The deplorable condition of the Vineyard’s historic movie theatres and what can be done about them has occupied more than a few dinner table conversations in recent years. More often than not, speculation turns to the owners’ motivations and what might compel them to either sell the buildings or fix them up.

Now comes Mark Snider, a lifelong seasonal resident and owner of the Winnetu Oceanside Resort, with a creative idea to put the Strand and the Capawock theatres back into operation as early as this summer. Mr. Snider’s plan is to create a nonprofit organization, execute a ten-year lease with the Hall family trust, seek a million dollars in donations to restore the buildings and buy new equipment, and engage the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society to run them as a business.

Less than a week after he detailed his plan to the Gazette, Mr. Snider says he is already a third of the way to his revenue goal with commitments of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He has been roundly praised in comments on the Gazette website and on Facebook, but amid the accolades has come the perhaps inevitable sniping about the theatres’ owners and why they should end up profiting from their neglect.

Mr. Snider would not disclose the terms of the lease agreement, but said it was negotiated only after efforts to buy the buildings failed. While the owners will receive rent under the agreement, the Hall family is also contributing toward the project, he said.

About forty per cent of the money to be raised will be used to buy new digital equipment that could be removed from the theatres at the end of the ten-year lease, Mr. Snider said. Amortized over a decade, the remaining six hundred thousand dollars for improvements to the buildings seems a reasonable investment in turning what are now seen as community liabilities into assets.

More to the point, criticizing the plan because the Halls might gain some benefit is a version of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

At the very least, the plan offers the promise that two eyesores (and possibly three, with a planned facelift for the Island theatre) will finally be addressed. If it really works, downtown Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven will get a vitally needed economic shot in the arm. More than other businesses, movie theatres based in commercial districts tend to generate revenue for restaurants and retail establishments that surround them, giving people another reason to venture downtown.

There has been a lot of hand wringing about the Island’s rundown theatres, but until now not a tangible proposal to bring them back to life. Mr. Snider likes to say his plan will only work if the community gets behind it. If the Halls benefit along with everybody else, surely only the meanest of mean spirits would find fault with that.