Some Sydney residents are making a last-ditch attempt to save the Vogue Theatre from the wrecking ball.

A co-operative group that tried to buy the building at one time will ask the Cape Breton Regional Municipal Council to contact owner Martin Chernin and convince him to scrap plans to tear down the movie theatre.

"We are going to ask council to intervene and find a way to work with Mr. Chernin to find a better solution to this," co-operative member Robin Jensen said.

But Chernin said he isn't interested, and council has few options because the land is zoned commercial, the sale has gone through and the business community supports his plan to build an office building on the site.

The Vogue is scheduled to be torn down at the end of March or in early April.

Chernin said people who think there is a demand for a downtown theatre had their chance to do something about it.

"They had nine years to act upon it, nothing happened," he said.

The only concession Chernin will make to theatre lovers is a commemorative wall in the lobby of the replacement three-storey office building.

"I'm talking to the architect now, maybe having what we would call a Vogue Wall, and if there's anything in here of some memorabilia that we can put on that to show what was here in the past," he said.

The art deco-style theatre on Charlotte Street was built in 1939, but it's been empty for about nine years. Chernin, a commercial developer, bought the building last month.

A campaign has been underway to save the Vogue and maintain it as a theatre, with hundreds signing an online petition.