Hilliard Theatre (not political propaganda)

[Mike Deneen]

It was not used as a theater for 55 years.

I used to walk by it every day on my way to Mt. Carmel Grade School....from everything I have heard, it was in much worse shape than the Hilliard Theater.

http://www.cptonline.org/didyouknow/renovation.cfm

[robert dobush]

Thanx for all the comments. The Gordon Square was recently written up in the PD and cost mentioned in the article to renovate was 2.5 to 3 million. A good portion of the money has been raised. At a recent Beck Center forum a city official told the crowd it would cost 8 million. I believe he meant but did not articulate the fact that the figure included property acquisition, and adherence to the plans in the feasibility study released by the city. This included parking, landscaping, etc. The Gordon Square theater is almost identical in size the the Westwood, and in great need of plaster work, etc. as mine does. The stage area in my place is in good shape and much of the ornamental plaster along the walls is OK. The silk-screen fake windows in front of the Organ room are also fine. Any comments appreciated! bob

[Phil Florian]

I am curious, is the theater portion at all usable for anything right now? I mean, could people "rent" it for showing movies that are projected with their own equipment? I mean, I have for a couple years attended the Ohio Independent Film Festival at the Cleveland Public Theater and that place, though an awesome space, is far from the comfort of the big local movie houses. But it was a great place to see independent pictures.

But for the sake of a fun and cool movie night, if someone, say, had their own projector and sound system and was showing a film or three at no cost to the viewers could such a thing occur? What would get people in there to at least see the place used, even if for odd fund raiser type events or something. Maybe a "haunted theater" at Halloween or something. Get it used for something! I saw those pics on the photoblog and my mouth watered. What a fantastic space!!

[John Farina]

Hello Everyone - I chatted a bit with Bob at the Arts Forum a few months ago and suggested that he convert the theater into housing. Since there isn't a lot of land for parking and a new theater happening at the Gordon Square Arts District, it would make sense to avoid going into the theater business. It is not terribly profitable for smaller theaters anymore.

I think it could be very cool live/work space. It would be an innovative use of the property and show how creative Lakewood can be. I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't some grant monies available to make that happen as well.

Just a thought...

[Dryck Bennett]

I am heartened to see the high interest of the public in this facility. I thought I might take a few moments to provide more details into City’s activities regarding this property for your consideration.

With the approval of Lakewood City Council and the appreciated cooperation of the current owner in Summer of 2005, the City hired respected and nationally recognized historic theater consultant, Westlake, Reed and Leskosky, to conduct a preliminary feasibility study to determine possible uses for this building. A copy of the completed study was provided to Council. The study explored as potential uses a split screen cinema, a draft house cinema, a theater in the round, a thrust stage, a gymnastics facility or a full stage house. Any redevelopment of this theater must compliment the Beck Center and other entertainment venues currently existing within our boundaries. A copy of this study is available in our office.

As outlined in this thread, the issues surrounding the Hilliard Theater are complicated. Since the study, the Planning Department has continued researching the restoration of historic theaters to gain a better understanding of the process, opportunities, and costs. The department has researched the redevelopment of these types of facilities and has reviewed literature from multiple organizations to better understand the financing mechanisms available for the renovation of this property.

On July 10th, Emma Petrie Barcelona and myself met with the project manager for the Gordon Square Capital Theater project, Matt Weiderhold, to better understand the organization’s plans for this theater. We learned that Detroit Shoreway Development Corporation and/or the organizations that preceded it have owned this vacant theater since late 1970’s. It was only in the past two years after many false starts that theater faces the real potential for redevelopment. It should be noted that Detroit Shoreway Development Corporation not only owns this facility but will also operate it. This community development corporation has painstakingly over last three decades acquired significant property in the blocks surrounding the theater enabling it to spearhead a true district redevelopment.

At the “Restoring Your Historic Theater Conferenceâ€Â￾ attended by Director Jordan last month, he repeatedly heard the importance of proper planning on these projects from experts involved in the renovation of historic theaters. Of those who have successfully redeveloped these types of structures who participated in the conference, many indicated that they mistakenly proceeded too early with their projects by not providing proper attention to the planning process. These premature starts caused expensive mistakes. All indicated that these types of redevelopments are always a long process because of the complexities involved with an aged building adaptively re-used for a new market purpose. Also, inducing other government agencies to provide funding due to the high cost of this type of renovation takes time.

To date, the City has not received a viable, written proposal with evidence of financing to redevelop this property from any organization or private entity. City staff has continued to meet internally to discuss the next steps with renovating the theater. The study provided cost estimates for the potential redevelopment of the site. These estimates made clear that any redevelopment of the theater would be very expensive.

For these reasons, the City has chosen to proceed carefully through a well-conceived process to tackle this important project. Together, I am hopeful that we can work together to make this challenging redevelopment a reality. I would encourage those of you with an interest or an idea to redevelop the site to contact our office.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Dryck

Thanks for the update from City Hall and the Planning Department.


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[Stan Austin]

Dryck--Thank you for the detailed, historical, and instructive reply as to what the City is doing regarding the old Westwood Theater.

What you have described outlines a period of activity of over three years on this matter. Presumably, your work has been available to the public and elected representatives.

I would have to assume that bringing this topic up now only demonstrates a lack of due dillegence that is required for those interested in public leadership.

Stan Austin

[Ed FitzGerald]

Stan-

I'm well aware of the study that was done regarding the Hilliard Triangle, as I voted to fund that study. I also know that no one from the City has talked to the owner in two years, and if we don't do something with the property soon, any opportunities to preserve it will be gone.

Speaking of due diligence, and possible parking, did you know that a commercial property within 200 yards of the theatre was recently in foreclosure and went to a sheriff's sale? And that if the Parking Acquisition Fund hadn't been zeroed out recently, we would have had the funds to acquire it?

My suggestion, again, is that even if we can't afford a total renovation of the facility, we find some alternate use for it, as Mr. Farina suggests. I have stayed out of this thread because I was hopeful that, as I discussed with the owner, there might be a groundswell of public interest in the facility which might extend its life until a suitable investor is found.

[robert dobush]

I was happy to see the continued interest in the theater.. The last week or so has been taken up by cleaning up the basement spaces after the recent flooding. It was also interesting to read Mr. Bennett's summary of recent activities regarding the theater. None of these activities, unfortunately involved any contact or notification with the actual owner of the building!(myself). Also, his statement regarding there never being a written plan with financing regarding the theater is false. The video production facility plan was well thought out, had capital available, and was well done-there was even a video tape done to accompany the submission. I still have the submission and was disappointed when it was rejected. Any and all ideas, thoughts are welcome as usual. The question regarding if the space is still useable for anything can best be answered by - yes, it might be usable for something but one would never get a permit from the city to use it for anything. thanx, bob dobush

[Brad Humphreys]

I am bumping this…..

I want to see what others who saw the Hilliard Square/Westwood Theatre on the home tour yesterday thought?

My thoughts:
1) Absolutely a fantastic building (but in need of a lot attention).

2) In speaking with Bob Dobush, he seems to truly want to see something positive and unique come of the building. (Not a drug store)

3) Very much appreciate the city taking an interest in trying to make something happen. But I expect that minimally involving the current owner is some strategic maneuver on their part - and in this case seems to be probably unproductive.

4) As a person who works with government bureaucracy, I have some empathy for Mr. Dobush. “Deliberate Planningâ€￾ is code for passive planning and “We want statementsâ€￾, not “We can do statementsâ€￾. With the limited toolset that cities have, an active player will be needed and seems to be what Bob Dobush is pleading for.

I am asking this question not being coy, but seriously curious (or possibly uninformed): Why does there seem that there was much more undue (IMHO) effort to save the Hall House (a secondary structure to the actual house) relative to this theatre? There may be more 3rd party efforts than discussed in this thread (that’s why I am asking). If there is, I would be more than willing to volunteer to help out.

[michael gill]

Thanks for bumping, Brad.

I think one reason there seemed to be a lot of attention paid to the Hall House is that it was a much more attainable project. For about $30,000 the house could have been moved. There was a place to put it, and a developer (descendent of the Halls) who would have restored it.

It's not as spectacular a building as the theater, and it wouldn't have a public purpose, but it was attainable.

The Hilliard should be attainable too, but it needs a whole lot more money (maybe three hundred times that sum) and there are other big problems to solve in the way of business planning and property acquisition for parking. It would be a very good start for someone to buy the building and put on a new roof. That would stablize it and buy time to solve the parking problem, develop a business plan, etc.

Would the city allow someone to buy it and put on a new roof, without having a business plan and parking and full-functioning details worked out? Might be a lot easier to find $1 million and buy some time than to sit by and watch it rot while waiting for someone to come up with $10 million.

[Stephen Eisel]

Is the theatre across the street from 7-11 on Hillirad?

[Jim O'Bryan]

Is the theatre across the street from 7-11 on Hillirad?

Yes

Michael

For much less you can get two other theaters in town and clean them up.

As much as I would love to keep Westwood Art Theater, you are looking at nightmares to save. Eminent domain on Silver Coast(I would say yes), then there is the damage down.

On the flip side I wonder if there is any way to save it except as a bar? Heights could not make theirs work, The theater in Little Italy will never come back.

FWIW


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[Will Brown]

I can't recall when there was adequate parking at this facility, and even if you razed the whole neighborhood there wouldn't be enough parking to support a first-run theater.

Also, with cable, internet, and rentals, I suspect their is a rapidly diminishing interest in attending a movie theater and wading through a sticky lobby and viewing area, to see a movie at the time the theater chooses to show it. Throughout our area, old theaters have been sliced into multiplexes, and only multiplexes, if any, are being built.

I'm not even sure a restored theater would be able to show first-run movies, as I think the rights are bought up by the chains. So the most we could hope for would be classics and art films, and when they tried to show art films at the Westwood, they didn't do well. There are apparently not enough people in the whole Cleveland area to support multiple art film venues. As I recall, the Westwood didn't show porn, but some of their art films might very well have been called porn in this very conservative community.

So I don't see economic viability as a movie theater, and I think we already have enough venues for live shows.

Perhaps the city could buy the property and use it to build their new jail!

[robert dobush]

Yes, it should be feasible to sell to someone who could invest in the roof and stabilize it. The city shouldnt be in the business of picking buyers for any property (unless they own it) . A popular way to transact commercial property sales is through private financing, thus eliminating undue influence from parties not interested in the property's survival otherwise. . thanx, bob d.