LUSELAND — After a call for public interest in taking over the Luseland theatre building brought no response, it appears the building is destined for the wrecking ball.
An earlier decision by Luseland town council released in the December monthly mayor’s report stated, “The town of Luseland had a town hall meeting Nov. 17 at the Luseland Salvador Community Hall. Town council went over some key projects and highlights from 2022 and explained the asset management plan that they had completed by Gold Standard Engineering. The town informed residents they are working on the top recommendations in the plan, which require immediate attention such as the closure of the Luseland Theatre.
“While it was not an easy decision to make, the town has taken the advice of our engineer to close the theatre, as there are many public safety and health measures which require us to do so. However, the town is eager to work with the theatre board to keep our projector equipment and screen and move it over to the community hall. We will join the boards and hope to have a new show schedule some time in the new year and operate out of the community hall. Town council feels this will also help keep the hall busy and used more frequently, as rentals decreased significantly through COVID.”
Luseland Mayor Kathy Wurz adds, “The Town of Luseland has made a clear decision that we will no longer maintain and continue to put money into this facility. After completion of our asset management plan, our engineers had listed this as one of our buildings with the most deficiencies. It was deemed to be hazardous and be closed to the public until such time as an engineered study could be conducted to determine what would be needed in order to ensure public safety.”
The town posted a social media post asking if anyone or any group is interested in taking over the theatre building and seeing to its repair. The town advised they will be permanently disconnecting the heat and power in the near future as these utility costs will continue to rise due to carbon tax increases. Utilities for the theatre were over $4,000 in 2022 and four months into 2023, these utility costs are already over $3,000. The town office is accepting written proposals for the offer of interest in taking over.
Wurz also notes that as they already have a community hall, which has seen much decline in use, the Luseland Hall Board decided that they could make it work and move the theatre equipment over to the hall. This way they will still have the ability to run shows and more space which could lend itself to new ways to run events.
One of the theatre board members, Mike Hagel, joined the Luseland Hall board so that they could transition into one body.
The town, decided, after receiving some concerns about the closure of the theatre, that they would ask the public about interest in someone coming forward to take over the facility in a last attempt to see the old building saved. As of May 2, no one has stepped up to take on this endeavour.
“Right now, we are currently looking into companies to do asbestos testing so that we can be assured that the demolition would be done safely and get quotes on the actual demolition itself. Until we know these costs, we will not proceed further. We do plan to shut off the power/heat very soon, as we are spending close to $5.000 a year just to heat a building that isn’t being used,” says Wurz.
The Town of Luseland insures and owns this building.
The town has some other significant projects that need to be done at the hall and arena, which are priorities now. As most small urban communities can attest to, it is difficult to operate and maintain recreational facilities when your population is under 1,000 people.
“Sometimes difficult decisions need to be made in order to make sure taxes don’t skyrocket in turbulent economic times.”
A heritage site featuring a single-storey, wood-frame building located on Grand Avenue in Luseland was completed in 1921, to become known as Luseland Theatre. It was completed as part of a co-operative venture and quickly became an important gathering place for the rural community. Beyond the entrance lies a high-ceilinged large room which once held a raised stage. The gallery opposite the stage incorporates a projection booth.
