Fresno City Council approves purchase of Tower Theatre for $6.5 million. Here’s the latest
After more than a year of controversy, legal battles, and a theatrical Fresno City Council meeting, the City Council voted Thursday to buy the historic Tower Theatre for $6.5 million.
The City Council voted 4-3 to approve a complicated purchase agreement for the property that includes the theater, Sequoia Brewery, and Me-n-Ed’s. Councilmembers Garry Bredefeld, Luis Chavez, and Mike Karbassi voted against the purchase agreement. Councilmembers Miguel Arias, Nelson Esparza, Tyler Maxwell, and Esmeralda Soria voted in favor.
The historic theater has been a flashpoint of controversy for more than a year after Adventure Church’s plans to purchase the building became public.
That sparked weekly protests outside the building. Business owners and community activists voiced their concerns that the church’s purchase would change the character of an area known for its nightlife, arts community, and progressive politics.
The city’s proposal became public earlier this week and immediately was met with pushback from Adventure Church, which promised to sue.
The council’s vote came after hours of public comment from Tower residents, Adventure Church members, real estate agents, lawyers, advocates, and more.
An attorney for Adventure Church didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Theater owner absent
Notably missing on Thursday was Laurence Abbate, the owner of Tower Theatre. He showed up at City Hall shortly after the council voted but didn’t stay long. Later, City Attorney Doug Sloan said Abbate declined to answer questions publicly about the sale and would only do so in private.
Chavez said the matter needed further negotiations and won’t achieve the purpose for all parties.
“Instead, we will end up in a lengthy and costly legal battle in the courts again and pay all parties’ legal bills without assurance that we will end up with the theater,” he said. “Trading one lawsuit for another lawsuit does not resolve this issue and only further divides our community.”
Chavez also said from the dais that he does not trust Abbate.
“Indemnifying someone who has a track record of misleading during his business dealings is not good policy,” Chavez said.
Karbassi also expressed skepticism about Abbate and even motioned to subpoena him, something Sloan said the city has never done in his 16-year tenure. Ultimately, the subpoena motion failed.
Karbassi also noted that the city’s purchase would be a sweet deal for Abbate since it’s a bit over the appraisal value of the property and more than what Adventure Church agreed to pay.
“Well, now I know why Mr. Abbate doesn’t want to appear,” he said. “So we know the owner is being overpaid roughly $1.5 million.”
The Bee has been unable to reach Abbate by phone and unable to leave him a message because his voicemail box was full. He has not responded to several text messages.
After the late-afternoon vote, Haley White, the creative director for the arts activism collective the Fools Collaborative, said she wished she felt better. The day, just like the last 15 months, was traumatizing, she said. The group has led the protest effort against the theater sale to the church.
“Ultimately, this is good news. We obviously don’t think it’s the end. It’s just a step, and everything is going to drag on longer,” White said.
While she acknowledged Soria and Arias, who represent the Tower District, aren’t perfect, White said she’s grateful they’re doing their jobs despite the flack they received. She also acknowledged that while her feelings about religion and Adventure Church are complicated, she said she also sees that, in some way, the church is a victim in the situation, too.
“I really think this whole situation is so unfortunate and so much bigger than Tower,” White said. “I think the way they (Adventure Church leaders) see it is that if we keep their church out, then it’ll happen to other churches. On the opposite side, I think if churches continue to overtake secular spaces, especially intentionally carved out safe spaces like this one, I think I agree that this is bigger than just Tower. This is bigger than Fresno.”
The Fools Collaborative will continue protesting outside the theater each week and monitoring city officials’ actions, White said.
“Not much changes,” she said.
Hours of public comment
Dozens of people packed the City Council chambers and even more called in to the meeting via Zoom to make their voices heard.
The Adventure Church congregation members urged the City Council to reject the proposed deal and defended their church. They said taxpayer money should not be used to purchase the property or defend Abbate or the city in a legal battle.
“I’ll actually be fronting money to sue my church,” said Brina Harwood, referring to her tax dollars. “Why is the city going to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to fight a fight you cannot win?”
Many Adventure Church leaders alleged the purchase was proof of discrimination since a majority of the church’s congregation is Latino. One person compared pushing the church out to redlining, a practice used to racially segregate neighborhoods.
A number of other Fresno clergy urged the City Council to approve the purchase so the Tower District community would feel safe.
Pastor Raygan Baker from the Big Red Church told the council that approving the sale would re-affirm the LGBTQ community and the city’s decision last year to raise the Pride flag at City Hall.
Rev. Tim Kutzmark from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno said the Tower community has made clear that it doesn’t feel loved by Adventure Church.
“The Jesus that I was taught about when I was a little boy was a Jesus who taught love,” he said. “What we have heard from the Tower community is they do not feel love. They do not feel love, they feel under assault.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 4:26 PM.