DaytonDailyNews.com

TROY — Alan Teicher wished he could have rolled out a red carpet and brought in searchlights to scan the Miami County skies, but it wasn't in the budget.

Last Friday, Nov. 14, marked the premiere of his 80-year-old Mayflower Theater, 11 W. Main St., as an art film house.

"I always wanted to do this. My brother had three art theaters in Detroit when I was 16 or 17," said Teicher, 74, of Troy, who owns eight movie theaters in four states. One of the others is Movies 5, also in Troy.

The Mayflower, purchased 40 years ago, was the first.

In part because September and October "are terrible months for getting people out to see first-run movies," he closed the four-screen theater at the end of summer to make the change.

"We did some painting and a lot of cleaning. It just felt like the right time to try this. Until now, there's been no art theater between Dayton and Toledo. The Neon can be too far to drive if you live in Sidney or Wapakoneta," he said.

Since announcing the change, "I've had a lot of phone calls. People have offered thanks and congratulations. I just hope all those folks will make a habit of coming."

For now, the switch is an experiment.

First-weekend attractions included: "The Duchess," "W.," "Choke" and "Religulous."

By comparison, Movies 5, a mile away in the Sherwood Shopping Center off Market Street, was offering "Madagascar 2," "The Haunting of Molly Hartley," "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," "High School Musical 3" and "Saw 5."

Tickets at the Mayflower Art Theater are $5-$7. More information is available at (937) 339-3456 or www.teichertheaters.com.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2377 or tmorris@DaytonDailyNews.com.