Prospective buyers could tear down or gut 4th Avenue Theatre

Rare architectural gem lost its conservation status years ago

By MARK BAECHTEL
Anchorage Daily News

Published: December 17, 2005
Last Modified: December 17, 2005 at 08:33 AM

Concern this week over the pending sale of the 4th Avenue Theatre and fear it could be demolished have raised an obvious question: Isn't this 58-year-old Art Deco "jewel box" already protected?

The answer: It once was.

When the theater opened in 1947, it attracted the attention of critics who said its design and appointments were unparalleled on the West Coast. After four decades and several owners, it began an extended period of genteel decline.

In 1985, Oregon-based Thomas E. Moyer Theaters bought the building, and then-Mayor Tony Knowles brokered a deal to preserve its historical character. The city spent $600,000 to buy a "conservation easement," maintaining the theater's façade and interior for posterity. Knowles also negotiated a right-of-first-refusal in any sale through Dec. 31 of this year: For $875,000, the city could own the theater free and clear.

Four years later, TEMT defaulted on its bank loan. According to Gina Holloman at Anchorage Historic Properties Inc., the administration of Mayor Tom Fink passed up an opportunity to take over mortgage payments and resell the building while maintaining preservation rights. When the bank foreclosed, the city lost both the easement and its 20-year right-to-purchase option.

Robert Gottstein bought the building in a foreclosure sale in 1991 and offered to put the easement back in force if the city would pay him $300,000. No deal, the Fink administration said.

"Without my purchase of the 4th Avenue Theatre, it's likely the building would have been torn down," Gottstein said. "Certainly, after all the time and money I've put into the building, I'd like to see it preserved, but that's no longer my responsibility. If the building's going to be preserved, the community will have to step up to the plate."

The Begich administration is working to help the community do just that, said Robin Ward, director of the municipality's Heritage Land Bank. "We could see facilitating formation of a nonprofit organization to oversee (these efforts)."

In the last week, the theater's preservation has grown more urgent. Peach Investments, a San Francisco-based development concern owned by Joe and Maria Fang, made an offer on the theater in support of its plan to build a 24-story mixed-use tower directly behind it. Rumors circulated that Peach planned to gut the theater, perhaps putting a parking structure or health club in its place.

But Derrick Chang, Peach Investments' representative in Anchorage, called the rumors "unfortunate."

"We are only prospective and potential buyers," Chang said. "There's no signed agreement yet." The idea of a health club in the building "is something we have discussed casually -- maybe putting it in the basement, which is not a part of the theater space. In terms of the theater itself and the façade, we haven't discussed what we'd do. We've been trying to work with the city to see how we might preserve the building."

Ward said she's received a raft of phone calls and e-mails on the subject recently. Her read of public sentiment is that the building should be preserved and any preservation efforts should be focused on the building's public spaces.

"That's the façade, the lobby area, the grand staircase, the theater space, balcony and kitchen used within the current operation," Ward said. "The thinking is to keep those spaces viable which are being used in its current operation, in catering and as a space for special events and so on."

The envelope of space surrounding the theater -- the basement beneath it, the penthouse and offices above it, and the airspace over it, would be open to negotiation, she said.

The Begich administration will request $4.1 million from the Legislature to cover preservation and development of the theater, including its liquor license and equipment, she said.

"We're also hoping we can engage the whole state with a capital campaign," Ward said. "That way, anybody who wants to contribute to saving the theater would have an account at a statewide bank where they could send a check."

With no historical preservation easement in force, however, no buyer of the theater would be obliged to consult the city or the public about its plans. Ward emphasized that preservation efforts are meaningless until theater ownership is clarified.

"There's no prohibition against demolition," Ward said. "We're hoping the general public and the city will be able to persuade any new purchaser to participate with us in efforts to preserve the building.

"It's just hard to do anything without knowing what you're buying and what the price is," she said.

Daily News arts editor Mark Baechtel can be reached at 257-4323 or mbaechtel@adn.com.