The show must go on.

In this case, it’s the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

The Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday approved a lease agreement with the organization to occupy the former Fiesta Five Theater on State Street.

“In the coming year, the property at 916 State St. will be transformed into a state-of-the art film center,” SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling said. “The space will be a central hub for our annual film festival and a vibrant year-round destination that will foster dialogue, education and community.”

Durling said the space will be committed to showing diverse social, political, cultural and historical reality.

The entire facility will be upgraded. It will receive new seating, sound, heating and air conditioning, and modern projection and sound. The theater will have five auditoriums.

Auditorium one will be committed to first-run American, independent films, and auditorium two will feature international films. The third auditorium will feature older films. The fourth auditorium will feature documentaries from all countries with a focus on social justice messages. The fifth screen of the venue will show family programs.

In a slide that Durling showed to the council, some of the movies included “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “Coco” and “Inside Out.” He said the auditorium also will include animated features that appeal to “an older crowd.”

The new lobby will feature an art gallery that will focus on film-related exhibits.

Durling said the new film center will show films in Spanish also for free, as well as spotlight films made by Santa Barbara residents on the first Thursday of every month. Those films also will be free.

“Our city deserves to have a place like this,” Durling said. “The city and the downtown corridor deserve to have vibrancy and excitement.”

Durling said that when he first moved to Santa Barbara decades ago, downtown was vibrant and exciting. Things are not the same now.

“For me, to have seen the genesis of what has been happening has been heartbreaking. Because of that, we felt deeply inspired to do something,” Durling said. “Not talk about it, but actually do something.”

Durling, who sat on the State Street Master Plan Committee, has been outspoken about the slow pace of the committee’s work on State Street.

The City Council was thrilled with the lease agreement.

Councilwoman Meagan Harmon said she lived in New York City and recalls seeing films and how she bonded with her college classmates.

“I am so excited for that to grow in our community, for my kids to have access to a space like this,” she said. “It’s such an amazing thing. I can’t wait.”

The initial lease term is for five years, with a renewal option period of 25 years. SBIFF plans a $15 million fundraising campaign for renovation and long-term property maintenance.

SBIFF’s monthly rent in year one will be $16,500, and then $18,500 in years two and three, and $20,500 in years four and five. If the city and SBIFF agree on the option, years six through 10 would rent for $25,000 monthly, $30,000 monthly for years 11 through 15, $35,000 for years 16 through 20, $40,000 for years 21 though 25 and $45,000 for years 26 through 30.

The city said it will defer rent for the first six months and half the rent for the second part of the year. The deferred payments will be amortized over the remaining four years and before any 25-year period begins.

The theater was leased by the Metropolitan Theatres Corp., but the company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, and the city did not renew the lease for the building when it expired Sept. 30.

“I could not be more excited about this proposal today and what it could do for our entire community and downtown,” said Robin Elander, executive director of the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization.

Elander thanked Durling for all the work that he and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival have contributed to the community over the decades.

“I am very excited for what this can do for downtown,” Elander said.

Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon said the day was “momentous.”

She said SBIFF historically has been a place for people of all ages, perspectives and identities, and the new theater will take that inclusion to the next level.

“All members of our community can see themselves in beauty, in acceptance, in art, in the theater and empowering social justice and inclusivity, and there’s just something fundamental about what you bring and celebrate in our community that lets members of our community live out loud in a way I don’t think they would do otherwise,” Sneddon said.

Before the final vote to approve the lease agreement, Mayor Randy Rowse stuck two thumbs up in approval of the deal.

The vote was 7-0.