmerich Trust.
Owning the building let Milwaukee Film put a schedule on the theater. Its published plan expects to keep the Downer running in its current form until after the 2028 Milwaukee Film Festival. Then it will close for renovation. The two-screen Downer that Upper East Side neighbors know now has a rough end date. This fall is one of the last few seasons of it.
A sale that left the same people running the theater
Some history explains why the sale matters. The Downer opened on December 3, 1915, and Milwaukee Film calls it the oldest operating cinema in Wisconsin. Landmark Theatres split it into two screens in the early 1990s and ran it until September 2023, when it closed. Milwaukee Film reopened it in April 2024.
For about two years after that, the nonprofit ran the theater under a rental agreement with Bridge33 Capital. Bridge33 is a Seattle-based investor that had bought the theater and the retail buildings around it in early 2020. BizTimes reported that Milwaukee Film paid $1.55 million for the building and set an $8 million campaign goal. That goal covers the purchase, every renovation phase, and a reserve for inflation and future repairs.
The people choosing the films, selling the tickets and running the projectors are the same as before. The difference is that they now own the building, so they can plan renovations years ahead.
Why a two-screen theater needed a buyer at all
Milwaukee Film's own campaign page is direct about the economics. Modern cinemas generally need more than two screens to turn a profit. The organization says that if the Downer had closed, it likely would never have operated as a movie theater again.
For the nonprofit, the reasoning comes down to festivals. Milwaukee Film says the Downer is critical to its two flagship events, the Milwaukee Film Festival and the Dialogues Documentary Festival, and that losing it would mean permanently losing a key festival venue. The Milwaukee Daily Post reported that the organization needs more screens than the Oriental Theatre's three, and that a temporary festival screen costs about $100,000. The Oriental works differently. Milwaukee Film holds a lease there, and New Land Enterprises owns the larger property. That makes the Downer the one screen location the organization fully controls.
Audiences are coming back, but not all the way. Urban Milwaukee reported that the 2026 festival drew 36,922 attendees, up 15.4 percent from 2025. That is still well short of the 87,618 record set in 2019. Those numbers help explain why the renovation is spread over several years instead of starting right away.
The timeline, as Milwaukee Film currently publishes it
The first estimate, reported in March, put a new projector in place sometime in 2026. Milwaukee Film's campaign page, updated in September, now says it hopes to install the projector in early 2027. Here is the current plan:
| Phase | Scope | Target timing |
|---|---|---|
| One | Building purchase and replacement of one projector | Purchase done February 2026; projector hoped for early 2027 |
| Two | Restored vestibule, larger lobby and concessions, renovated restrooms with an accessible family restroom, projection booth with 35mm capability | Hoped to begin in 2028, after the Milwaukee Film Festival |
| Three | Better seating and sightlines, sound isolation between the two auditoriums, screen masking, a hearing loop | With the 2028 work or after the 2029 festival |
| Marquee | Repair of the neon marquee; naming rights and a possible blade sign | Not dated |
Milwaukee Film describes the Phase Three sound work in its own words, as acoustic isolation "so you will be less likely to hear one movie when you're watching another movie." It is the last item on the schedule.
The money is moving slowly too. A July 27 report put the campaign at just over $1.7 million, a little more than 20 percent of the goal. Milwaukee Film's September campaign page lists donors but shows no running total. In June, the Herzfeld Foundation announced a $500,000 gift and challenge match aimed at helping repay the purchase loan.
What's playing during the stretch before the projector
The fall schedule shows how the theater is used day to day. The Dialogues Documentary Festival ran September 24 through 27 at the Downer and the Oriental, with a lineup Milwaukee Film announced in August as more than 30 documentary programs. Since then, Milwaukee Film's posted schedule has the Downer showing a steady mix of new releases and repertory titles:
- The History of Concrete, through October 15, John Wilson's documentary about trying to sell a concrete film using a Hallmark-movie formula
- The Devils, a 4K restoration, October 16 to 18
- Now! More! Yes!, a free screening with MIAD, October 20
- A Talent for Murder and Fjord, October 23 to 25
- La bola negra, November 6 to 8
The Downer schedule posted so far ends in early November, and no December titles have been announced yet.
Saturday, October 17, on one block
The weekend The Devils plays is also the Downer Avenue BID's Haunted Halloween. It runs Saturday, October 17, from 1 to 4 p.m., with free trick-or-treating along Downer from Park to Webster. The theater is one of the businesses in the pumpkin-carving contest, along with Boswell Book Company, Breadsmith, Café Hollander, Pizza Man, Nehring's Sendik's, Downer Wine & Spirits, Rohr Jewelers and others on the BID's list. The BID's announcement lists a spooky story time at Boswell at 2 p.m., free cookies at Breadsmith, and face painting and balloon creations outside Sendik's.
That puts an afternoon of trick-or-treating and an evening restoration screening on the same few hundred feet of sidewalk on the same day.
Dinner within a block of the marquee
Urban Milwaukee's April guide to eating near the festival venues covers the restaurants closest to the Downer:
- Pizza Man, 2597 N. Downer Ave., right next door, for pizza, pasta and entrées
- Café Hollander, 2608 N. Downer Ave., for Dutch- and Belgian-inspired food and beer, with a patio. Its locations page lists hours running to 10 or 11 p.m.
- BelAir Cantina, 2625 N. Downer Ave., for tacos, plus weekend brunch
- Henry's, 2523 E. Belleview Pl., for pub fare around the corner
- SereniTea Lounge, 2569 N. Downer Ave., for boba, smoothies and cocktails before or after a show
- Canela Cafe, 2621 N. Downer Ave., and Stone Creek Coffee, 2650 N. Downer Ave., for a matinee morning
Where a ticket's money goes
Milwaukee Film draws a line between its two pools of money. Campaign gifts pay for the building and the renovation. Memberships, concessions and ticket sales pay for day-to-day operations. So the projector depends on donors, and the regular schedule between now and 2028 depends on people showing up.
Two details make showing up cheaper. Nonmembers get member pricing on Mondays. Members get ticket and concession discounts year-round at both the Downer and the Oriental. Free members-only screenings are scheduled for October 28, November 18 and December 16, although the membership page doesn't say which theater will host them.
Under the published plan, renovation work can't start before the 2028 festival ends. Until then, the Downer remains the two-screen theater that turns 111 on December 3, with La bola negra on the schedule for November 6 to 8.
When I talk with clients about the Upper East Side, much of the conversation is about the places within walking distance. The Downer is one of the few that has a firm plan for the next several years. If you'd like to talk through which Upper East Side blocks keep places like it within an easy walk, Brandon Tyler is glad to help. Let's Talk.
