The City of Reno this month launched a bid process for the development of a historic structure report of the Lear Theater, which it purchased from Artown in 2021. The report will provide the city with an assessment of the historic building’s current condition, repair and maintenance needs, and options for development as either a performing arts or community arts and culture center.

The final report is scheduled to be presented to the city later this year.

Local historian Alicia Barber said the report is a critical step and long overdue.

“The Historical Resources Commission and community members like myself have been urging the City to commission a Historic Structure Report since they first acquired the building from Artown, but they didn’t take any steps to do that until quite recently,” Barber said. “But it’s a critical step and long overdue. “This kind of professional, comprehensive report is essential to assess the current condition of the building, outline what it will take to bring it back to a functioning state and evaluate various options for its reuse.”

Barber credited City Council member Naomi Duerr for working with city staff to move the project forward. 

The building, originally the First Church of Christ, Scientist, is historically significant and was designed by famed architect Paul Revere Williams, the first African-American member of the American Institute of Architects. It’s on several historic registers. 

However, it has been essentially vacant since 1998 when the church congregation moved to a larger location. Over the years, nearly $8 million has been spent on repairs and maintenance to the building. Artown took over the building in 2011 with plans to transform it into a performing arts center. That didn’t happen.

A feasibility study completed in 2013 suggested that bringing the building up to code and renovating and equipping it to be a performing arts center would cost $7.5 million—adjusting for inflation, that would be about $10 million today. 

By 2018, Artown was still soliciting feedback from the community on potential uses and support for the theater. In 2020, Artown announced it was working with local developer Ken Krater on a plan to rehab the theater and build up to 50 apartments next to it—on part of Riverside Drive that would need to be abandoned—to create an income stream for the theater. 

Those plans didn’t sit well with the community, with some calling it “outrageous.” 

“As much as we all want the Lear renovated, everyone should be alarmed at what this proposal would do to the public streets around it,” Barber wrote in an email to Our Town Reno. 

No additional  funding

The non-profit Preserve Nevada placed the Lear on its list of Nevada’s 11 Most Endangered Places, with board chair and former Nevada governor Richard Bryan pleading to the Reno City Council. 

“We urge all of those involved to do their best to protect the history and beauty of Riverside Drive along the Truckee River and continue to work together on behalf of preserving the Lear Theater and its intrinsic value to the past and present to the Reno area,” he wrote.

Over the years, the building has faced vandalism. Last year City Council members approved $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to clean and inspect the property, repair the landscaping and any other damage and add security cameras and fencing to the property to fend off additional vandalism. Most of the work will be completed later this spring, according to the city.

Part of the approved ARPA funds will cover the cost of the historic structure report.

City spokesperson Landon Miller said the City Council “has not allocated or identified additional funding” to cover the costs of ongoing maintenance of the Lear Theater, much less fund the millions of dollars in improvements it would need to become ready for community arts events. He added that more direction will come once the historical structure report is complete.

In 2022, the city estimated it only had the budget to cover 78% of the maintenance costs of its existing facilities. Most of the city’s buildings aren’t receiving even half of the staff time required for maintenance.