Curtains Rise On Restoration Plan

Gaping holes air-condition the old Mainstreet Theater’s classy maple floors in downtown Priest River.

One staircase to the sagging balcony is gone. A well-placed timber stops the second floor from crashing onto the first. Mildew wrinkles noses the moment B.C. Turner unlocks the padlocked doors.

“I haven’t seen a picture of the original,” B.C. says, studying the grass-green walls. “But it’s restorable. The wood is fine.”

Which is good news to the Friends of the Mainstreet Theater. If they have their way, the resurrected theater will restore life to Priest River’s sleepy downtown, give kids a local place to go and unite the community in cultural activities.

“There’s no shortage of talent in this valley,” says Kay Small, a theater friend and chairman of the library board.

B.C. and his wife, Nancy, bought the Beardmore Building, which houses the old theater, in 1994. They had restored buildings before and couldn’t resist the Beardmore’s dark brickwork and proud bearing.

But the theater was a money pit. Its future was sketchy at best.

Then last spring, the community decided it needed a gathering place. Schools had the only room available for city meetings or plays, and school sports events came first.

The theater seemed a good prospect, particularly after an architect pronounced restoration realistic. It was built in 1925 and was the heart of downtown before World War II, when Priest River was a thriving timber town.

The Turners generously signed the theater over to a nonprofit committee that formed, the Friends of the Mainstreet Theater. Now the theater is eligible for grants. The money it will eventually make will go back into the theater.

The Idaho Heritage Trust gave $3,000 toward the project, but the community has to match that amount. Grants are the theater’s only chance at resurrection.

“We know the community can’t pay. We’re poor,” says Joanne Hirabayashi, one of the theater’s friends. “But we have to show that the community’s behind it to get grants.”

Four performances helped.

The committee booked Brian Orr’s acoustic band in front of the theater in July. Sixty people showed up to tap their feet and buy milkshakes and cookies.

They came again in August to hear bluegrass and buy pies. Kids found their way downtown in September for rock from “The Other White Meat.”

Eighty people gathered in November to share poems, bagpipes and skits at open-mike night.

“It was a good positive response,” Kay says.

Nancy found 25 of the theater’s old seats throughout town and convinced the Spokane Symphony to donate some of the Fox Theater’s seats to the project.

The initial excitement energizes them, but Kay, Joanne and the Turners know they’ve begun a huge job.

“We envision movies, live performances, community meetings there,” Kay says, and Nancy mentions her hopes that a theater group will materialize.

“We’ll sell cookies, whatever it takes, to keep the project alive,” Joanne says.

Downtown defenders

Coeur d’Alene’s downtown businesses are healthier than I carelessly suggested last week in a “Close to Home” column about artist Candace Taylor Lange. Candace said she moved her business from Coeur d’Alene to Spokane to save rent money.

Sandi Bloem owns a downtown Coeur d’Alene business and says only one space per block is empty. Two empty storefronts are big and have stayed vacant a long time, but most stores are occupied and ready for holiday business, Sandi says.

Where’s your favorite North Idaho downtown? Think ambience for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.

This sidebar appeared with the story: TO JOIN To join the Friends of the Mainstreet Theater, call Kay Small at 448-2898 or Nancy and B.C. Turner at 448-1682.