IMAX responds to CBD cinema closure, auction notice
By Hilary KimuyuAnga IMAX have denied reports that they are closing shop.
This comes a day after the landlord of Century Plaza building published a notice on local dailies, directing auctioneers to recover property from the cinema hall over rent arrears from IMAX 20th Century movie theatre.
The cinema is located on Mama Ngina Street in the Nairobi CBD.
In a statement, the owners of the theater blamed the landlord for placing an auction notice which they obtained from a Nairobi court without notifying them while they were still on the table negotiating.
“It is shocking that the landlord insists on closing us down and auctioning our property,” part of the statement reads.
According to Anga IMAX management, the rent amount being claimed by the landlord is disputed and has accrued during the pandemic period and a big part is advance rent payable in advance up to August.
“The landlord holds a deposit in cash of twice the amount he seeks to recover at the auction,” they claimed.
They assured their clients, creditors and business partners that their lawyers were pursuing the matter in court and hoped the two parties would reach an amicable solution.
The Monday auction notice published on local dailies had claimed that the cinema hall had defaulted on rent for months.
“Under instructions received from our client, we shall sell by public auction the undermentioned goods on Wednesday 15th July, 2020 at 20th Century Plaza, Nairobi CBD at 11am,” the notice in the papers read in part.
According to the notice, the sale will include a huge assortment of movie theatre equipment, including retractable seats, projectors, TV sets, power back-up units, roof and wall mounted speakers.
READ: Curtains fall on iconic Imax 20th Century as auctioneers come calling
The theatre has been closed since March, when the first case of Covid-19 was announced in the country.