Midtown theater to be proposed
<p>This is an artist’s rendering of the new theater The Modern Theater would like to build in midtown. The concept will be presented to ignite cda today at 4 p.m. in the Community Room of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.</p>
COEUR d’ALENE — The Modern Theater will be proposing the details of a new midtown “place-making arts district” to the board of ignite cda this afternoon.
Modern Theater board member Adam Graves said he is hesitant to discuss the project without presenting the details of the proposal with the urban renewal board first.
“I just don’t want to let the cat out of the bag without all the details,” Graves said Tuesday afternoon. “You can kind of put all the pieces together. We are looking at midtown and they own all of the land, without that you can’t do anything.”
Graves said the idea for an arts district came when The Modern Theater was looking for a new location to build a professional theater in Coeur d’Alene about the same time a midtown homeowners group was fighting ignite cda’s proposed workforce housing project in the neighborhood.
“They were told by the ignite cda board that if they didn’t like that project to come back to them with something they can live with,” Graves said, adding that when the two groups got together to develop the arts district concept, “We worked together to come up with something everyone could live with.”
George Green, executive director of The Modern Theater, said he is excited about the proposal that has been years in the making.
“It’s something I have been working on since I was hired in 2010,” he said.
Graves said the proposal is solid with a strong financial plan. The agenda indicates the group wants to build a professional theater, with retail space and potential for multi-use.
The meeting will be held today at 4 p.m. in the Community Room of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.