The details on a proposed purchase of Carson Valley Cinemas are on the screen at Tuesday’s Douglas County Parks & Recreation meeting.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
A proposal for Douglas County to purchase Carson Valley Cinemas might have been inspired by the long effort to establish a performing arts venue, but a crowd of around 80 residents heard that it would also be good for the businesses in the Ironwood Center, too.
On Tuesday, the Douglas County Parks & Recreation Advisory Board recommended purchasing the cinemas after hearing a largely positive response from residents. The project still has to go before Douglas County commissioners for approval.
Cinema operator Russ Levinson’s lease for the 26-year-old theater expires at the end of March, owner Kelly Bland said on Tuesday.
“(Levinson) has been a fantastic operator, but he is looking to do a life change,” Bland said. “I’ve explored some other options with other operators, but if the county doesn’t pursue it, it is quite likely to close.”
Bland said he has been looking for a buyer for the building for the last 2-3 years without any luck. The asking price is $2.9 million, but before the county could lease or purchase it, state law requires an appraisal, former County Assistant Manager Scott Morgan said.
Bland said his most recent bite came from the Veterans Administration, but that fell through last summer.
“When we found out this building was for sale, and it looked like our local theater may be closing down, we looked at it and decided it was worth exploring,” Morgan said. “This is an opportunity to preserve the local theater even with our No. 1 goal to make this the Lampe Park of performing arts.”
Funding for the project would come from room tax which Morgan said had a reserve of $5 million, thanks in part to the coronavirus outbreak.
Morgan said the Community Services Department essentially shut down, laying off staff and reducing its expenditures.
After hotels reopened a few months after the lockdown orders, they started renting rooms at a record rate.
Room tax revenues can only be used for a few things under state law, including funding the county’s two visitor’s authorities and parks and recreation.
The department is subject to allocations for county services, county commissioners were told on Thursday.
“This is step No. 3 in 10,000 to see this thing come to reality,” Morgan said. “We are operating at light speed. The county had a meeting with surrounding businesses and heard what they had to say. We want to make sure we are a good partner and a good neighbor.”
Morgan said that if the county purchased the building it would be taken off the tax rolls.
The theater, which was built in 1998, is the Ironwood Center’s anchor. When the Ironwood Center was first proposed in 1990, the plan was to have some sort of grocery store anchor the site.
Neither that nor a proposed traffic signal at Ironwood Drive and Highway 395 ever occurred. The Nevada Department of Transportation determined that the intersection was too close to the light at 395 and 88.
Lack of an anchor or access to the center was cited in a 1994 lawsuit against the developer by the owners of the Wendy’s and another in 1996 by the owners of the Dairy Queen.