BALTIMORE — Baltimore’s last porn cinema, The Apex, was sold at an auction for $295,000 to a new owner who has indicated that he is willing to allow it to continue operating as an XXX theater, a local newspaper reported.
The winning bidder identified himself as Sam Singh, who said he purchased the building for investment purposes.
According to the Baltimore Business Journal, the projector room houses a box of old movie reels including a copy of the 1972 classic, “Deep Throat.” The 71-year-old building has retained much of its original seating, but a recent article says that the theatre now relies on digital projections via a DVD player to show its films.
Other bidders present at the auction had plans to covert the space into other ventures: one wished to replace the theater with apartments for low-income tenants and another wanted to turn it into a music venue.
A.J. Billig, who ran the auction for his auctioneering company, said that he was disappointed by the price of the final sale.
The Apex is the last of what were several erotic theaters in the area, reflecting a national trend. A 1970s census showed that there were 750 adult theaters in the U.S. By 1989, that number dropped below 250 and continued to fall.
