Fresno County judge won’t stop sale of Tower Theatre. What can opponents do about it?
A Fresno County Superior Court judge denied the injunction of the sale of the Tower Theatre on Thursday, clearing room for the controversial deal to continue.
Sequoia Brewing owners J&A Mash and Barrel filed a complaint in February through an attorney to ask the Fresno County Superior Court to intercede in the sale of the 81-year-old Tower Theatre and surrounding properties to Adventure Community Church.
Judge Rosemary T. McGuire ruled in February for a temporary restraining order but on Thursday denied further injunction, according to Kimberly Mayhew, the attorney representing Sequoia.
The attorneys can file an appeal to a higher court. “We will be filing a writ with the (state) Fifth District Court of Appeal prior to the March 31 sale date,” Mayhew said on Thursday.
The attorneys for Sequoia said the restaurant and bar’s lease requires the owners be notified at least 12 days before the theater and its surrounding structures are up for sale. They should also be offered the right of first refusal of the sale and to purchase their building, the complaint said.
Theater owner Laurence Abbate offered to sell the Sequoia piece of the larger property to the owners for about $1.2 million, according to his attorney, Dave Camenson. He was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
Sequoia’s attorney argued in court that they needed to see the appraisal of the whole property before they could decide if that price was fair. In her ruling, McGuire wrote that Sequoia’s attorney did not show evidence that the price was unfair nor that the owners had the means to buy the property.
The church has committed verbally to sell the Sequoia space after it acquires the theater, according to the theater’s attorney. McGuire wrote in her ruling that commitment leaves Sequoia with the option to buy without accruing any extra financial burden.
In contrast, a delayed sale would more likely be a burden on the theater owners, she wrote.
The building’s potential sale to Adventure Community Church became immediately controversial after the deal became public knowledge in January. The church informed the Tower Theatre’s owner they were interested in buying the property on Dec. 7, according to court records.
The theater has been the site of competing protests every Sunday for at least two months. The latest protest led to the outing of Fresno police officer Rick Fitzgerald as he joined Proud Boys in demonstrating.
He’s been placed on leave while the city investigates his connections to the white supremacist hate group.
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 5:18 PM.
