The tattered old shell of Movie Pitchers remains near the intersection of Bienville and Canal Streets – for now.

  Last fall, public outcry ensued when plans for the construction of a Sav-A-Center store included a parking lot on the site of Movie Pitchers. Independent film buffs bemoaned the loss of a treasured theater, while some neighborhood residents expressed concern over the construction of another monolith grocer.

  One win, one loss came out of the battle to save the movie house.

  The landlord ordered Movie Pitchers to vacate the premises, and after a brief struggle, it closed shop late last year. Hopes for the local icon resurfacing elsewhere were recently dashed when Movie Pitchers proprietor Lee Prevost sold his house and moved to Colorado two weeks ago.

  However, the structure of the defunct movie house remains, thanks to efforts by District A City Councilman Scott Shea and the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization (MCNO). Fighting to save Movie Pitchers, they achieved a compromise when the Housing Conservation Committee ordered that a street front section of the building at 3941 Bienville Street remain intact.

  Though disappointed that Movie Pitchers was unable to stay up and running, Val Dansereau, vice president of MCNO, says he is glad that the conservation moratorium prevented what he dubbed "a vast sea of parking," echoing a worry expressed by other MCNO members.

  Councilman Shea agrees. "We wanted to save Movie Pitchers," Shea says. "We always wanted that. But it’s good that the building is still there." Plans for the building have not yet been determined.

  The City of New Orleans’ City Planning Commission holds commercial buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to a standard in a "big box ordinance" with regards to design, landscaping and keeping to an area’s architecture. A key component in the compromise was that three commercial buildings also be constructed on the property’s Carrollton Avenue front to promote more pedestrian use of the property and not allow the Sav-A-Center and its parking lot to dominate the corner – something the MCNO lobbied for heavily.

  Responsible for the design of the property is Steve Graves, vice president of the firm Burgdahl & Graves Architects. Graves says the buildings on Carrollton will be three separate structures of varying sizes. He adds he knows of no prospective tenants for the buildings, as well as for the battered and pilfered Movie Pitchers site. The process is moving along slowly since Sav-A-Center is "in the grocery business, not the real estate business," he says. The buildings hold "a myriad of possibilities," he adds, saying he has heard speculation of uses ranging from an ice cream parlor to a shoe repair store.

  Meanwhile, there is some good news for fans of independent cinema. Movie Pitchers general manager and co-film booker Ellis Fortinberry has become part owner, general manager and film booker for The Plaza Movies 5 at the Lake Forest Shopping Center. A portion of Movie Pitchers fare is entering the Plaza schedule, he says.

  "Hollywood films pay the bills," Fortinberry acknowledges. "But what we’re also trying to do is show African-American independent films here. That’s because there’s no local outlet for African-American films in New Orleans and, except for Canal Place, there’s now no local outlet for any independent films.".