PORT ANGELES — A purchase agreement has been signed that will revive the shuttered Lincoln Theater as a music and theater venue — and keep it in local hands.
Next Door Gastropub restaurant co-owner Jake Oppelt and a silent partner signed the contract-for-sale pact Thursday with building owner Wenatchee Productions Inc., doing business as Sun Basin Theatres, Sun Basin General Manager Bryan Cook and Oppelt said Saturday.
Oppelt said his partner in the purchase is a Port Angeles businessman who does not want to be identified “as a personal preference.”
Cook said a land-transfer document will be recorded with the Clallam County Auditor’s Office once Olympic Title works through details.
“In 30 to 45 days, after things get finalized, Jake will get the keys and take over and go to work,” Cook said.
Oppelt and Cook said the purchase price was $225,000 for the 132 E. First St. landmark.
Earnest money was put down as part of the no-contingencies contract last week, Oppelt added.
Oppelt said a for-profit limited liability partnership is being formed to own the building and renovate it as a music and theater production venue.
“I fully anticipate it being renovated and in working order within a year,” Oppelt said, adding it will retain the Lincoln Theater moniker.
“We don’t foresee it taking longer than that.”
Oppelt and his business partner were the unidentified purchasers of the building referred to by Cook in an April 1 Peninsula Daily News interview.
Cook said in the interview that their interest and commitment in buying the theater prompted him take the building off the market but that the sale was not far enough along for him to identify them.
“I wanted to put some of the rumors to rest,” Oppelt said Saturday morning while sitting in his restaurant 1½ blocks west of the Lincoln, which stands one storefront away from downtown’s busiest intersection at First and Lincoln streets.
Oppelt said a production company also is being formed to bring theater and music shows to the 10,031-square-foot landmark.
Community-minded project
“This is definitely a community-minded project and not some corporation coming in from out of town trying to do something different,” Oppelt said.
“The Lincoln will be a lot better but won’t lose what it has been.”
Oppelt, 32 and a 2002 Port Angeles High School graduate, said his company will pursue a vision for the building similar to that of the nonprofit Port Angeles Theatre Project, which wanted to transform the 480-seat theater into a community venue for theater and music productions.
The Project’s “Light Up the Lincoln” fundraising campaign was unable to raise enough to purchase the building after $80,000 in contributions was generated toward the effort from 145 donors.
“Whenever the land transfer is recorded, we’ll begin the process of refunding the donors,” Scott Nagel, the Theatre Project executive director, said Saturday.
“A lot of people want to see the concept of a performing arts center be viable.
“The important part is revitalizing the downtown, and if it’s something that helps accomplish that, it’s fantastic.”
The uses for the theater that Oppelt envisions are similar to those of Theatre Project organizers and others in the community interested in reviving the Lincoln, he said.
“We will definitely be open to community ideas and involvement throughout the project, and the final use as well,” Oppelt said.
Closed in March 2014
The Lincoln was shut down in March 2014 under pressure to convert its 35mm film system to far more expensive digital projection.
Cook, whose company also owns Deer Park Cinema east of the city limit, said “several groups” were interested in purchasing the 100-year-old former moviehouse.
Oppelt said a business plan for the project is still being put together.
“It’s a working business plan, as most business plans are,” he said.
Like the Theatre Project, Oppelt said, plans call for removing all three movie screens at the theater, two on the first floor and one on the second floor, and opening up the balcony.
A wall dividing the two mini-theaters on the first floor also would be removed.
The Clallam County Assessor’s Office had appraised the building at $230,901.
Oppelt said he and his partner are finalizing renovation estimates for the building.
“The necessary investment will be put forth,” he pledged.
“I don’t want to speak to many specifics but do want to say that [the Lincoln] will be revitalized and renovated.
“I’m very confident it will be worth more than what we put into it by the time we’re done, and I’m very confident it will be a successful business venture as well.
“We’re talking about a downtown scene that’s growing, and to have a historical theater venue that’s done properly, it will be above and beyond any other venues in this area for sure,” he added, comparing it to similar entertainment stages in Seattle and Denver.
“It’s going to be a key part of our downtown.”
Key to the venture’s success is the production company that will seek out and bring shows to the theater.
“That’s the biggest part that makes this practical,” Oppelt said.
A significant moment was removing the large building-for-sale sign last week.
It was plastered on the marquee for two long years.
“I’ll definitely be excited to put something else on that readerboard,” Oppelt said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.