SALEM — There will be a second act for Cinema Salem after all.
Two longtime Salem residents, Marshall Strauss and Elaine Gerdine, have purchased the five-screen theater from Paul Van Ness, and with a small management team — which includes John Andrews of Creative Collective — the couple aims to reopen the much-loved independent theater later this spring and expand its cultural and artistic presence in the region.
Strauss, who stepped down last year as CEO of the Salem-based Workplace Giving Alliance, said he and his wife don’t just see this as an opportunity to save something that’s been part of the community for 40 years, but it’s also part of an ongoing cultural evolution for Salem as it rediscovers its role as a regional hub north of Boston.
“We like that and…
