The Loudon Merchants and Property Owners Association board of directors voted in January to bring the Lyric Theatre into compliance with applicable fire and safety codes, requiring a temporary closure.
“It was upon a vote of the board of directors for the safety of the public,” Patti Wells, executive director of the LMPOA, said.
In a called committee meeting, members discussed options for moving forward.
“We have been working with an architect in the past,” she said. “We have some people who are — they have engineering experience and contracting experience. We are just trying to determine the best route to take that is the safest and the least expensive. We’ve got those two factors to consider. We’ll just — we will have to probably have three bids, but we have not chosen a contractor yet. Until we determine the exact route we’re taking, we’re not involving a contractor.
“There are two routes with consideration,” Wells added. “One route we have to have permission from other property owners to use their property. The other will take us directly through our building. It may be the safest and fastest decision. That’s going to be determined once we meet. There’s been several meetings with the fire chief and (the building inspector and codes enforcement officer).”
Although the Lyric Theatre Company’s website lists the closure through July, Wells said the board is trying to keep the closure to a couple months.
“When our board first started discussing it, we really were trying to get it down within a couple of months,” Wells said. “Because we haven’t got to a contractor yet, we’re not sure. The quicker we’re able to make decisions, the sooner it will open. We hope it’s not closed that long. It’s already been a couple of months.”
Wells admitted the building has needed to be brought up to code.
“The city has been very lenient with us,” she said. “It’s probably been maybe three or four years. Maybe longer, I’m not sure. It was before my time here. We’ve known about this and needed to do something. We just felt like for the safety of the general public, that we didn’t feel right about it.”
Wells hopes the money she requested from the downtown courthouse square funds last year will go toward the project.
“They’re still sitting there,” she said. “As long as it stays within those guidelines, that money will come from courthouse square funds that was appropriated last year. It’s according to which route we take. Once we determine the route and we agree on a route, we will know. Again, the people who put the plays on — the (Lyric Theatre Company) have some things on their mind. We have some direction we want to take with it. We just have to come to what’s the best route. We want to make them happy since they’re the ones who use the building the most.”
Barry Baker, president of the LTC, has no role in the decision, he said.
“What I was told (Feb. 14) was that the LMPOA board has decided to use available funds to construct an emergency access to Commerce Street,” Baker said. “The Lyric Theatre Company had proposed to lease the theater and be the management agency for the theater, courtyard, dressing rooms and storage areas that are owned by the LMPOA. We had a meeting on Jan. 9 to discuss our proposal and that time, we were informed by the LMPOA staff — Patti, I guess — was recommending to the LMPOA board on the 12th that the theater be closed until such time as was brought into compliance with the fire safety code regulations.”
Baker had a meeting scheduled Jan. 24 with the LMPOA to discuss the proposal, which was never discussed, he said.
Instead the LMPOA asked if the LTC would be interested in buying everything owned by the LMPOA, which would require assuming debt payments to the Rural Development Administration.
“I said we would be interested in pursuing that,” Baker said. “I said we would have to have a meeting with the architect and develop an action plan to bring the building into compliance. They said they would withhold any action regarding the fire exits.”
The LMPOA told Baker on Feb. 10 they had two contractors lined up to provide quotes for going to Commerce Street, but they would withhold talking to them and arrange a meeting with the fire marshal, the fire chief and for others from the LMPOA to attend.
Once Baker arranged the meeting with the architect and the building inspector, the LMPOA told Baker they may or may not attend because they would be making the decision.
“They responded on Feb. 9 they were going ahead and anything else we wanted to do, we were on our own,” Baker said. “Since we were using an architect that was hired by the LMPOA, he could not meet with us. ... The meeting never occurred.”
