Market Street Productions, the operators of the Tally Ho Theatre in Downtown Leesburg since 2008 has announced they will be vacating the theater Sept. 3.

Opened during the Depression era, the theater has been a mainstay of downtown Leesburg for more than 80 years.

Operations Manager for Market Street Productions, Dave Wright pointed to several reasons for the decision to move, particularly the competition of state-of-the-art cinemas and costs of operating a theater.

Times-Mirror File Photo/Elizabeth Dodd Assistant Manager, Matt Holcomb, 17, of Leesburg, waits to turn down the lights for a movie in the original projector booth at the Tally Ho Theatre on April 5, 2007.

However, the most important reasoning behind making the move was the conversion of 35 mm film to digital projection, which is becoming more and more the norm in the theater industry. Tally Ho operates their films in 35 mm.

“Within the next 12 months, the major studios will no longer produce and ship 35 mm prints and will be 100 percent digital by the end of 2013,” Wright said in the release. “Because we do not own the space, we could not take the venue in the direction it would need to go to sustain itself long-term.”

Times-Mirror File Photo/Greg Nash The Marksmen and Joan Gardner’s puppets perform Windsor McCay’s Little Nemo in Wonderland at the Tally Ho during First Night celebrations in downtown Leesburg on New Years Eve in 2008.

The building is owned by Acorn Property Development.

In 2010, Tally Ho’s owner at the time, Don Devine, of Devine Commercial Inc. in Leesburg, put the cinema building up for sale with a $2.6 million ticket price.

Devine has since announced his intention to renovate the Tally Ho space and continue its use for live arts and alternative cinema. He released the following statement, “The Tally-Ho theater will continue to operate under Tally Ho Productions LLC, and Market St Productions, the sub tenant, will cease operating the venue on September 8, 2012. We’ve enjoyed keeping the Tally Ho operating as a first run movie house and performing arts venue for the past 12 years after Regal ceased operations and my company purchased the property. We also wish to thank David Wright, manager of Market St Productions, for his excellent leadership and management over the last five years. Due to increased competition from three new local multiplexes with a fourth and fifth planned, we find that this venue as a first run movie house has run its course. We will renovate/refresh/paint/clean the venue and operate it with an emphasis on the performing arts and art/foreign films. We will offer the venue to the Loudoun Symphony and local/regional non-profits, existing comedy acts, regional and national bands, corporate events, public meetings, concerts, and private event rentals.”

According to Wright, he and his partners are looking at the move as positive because it will afford them the opportunity to grow their live comedic performances that have been known for in their five years at Tally Ho.

Times-Mirror File Photo/Andrew Farewell Till Benny and 4-year-old Christina Cooper are the first in line to purchase tickets for the New Tally Ho theatre from manager Bob Jones around 2002. The tickets that admitted them to the showing of Lilo & Stitch are going to the Leesburg Museum.

In addition to showing first-run films, Market Street has been running other special programs, particularly Last Ham Standing, a family-friendly improv comedy show like the popular “Whose Line is it Anyway?” Other popular programs include the Kids Summer Cinema, Tally Ho Hauntings, Friday Night Live and $3 Thursday Programs.

With a very popular following, Wright says the production company will be moving their monthly show to Franklin Park Arts Center with their first show scheduled for Sept. 21.

Market Street has planned several special events and a few surprises for the month of August, before it closes its doors Labor Day weekend.