Amid resignation and money questions, Osio board votes to dissolve and abandon theater revival effort.

When, in September 2025, a group of local movie enthusiasts started the Osio Arts Foundation hoping to resurrect the beloved Osio Theater in downtown Monterey, some thought they were shooting for the stars – after all, there had been attempts to reopen the cinema before. But the group quickly dove into lease negotiations with the building owner, Green Valley Corporation based in San Jose.

They started two GoFundMe campaigns to raise money for the effort. They incorporated as a nonprofit. After a walkthrough and a decision to take the space more or less as is, they estimated an opening six months after the lease was signed.

“We are shooting for [a] late 2026 opening,” Brant Wilkinson wrote on May 31.

Wilkinson, a retired Monterey teacher, spearheaded the project and served as the board’s treasurer.

That was until mid-July, when Wilkinson resigned from the foundation board, accusing the landlord of acting in bad faith. “I became concerned about the condition of the building and whether major building systems including HVAC, electrical plumbing and other are maintained as required under Green Valley Corporation’s ground lease with the City of Monterey.” (The City owns the land under Osio Plaza.)

Sam Al-Maqtari joined the Osio board as vice president. After Wilkinson’s resignation, he began serving as president. Until July 21, Al-Maqtari said the intention was to continue as planned, and that six of the foundation’s 10 board members remained, including founding member Patrice Parks, another retired teacher.

At the group’s first meeting back in September, Parks introduced Wilkinson: “Brant is the man of the hour and the heart and soul of this whole crazy scheme to get the Osio back open,” she said.

Then on Tuesday, July 21, Al-Maqtari reports the board held an emergency meeting and decided dissolve itself.

About $85,000 from 170 donations combined are sitting in the GoFundMe accounts, which now appear inactive and display messages announcing that the project is off and refunds are being issued.

“That was not the board’s decision,” Al-Maqtari said prior to the July 21 vote to disband. “As much of a visionary [Wilkinson] is, he is a retired teacher who has no experience with how a nonprofit works.”

Wilkinson was surprised by the foundation plans to continue working with Green Valley, and that it was not planning to immediately reimburse donors. They gave money for a plan that now, in Wilkinson’s estimation, failed. A chunk of those funds came from his family members; he says he will make sure everybody is refunded. “I had to make a moral decision,” he says.

Just hours earlier, Al-Maqtari was optimistic about the reopening timeline. “Nothing is off the table. If something changes in our current plan, we will let people know.”