Tower Theatre bidders got hate mail. Fresno’s Adventure Church says it didn’t come from us
Adventure Church responded on Friday to a hateful email sent to The Painted Table, the competing bidder in the sale of Fresno’s Tower Theatre.
Earlier this month, Adventure Church sent a letter to Fresno city officials outlining its intended purchase and use of the historic theater, which was listed for sale for $6.5 million in October. To be used as a church, the building would need to go through a lengthy rezoning process. The church in its letter said it intends to use the theater primarily for community events.
Community members protested the sale of the theater. They worry a church operating in the heart of the Tower District would diminish the arts scene and shutter businesses such as bars. That’s when the catering company The Painted Table submitted its offer in hopes of protecting both businesses and the arts.
The Painted Table’s post: ‘church threat’
Jeromie Garza-Hansen, co-owner of The Painted Table, posted this week a screenshot to Facebook of an email sent to his business that contained gay slurs and curse words.
“Once escrow closes, watch what happens next,” the email said, alluding to the sale of the Tower Theatre.
In his post, Garza-Hansen referred to the email as a “church threat” and said his company wants to buy the theater to create jobs and memories for the community.
In a later video, Garza-Hansen said the email could be viewed as a potential threat.
“…Hope y’all realize that we are so invested in this, and we definitely want to make sure that our offer is accepted — or an offer that is not a church is going to be accepted so this theater can remain the epicenter and heartbeat of the arts community for all,” he said.
Garza-Hansen also thanked everyone who reached out to him in support after his initial post with the screenshot garnered over 100 comments and 100 shares on Facebook.
Adventure Church on Friday responded in a news release, saying it does not condone or agree with the type of behavior exhibited in the email.
“We are grieved to hear the news of the threatening email that was sent and are sorry that it happened,” the church said in its statement. “We believe all people are worthy of love, acceptance, and forgiveness, and make it a practice that our own actions should reflect these beliefs. …Our position will never be to engage in hate or hostility. Our prayers are with The Painted Table and we are believing in God’s best for them and their business.”
The church said it searched its database and has no attendees on record with an email address that matches the one used to reach The Painted Table. The church said it doesn’t believe the sender attends Adventure Church.
The church also addressed what it called “rumors” circulating on social media and said it has never organized street evangelism or protests.
In an interview with The Bee, Garza-Hansen said he has not heard directly from anyone at the church since it began operating out of the theater six months ago.
He said he reported the email to law enforcement and tracked the IP address to discover the email address was a fake.
Since the email address is fake, there’s no way the church could determine if one of its attendees sent it, Garza-Hansen said.
Sale should be ‘no-brainer’
The Painted Table has rented space from the Tower Theatre for 12 years, yet Garza-Hansen said he found out it was for sale via social media.
The Painted Table matched Adventure Church’s offer — in cash, he said.
“We told the owners, you can be heroes right now to the community,” Garza-Hansen said. “We understand in these strange times people make bad business decisions. …We’ve given them many easy ways out of this scenario.”
But the owners told The Painted Table no decision would be made regarding the sale until next month.
“It should be a complete no-brainer,” Garza-Hansen said.
The owner of the Tower Theatre could not be reached for comment.