By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – An Ogdensburg businessman hopes the city will take over the defunct movie theater, but Deputy Mayor Morley says it’s not an option.

“I don’t think it’s something we can do as a city. We can’t invest taxpayer money to run a business,” he said.

Gill Jones, who owns the Ogdensburg Cinemas, Ford St., closed the facility in July of 2012 after struggling financially.

Jones said he had been losing money on the theater for years and kept it open for the community's sake. He later considered reopening the theater, if he could secure funding for the new digital equipment, but was unable to do so.

In November he penned a letter to councilors offering the property to the city, but has yet to receive a response.

Morley said that he would love to see the theater reopen, but it’s not the city’s place to do so.

“We can help try to find a buyer, but even that we can’t put a lot of staff time into,” he said.

Morley said it would be possible for the city’s growth fund to purchase the theater, but said he was unaware of any such discussions at this time.

“Personally and as a group, I’d like to see somebody buy it and start it up again. It’s a shame that a city of this size doesn’t have a movie theater.”

Morley said the theater was the flagship of the city’s mall, which now has few businesses operating out of it.

In a letter issued to city council Jones requested a response from the city.

“It’s been two months since I made the sincere offer to donate the cinema property to the city. To date I have only had an informal meeting with (John Pinkerton, Patrick Kelly and Jennifer Stevenson),” his letter said. “They requested and received an on-site visit to the cinema. As of this date no further communication has been received as to the city’s position on the transfer of the deed.”

The city council meets Monday at 7 p.m. and is likely to discuss the matter.

City manager John Pinkerton was not available for comment.