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The last of Jerusalem's classic movie houses looks like it'll remain standing, at least for now, even if it does stop showing movies. The Smadar Theater, which sits on a picturesque residential side-street in the German Colony, celebrated its 80th birthday last year, but due to a dispute between sisters and Smadar owners Sara Harish and Nava Chechik, local courts recently ordered that the business be sold.

The sisters are the heiresses of one Arieh Chechik, who bought out three business partners to become sole owner of the art house theater a few years after the foursome were granted proprietorship of the venue following their honorable discharges from the IDF in 1949. Chechik et al had started calling the theater "Smadar" after the moniker garnered the most votes in a newspaper contest to rename the cinema, which had, under previous proprietors, been called The Orient and The Regency.

Following the announcement of the court order earlier this year to sell the Smadar, champions of Jerusalem culture sprung into action in an attempt to it. Deputy Mayor Yosef Alalu, holder of the municipal government's culture portfolio, told Ha'aretz a few weeks ago that finding an effective strategy for preserving the institution would be tough, since despite being a cultural treasure, it's a private business. Regardless, Alalu asserted, cinema closures "mostly affect young people, whom we'd like to stay in the city. It's a hard blow."

Thankfully, the Municipality of Jerusalem's Planning and Building Committee announced earlier this week that it had found a solution and had decided to approve Mayor Nir Barkat's request that the Smadar be added to Jerusalem's list of protected landmarks. This status for the building means that regardless of whatever deal the lawyers of Sara Harish and Nava Chechik cut with investors, the Smadar can't be torn down or altered in any way. So if Abercrombie & Fitch, for example, takes over, the retailer's store design team will need to take into account the existing structure.

Naomi Tzur, who oversees Jerusalem's environmental portfolio, recently pointed out in a statement that this case is an especially noteworthy one in that it sits at the crossroads of cultural and green needs. "The Smadar Theater is a veteran Jerusalem institution, and it's one of the city's cultural anchors, an example that highlights the importance of preservation, with equal relevance for old and young people of the city alike," she said.

The story of the Smadar's need for redemption is, unfortunately, hardly an exception. The soul of Jerusalem's movie-going scene has been fighting for survival in recent months, with big-name international clothing shops opening their doors, effectively displacing the cinemas.

The Gap opened two weeks ago at the Alrov Mamilla Avenue mall, where talks were stalled to open a new multiplex due to pressures from the religious lobby, while H&M is set to take the place of the Malcha Mall's cinema in a few weeks. Efforts to bring mainstream movie-going options back to Jerusalem's downtown, which once was home to a host of historic movie houses, are have likewise been nixed by the theocrats.