Adventure Church will sue Fresno if the city buys Tower Theatre. ‘Stop interfering’
After news broke Monday morning about the potential sale of the Tower Theatre to the city of Fresno, Adventure Church said through its lawyer that it plans to double down on its lawsuit against the theater owners and add the city to the claims.
The church has been hosting its Sunday services out of the iconic Tower Theatre for more than a year and the better part of the lingering coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this year, Adventure Church filed a lawsuit against the Tower Theatre owners, asking a judge to force the owners of the Tower Theatre to abide by its contract to sell the building. Lawyers representing the theater owners in court said the deal to sell the theater to the church expired.
But the church maintains that’s not the case.
“Adventure Church has a current and valid contract to purchase the Tower Theater Property and related properties,” the church said in a statement. “The city of Fresno and the Tower Theatre owners will be required to compensate our client for all damages if the City of Fresno induces a breach of that contract or conducts inverse condemnation of its rights to acquire the Tower Theatre property.”
On Monday, the church’s lawyer, David Emerzian with McCormick Barstow LLP, said the church made all the required deposits and down payments to purchase the theater. For more than a year, escrow has held $833,000 of money from the church, which includes an initial deposit of $40,000 and a down payment of $793,000.
The church also allowed $15,000 of the deposit to be released to Laurence Abbate, the theater owner, to help pay for attorney fees in the legal fight with the Sequoia Brewery owners, Emerzian said.
An escrow officer confirmed via email that the church’s deposit remains in escrow, and neither the church nor theater owner sought to close escrow, Emerzian said.
The church will add to its lawsuit claims of negligent misrepresentation, Emerzian said. The church also will add claims against the city for intentional interference with a contract, negligent interference, violations of eminent domain law, and equal protection rights and see injunctive relief.
The city of Fresno’s proposed resolution to purchase the theater indemnifies both the theater owners and the Sequoia Brewery owners in any instance of litigation. That indemnification agreement indicated the city expected a legal fight from Adventure Church.
“Between the costs to purchase the Tower Theatre property, the costs to defend the claims against the city of Fresno, the Tower parties, and Mr. Abbate, and the costs to pay out any judgment that will be awarded against said parties, the city of Fresno could end of spending $10-$15 million of taxpayer dollars,” Emerzian said in a statement. “All of this could be avoided if the city of Fresno would simply stop interfering with the church’s right to purchase the Tower Theatre property and allow the church to close escrow.”
The church’s plans to buy the theater became public in January 2021 and sparked protests from community members, and nearby businesses who worried potential zoning changes would change the character of the neighborhood, known for its nightlife, arts community, and support of the LGBTQ community.
The Tower District is home to Fresno’s Pride parade, and the theater for years was the venue for Reel Pride, Fresno’s LGBT film festival. Adventure Church does not perform same-sex marriages or allow its ministers to be gay.
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 1:59 PM.