The Corvallist

Sunday, January 14, 2007

What to do with the Whiteside

The Whiteside Theatre in downtown Corvallis has been closed for nearly five years, which is a real shame. It was a grand old theater that managed to escape the fate of so many other grand old theaters whose screens have been carved up into smaller theaters to better satisfy the masses, who can no longer live with just one screen showing Rocky 27 at a time.

Sadly, it will probably never be used as a movie theater again. The theater is currently owned by Regal Cinemas, who shut down the theater because of maintenance costs, then slapped a provision on the property that forbids any new owner from showing first-run movies there, as long as Regal is still operating their theater on NW 9th Street. I suppose I can't blame them, really, considering that the Ninth Street Cinemas are of poor enough quality that a kid holding a hand-held DVD player on a street corner poses serious competition.

It's also a shame that the property was too expensive and unwieldy for the owners of the Avalon and Darkside theaters. Wouldn't it have been lovely to see people who love cinema running such a place? Ah well. We should all be grateful that they went ahead and plunked their cute little theaters into the heart of downtown.

Currently, the Whiteside Theatre is being actively pursued by two parties: Whiteside Partners LLC and Walt Griffiths. Whiteside Partners LLC currently has a contract to buy the theater, but there have been roadblocks to their development plan put up by the city because of the theater's historical designation. They want to convert the theater into shops downstairs and a restaurant and bar upstairs, but the construction would alter the building slightly, so the City Council initially blocked the development. Whiteside Partners LLC filed an appeal, which will be heard at a council meeting this week.

Griffiths wants to buy the property under the banner of his nonprofit Christian ministry and turn it into a "Christian outreach center that would transform lives." He originally asked Regal to donate the property to him, which might have transformed his life quite a bit. Hey, it never hurts to ask, right?

I'd personally rather see the theater go to an organization that will actually pay taxes to the city and that can be frequented by all Corvallis residents. (Except the bar, natch.) While there are some issues with Whiteside Partners' current plan, I'm hopeful that they will find a compromise with the City Council this week. If you want to weigh in with your opinion, the City Council meeting is Tuesday, January 16th at 7:30 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room at the downtown fire station.

posted by Corvallist at 1:48 AM

10 Comments:

  • City Council Staff Report recommends that Council take no action on the appeal. In other words, they are recommending that the Whiteside proposal remain denied.

    See:
    http://www.ci.corvallis.or.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1968&Itemid=2225

    (Historic Preservation Permit HPP06-00039)

    I can see both sides of this issue, and those against development naturally have a strong emotional connection to their desire to preserve the Whiteside.

    On the whole I side with the current plan, which will restore the façade as much as possibe to original condition. I have no problem with modifying the west wall, and it will even help create pedestrian flow around the corner from Monroe, northward on 4th.

    Short of major grant money (millions of dollars) being available to preserve the building, at an operating loss, for public use, I would feel OK going with the current proposal which has a ready, willing and able operator. And, as you say, the city will get tax money. Also it may spark more new businesses elsewhere downtown.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:30 AM  

  • Seems like Historic Commission can't see the forest for the trees and they wouldn't care if the building were used as a church or a brothel as long as it kept its "historic" integrity.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:13 AM  

  • Churches and nonprofit organizations taking over viable business locations is the first sign of decline in a downtown. Hopefully the City Council gets over its desire for a historically accurate rehabilitation of a failed business model in that building. (Isn't the act of doing the same thing over and expecting a different result a sign of insanity?) The Whiteside Partners have a pretty good plan for bringing life back to the building. If the alternative is nonprofit that likely won't do anything to rehab the building, and will in fact cause the building to deteriorate further, the City Council should be doing everything to getting a someone with investment money and vision into that place.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:29 PM  

  • The Whiteside Partners LLC plan is *not* a slight modification, if you've seen the plans, they involve blowing three giant holes in the west side of the building - ensuring that the building can never be used as a theatre again. Not to mention that they'll likely gut the interior, losing that part of the historic fabric forever. There is no question in my mind that their plan does violate Historic Preservation Rules.

    I've read the arguments (Turner), and been to the meetings, but I remain unconvinced that Corvallis doesn't still need a large venue for entertainment in Downtown. There are plenty of *other* spaces for restaurants and offices in Downtown.

    I'd rather see a church group stabilize the building and keep it in it's current form than see the building irreversibly converted to a non-theatre use.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:29 PM  

  • The Whiteside Partners LLC plan is *not* a slight modification, if you've seen the plans, they involve blowing three giant holes in the west side of the building - ensuring that the building can never be used as a theatre again. Not to mention that they'll likely gut the interior, losing that part of the historic fabric forever. There is no question in my mind that their plan does violate Historic Preservation Rules.

    I've read the arguments (Turner), and been to the meetings, but I remain unconvinced that Corvallis doesn't still need a large venue for entertainment in Downtown. There are plenty of *other* spaces for restaurants and offices in Downtown.

    I'd rather see a church group stabilize the building and keep it in it's current form than see the building irreversibly converted to a non-theatre use.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:30 PM  

  • If there was a chance that the Whiteside could be turned into a venue like the McDonald Theater in Eugene I would be all for it. But after 5 years of vacancy (not to mention puddles of urine near the front doors), it is obvious this is not going to happen.

    It's time to move on. I prefer the Whiteside Partners proposal (I like restaurants and shops but I'm not a big fan of religious entertainment), but if the Christian venue gets people downtown and livens up that corner that would be fine with me. It's better than the building remaining a vacant shell.

    And I have to say that people that want to maintain a two story tall blank wall of bricks because of the significance of its style have the wrong priorities.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:46 PM  

  • As far as I can tell, Corvallis City council is open for ANY big box business to come to town and further gut the personality and quaintness Corvallis has to offer.

    Home Depot is just about open for business, those bastards! In 5 years, Wal Mart will be here and there goes the neighborhood.

    By Blogger crallspace, at 7:03 AM  

  • And Applebee's is coming to town. Just what we needed! (That's sarcasm.)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:04 AM  

  • Anon:

    "I'd rather see a church group stabilize the building and keep it in it's current form than see the building irreversibly converted to a non-theatre use."

    Oh yes. In order to stave off common sense in favor of fulfilling some trivial sense of nostalgia, lets let the church group move in. They can place a cross above the marquee and the marquee itself can announce "All Ye That Deny the Lord Shall Surely Parish from the Earth. 5PM, 7PM, 9PM and Sunday matinee's"

    Hyperbole aside, (They are not actually planning to "blow" three holes in the west side. I doubt explosives will be used at all), Kiwi is right about having Churches and non-profits opening in prime downtown real estate. Lets end this madness that anything old must be preserved at the expense of all else.


    BTW: Welcome to Corvallis, Home Depot!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:57 PM  

  • It's unfortunate that this issue is only viewed as "common sense" versus "nostalgia." The Whiteside is one of the most elaborate historic buildings in downtown Corvallis, and is one of only a small number of historic theaters in Oregon that is substantially preserved inside and out. The Whiteside is not just "anything old," but is recognized on the City of Corvallis' historic inventory as "probably Corvallis' best historical commercial building in terms of original design and integrity." As a design professional, I agree with this assessment. I'm not necessarily against a retail conversion, but I am against the current Whiteside Partners proposal because it obliterates most of the architectural fabric of the building other than the front facade. A more creative development proposal could potentially capitalize on some of the unique interior features of the building. I have seen such a conversion of a theater - the Varsity Theater in downtown Palo Alto, California was converted into a bookstore and retains a substantial portion of its original architecture. Knowing the historic preservation ordinance, the Whiteside Partners COULD HAVE tailored their proposal to take into account the ordinance's requirements, but they did not. It is unfortunate that their insensitive proposal is now viewed by many as the only way to "save" the Whiteside.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:53 PM  

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