 The City of Ottawa declared the theatre building as a heritage site under the "Ontario Heritage Act" on 8 October 2008, a designation which prohibits outright demolition of the building.Public and community concern over the closure of the Mayfair and interest in its heritage value resulted in the formation of the Friends of the Mayfair Theatre, a loosely organized community group that claimed several hundred members.In November 2008, a new partnership consisting of filmmakers Lee Demarbre and Ian Driscoll, projectionist and film conservator Paul Gordon and film scholar John Yemen announced that they had signed a ten-year lease with owner Stephen Ng.