TopStory
The Henry Strater Theatre awning over Main Avenue this week. The theater, which is actually in a different building from the Strater Hotel, was leased and managed by the hotel for decades. In March 2020, then-Strater Hotel owner Rod Barker terminated the lease because of financial concerns. The theater has been dark since./ Photo by Jonathan Romeo
Left in the dark Future of now-shuttered Henry Strater Theatre remains in limbo by Jonathan Romeo
T
ucked away in the heart of downtown Durango is a beloved, historic theater that had its lights turned off during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as the world slowly reopens, it’s uncertain whether those lights will be turned back on. “I hope the theater comes back,” said Nick Anesi, a local lawyer who serves as the representative for a group of mostly longtime Durango families – known as Main Avenue Properties LLC – that own the property. “But I don’t know that it will.” The Henry Strater Theatre, known more affectionately as “The Hank,” had become one of Durango’s most prized event spaces, providing endless entertainment in its storied 60-year history. Located adjacent to (and technically connected with) the Strater Hotel in the 600 block of Main Avenue, the theater itself is not a part of the hotel property – a common misconception. Instead, all those 58 years hosting concerts and festivals for the community, Main Avenue Properties was leasing the theater to the Strater Hotel, which managed the event space. In March 2020, with COVID-19 causing shutdowns across the country, the situation for the Henry Strater Theatre started to unravel. For some time, Rod Barker, thenpresident and CEO of the Strater Hotel, had grappled with keeping the theater running, with each year becoming harder to remain profitable and meet its high rent: about $100,000 a year all told with utilities and maintenance. Barker, in an interview with The Durango Telegraph, said
over the years he had offered to purchase the property, which would have allowed him to make necessary building improvements. But the two sides couldn’t agree on a selling price. And with each year, the terms of the lease would increase, despite pleas for the rent to go down. So, even before the onset of the pandemic, Barker had made the decision to close the theatre. “(The pandemic) just solidified the idea it was time for us to stop leading the charge in the theater,” Barker said. “It was a difficult decision.” Main Avenue Properties, for its part, says it was caught off guard by Barker’s decision to abruptly close the theater. A rent abatement was requested for March 2020, which was granted, but then, shortly after, Barker removed all the equipment and seating from the event space, and closed the two points of access from the hotel to the theater with cinder blocks and mortar – all without notifying Main Avenue Properties. “After that, communications ceased,” Anesi said. “It was a strange series of events. But then that was the end of it.” Barker admits communications were difficult during that time. But he said years of failing to agree on a purchase price, coupled with rising rents and the uncertainty of the pandemic, drove home the reality there was no future in the Strater running the theater. “I guess I didn’t make my position clear enough that the rent had to go down in order for us to stay there,” he said. “But I saw what was coming down the pike.” In the months since, the Henry Strater Theatre has remained dark, with little movement on its future. Anesi said there’s constant interest in renting the Henry Strater The-
telegraph
atre from nonprofits or other organizations for one-time events. But, unfortunately, even though it had been listed with a broker, no one has expressed a desire to take on the task of managing the venue on a long-term basis (Anesi said the listed lease price is actually lower than the assessed value. He did not provide that number by press time). “We’re kind of in a state of limbo until someone wants to lease it,” he said. At the same time, the entire theater property – a 20,000 sq. ft. lot, which includes additional space above the theater and to the south – was listed around $3.5 million. While the property did draw interest, most checked out after seeing what it would cost to either convert the space for another use or knock it down and rebuild something like a mixed-use development. “The task of redeveloping that property is a very big one,” Anesi said. As it stands, the property has been taken off the market. And important to note, Main Avenue Properties would prefer the property continue on as the Henry Strater Theatre. “They’d like to see the theater revitalized,” Anesi said. “But I don’t know how viable theaters are right now. Maybe it’s not currently as promising a business endeavor in today’s world.” Indeed, life hasn’t been easy on theaters lately. The Animas City Theatre, Durango’s go-to concert spot, was closed for 15 months during the pandemic, said coowner Michele Redding. One of the main reasons the venue stayed afloat, she said, was because the landlord didn’t charge rent all those months. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have survived,” she said.
»
Nov. 11, 2021 n
9
