Editorial: Two thumbs down for Novato’s theater investment
There’s no question that looking back, the city officials might have been wise to not become a financial principal in the plan.
It’s finally “The End” for hopes that the long-shuttered Novato Theater would once again light up Novato’s Old Town.
The intention of the city’s significant investment – more than $1 million – is being rewarded with a $229,000 return and promise that the vacancy on Grant Avenue will be filled with a cafe and housing.
Not a great return for the budget-strapped city.
The county, also, is out $300,000.
Both governments financially backed initiatives to reopen the movie house, a fixture in downtown since it opened in 1945.
In 1991, the theater closed its doors and the city bought the property as part of its downtown redevelopment work.
The reopened theater was supposed to be one of the visual and economic anchors – a draw – for the newly overhauled Old Town.
More than 30 years later, after several civic-spirited initiatives to raise the money needed to repair and reopen the theater, the property has been sold to a developer who plans to build a ground floor cafe with an office and two apartments above. The proposal is in keeping with the commercial and residential mix that lines the historic downtown.
At least the noteworthy boarded-up gap on the north side of Grant will be filled.
The sad ending is that all of the hope, hard work and investment is for naught, having fallen short of predictions of success. Optimism that the theater could just be reopened (and its projectors switched back on) sank into a larger project that required the movie house to be torn down to be rebuilt in accord with modern building and safety codes.
The hope of community leaders and donors was that Novato could accomplish the successful rebirth of closed downtown theaters that has taken place in San Rafael and Larkspur.
But costs grew faster than donations.
At the same time, the economics of the movie industry have also gone through a seismic shift with cable, streaming and home theaters becoming significant competition for buying tickets to watch a movie on the bigger screen.
There’s no question that looking back, the city officials might have been wise to not become a financial principal in the plan.
But at each step, there was confidence in the promises. In addition, with the city owning the building and having promised it would be used for a theater, its continued investment was needed to move the plan forward to completion.
Which never happened.
The city’s investment produced a stronger foundation equipped with power conduits in preparation for a new theater, modeled after the 1945 version.
Much of that work wound up diminishing the property’s real estate value and will have to be torn out to accommodate the new development.
The plot has been a bumpy one.
But the gap on Grant will be filled with a cafe that should draw people to Old Town. The much-needed housing is another plus.
It is a step forward, but short of what was hoped for by many Novato residents.