Fresno Councilman calls city’s proposal to buy Tower Theatre an ’attack on Christians’
Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld on Tuesday called the city’s proposed purchase of the Tower Theatre an “attack on Christianity,” saying the proposed deal is an attempt to block Adventure Church from buying the theater.
The city’s complicated proposal to buy the theater property became public on Monday after more than a year of controversy.
The controversy sparked when Adventure Church’s intent to buy the theater became public. Messy legal challenges followed from a neighboring business, and community members and business owners began holding weekly protests because they worried the church’s presence would jeopardize the area’s economy and culture.
Bredefeld was joined by Adventure Church Anthony Flores in a news conference at City Hall on Tuesday. Bredefeld called the proposal a scheme cooked up by his colleagues, Councilmembers Miguel Arias and Esmeralda Soria.
“The truth is that these politicians are pandering to a small vocal minority that don’t want the church to be there. And they’re willing to raise millions of dollars to appease that vocal minority,” Bredefeld said. “This is an attack on Christians. It’s, again, a complete misuse of taxpayer money.”
Part of the deal that Bredefeld takes issue with is the agreement to sell back a portion of the property to Sequoia Brewery for $950,000 at a 3.5% interest rate. Bredefeld also took issue with the part of the deal that includes indemnification for Sequoia Brewery and the Tower Theatre owners in the case of litigation.
“Now the city is also becoming a bank and a lending institution,” he said.
Flores pushed back on the way he and the church have been characterized. He said his congregation and staff clean up the parking lot each week before church, counsel couples and families, give to nonprofits, and provide hope and a spiritual boost.
“There’s a lot of things we do as a church that nobody else does, and I think that gets overlooked,” he said. “So I’m appealing to people’s humanity right now. This is what the church does.”
Bredefeld said the purchase proposal was a result of court mediation, something he said he doesn’t believe the city should’ve been involved in.
Flores said he was part of the mediation but didn’t elaborate to honor a nondisclosure agreement. Adventure Church’s attorney, David Emerzian, said a confidentiality agreement prevented him or Flores from providing any details.
“If it was a good deal, I don’t think I’d be here because I like deals,” Flores said.
Flores estimated the church has spent $550-$700,000 in total to hold services in the Tower Theatre on costs such as rent and other upgrades. He said if the church were allowed to purchase the theater, it would be happy to sell back the Sequoia Brewery building to its owners. He said an easy solution to the right of first refusal issue with Sequoia Brewery would be for the theater owner to split the property into parcels.
“Jesus may have turned water into wine, but Adventure Church isn’t into owning breweries,” he said.
Laurence Abbate, whose family owns the theater, could not be reached for comment. The Bee attempted to call him multiple times this week, but his voicemail box was full, and he did not respond to text messages.
Both Bredefeld and Flores called on Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer to speak out against the purchase.
“Obviously, Mayor Dyer’s ‘One Fresno’ didn’t include the congregation at Adventure Church,” Bredefeld said.
Earlier Tuesday, Dyer said he was intentionally guarded in his public comments on the issue.
“There’s been a tremendous amount of controversy that’s occurred as a result of what’s happening with the Tower Theatre,” Dyer said. “So that controversy, at some point in time, has to be dealt with. I can tell you that the decision that has been brought before the council on Thursday is not a decision that they are going to be taking lightly. We understand the potential ramifications of what happens if in fact the Tower Theatre is purchased.”
Soria and Council President Nelson Esparza issued brief statements following Tuesday’s news conference.
““We wouldn’t be here if it was just two Councilmembers or a “small vocal minority” - this is a result of our mediation and us listening to the residents and businesses that reside in the Tower neighborhood,” Soria said. “The item addresses a long standing neighborhood issue by ensuring the preservation of our national historic Tower theater that will be publicly available to everyone. We continue to welcome public input and look forward to having a public discussion with my colleagues. In the end, Garry will be Garry.”
“I didn’t watch the latest media show to see what Garry was peddling this week. I’m sure whatever it was, he’s purporting that the sky is falling- again,” Esparza said. “The majority of the Council is focused on governing and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. Any substantive and meaningful discussions on upcoming policy issues will take place at Thursday’s council meeting. As always, we encourage the public to attend and participate.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 5:21 PM.