John Solin and Michel Gahard, owners of Oak Harbor Cinemas, are ready to move on and sell the business and the building, which might or might not remain a theater, according to Solin.

For 43 years, generations of people from Oak Harbor and Whidbey Island have entered through the doors of the building at 1321 Southwest Barlow Street to enjoy some of the top movies in their first run.

After putting the building and the business up for sale for $1.7 million in December, according to Crexi.com, Solin said they have spoken with a handful of potential buyers, but none of them has made an offer yet.

Solin said he had originally planned to sell the business for good within a year of completing renovation work, which began in 2019. However, the pandemic required Solin and Gahard to hang on until the right time to sell came and were able to provide financial information.

Now, at 76, Solin is ready to ski, play more golf and continue to work as the treasurer of the Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum (which is currently in the process of constructing a new facility), while Gahard might focus on other business ventures.

There has been some speculation on Facebook that the business is being sold due to SPiN Cafe moving nearby. The nonprofit serves meals and offers services to homeless people.

“The speculation is 100% inaccurate,” said Solin, adding that he has been planning to sell the business since before the nonprofit moved in.

Solin specified that he supports what SPiN Cafe does for the unhoused community, but he believes it should not have been opened in a commercial area. Nevertheless, he said, it did not play a part in his decision.

Solin built and opened the theater in 1981, inspired by a conversation he had with co-workers at his real estate job where they talked about the need for a new movie theater in Oak Harbor.

At the time, he said, the cinema offered state of the art screens, speakers and seats.

“People appreciated having the same film presentation on a screen in Oak Harbor that they would get if they went to Seattle,” Solin said.

Solin operated the cinema until 1990, selling the business but leasing the building to another company for 10 years. Another tenant, Far Away Entertainment, operated the theater until 2019.

After Solin again took the reins of the business with Gahard, the owners remodeled the theater, replacing the screens, the speakers, the floors, the paint and the seats, which are now luxury motorized recliners. Solin and Gahard also added a beer and wine bar. The renovations took place during the pandemic, and Oak Harbor Cinemas reopened full time in May 2021.

He expects the buyer will keep the staff and continue to operate the building as a cinema, which went through a $300,000 makeover.

“It would make no sense to shut it down and try to convert it to some other use,” he said. “It is a profitable business now that we’ve made all the improvements.”