MARYSVILLE — The Red Curtain Arts Center has been operating its mixed performance and classroom space just north of downtown Marysville.
The nonprofit’s lease on the former Dunn Lumber store is expiring at the end of January, and Red Curtain’s landlords intend not to renew it.
Instead of just listing the building for sale, however, the Dunn family has given the Red Curtain Foundation a shot at buying the building at a significant discount, said Beckye Randall, a board member for the foundation.
All Red Curtain needs now is to raise enough money for a down payment: $120,000.
It believes it has $70,000 lined up from business and community groups, and now it’s running an online fundraiser on Indiegogo (tinyurl.com/Red CurtainFundraiser) to try and bring in the rest.
Randall acknowledged that it won’t be easy to raise that much money from the community, but she is nevertheless hopeful that, even if they fall short, they’ll be able to come to an agreement with their landlords.
“They’ve been really good at working with us and very supportive of the efforts here,” Randall said.
The Red Curtain Arts Center is the only facility of its kind in Marysville, incorporating a performance and classroom space with capacity for 100 people.
Its programs have included theater classes, musical performances and open mike nights, guitar lessons, plays and community events.
Red Curtain’s production of Agatha Christie’s “Spider’s Web” is scheduled to run Feb. 20-March 1.
Once the lease expires, Red Curtain will continue to operate on a month-to-month basis until the building is sold, Randall said.
“We can continue to stay in the building, but they are going to put it on the market,” she said.
“We just don’t want to see that ‘For Sale’ sign go up again,” she added.
Red Curtain has reached out to the local community before.
When the group moved into its current location at 1410 Grove Street in early 2014, it raised $27,000 in another campaign to cover the costs of bringing the former store up to current code so it could open for business.
Raising $120,000 from the online fundraiser and other commitments would allow the foundation to make a 10 percent down payment on the building and cover estimated closing costs.
The Dunn family is willing to sell to Red Curtain for $1 million, and even hold the title for 10 years while it is paid off, Randall said.
That’s significantly less than the building’s appraised value of $2.6 million, she added.
A statement from Dunn Lumber Vice President Rob Dunn raised questions as to whether such a sale would happen. “Although Red Curtain has had some success in fund raising they unfortunately have not been able to raise the funds for the purchase of the property. We are sincerely sorry that their efforts did not succeed,” Dunn said in an email.
Dunn clarified in a followup statement that he hopes Red Curtain can raise the necessary funds by the Feb.1 deadline.
“Rob Dunn has said many times he’s pleased with the progress we’ve made,” Randall added. “On the other hand, he’s a businessman too, and this is a prime piece of property that isn’t generating any income for them.”
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@ heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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