PORT ANGELES — The Lincoln Theater’s future — and how to finance it — will be the topic of a discussion hosted by Lauren Jeffries-Johnson at Udjat Bead & Belly Dancing, 129 E. First St., this Wednesday.
The 5:30 p.m. meeting will focus on how to expedite the process of resurrecting the 98-year-old movie house, which shut down March 2.
Jeffries-Johnson wants to be inclusive in these talks. She also wants to nail down some of the ideas broached at last Wednesday’s Port Angeles Arts Council forum on the theater’s future.
About 40 people — including local artists, festival directors, business owners, City Council members and real estate agent Dan Gase — met a week ago to brainstorm what the Lincoln could become, just as Gase announced the theater is on the market for $259,000 through Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty.
This Wednesday, “I want people who are less about concepts,” said Jeffries-Johnson, “and more about conception.”
What the discussion calls for now, she believes, are people with expertise in renovation of historic structures, the building code, grant writing and other fundraising methods.
Sun Basin Theatres, the Wenatchee-based company that also owns Deer Park Cinema just east of Port Angeles, closed the Lincoln due to the potential cost — an estimated $200,000 — for converting its screens to digital technology.
Sun Basin General Manager Bryan Cook also said last week that a non-compete clause would be added to any sale or lease of the theater, preventing the new operator from showing first-run movies.
Concerts, performances and screenings of older films are among the allowed uses — all of which were discussed with enthusiasm during the arts council forum.
The Port Angeles Arts Council, a nongovernmental, nonprofit group whose mission is to promote art in the community — from music and dance to the visual arts and beyond — will host another follow-up meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 4, at Studio Bob, the event space upstairs at 1181/2 E. Front St.
