Bollinger Building remains in flux as 2024 comes to an end
Fate of the historic but dilapidated former church and theater a mystery
What happens to a decaying, historic building on Normal Hill that previously housed the Lewiston Civic Theatre is still unfolding since it was acquired by a Seattle-area developer.
The city sold the building at 805 Sixth Ave. to Myron Gemmer for $130,000, approving the deal at a March city council meeting.
The purchase agreement for the sale of the building the city called the Anne Bollinger Performing Arts Center specified it was being sold as is.
At the time, Gary Bergen said one possibility Gemmer was considering was a social center for seniors where they could participate in activities.
Bergen was the Realtor of Silver Creek Real Estate Group representing the city of Lewiston in the transaction.
In June, Bergen said in a text, Gemmer had visited the site several times and was weighing options, but now it’s been more than two months since Gemmer has spoken to him.
A permit for temporary electrical power was issued for the property, but no building permit application has been filed with the city for the site, said Shannon Grow, the city of Lewiston’s community development director.
The city has been wrestling with what to do with the aging building for years.
Completed in 1907 as a Methodist Church, the building transitioned to a theater in 1972. Hundreds of plays were staged at the venue. It is also believed to be the site of the unsolved 1982 murder of two young women and possibly a young man, who went missing and has never been found.
In 2016, the discovery of a failing truss supporting the roof prompted the city to list the building as condemned.
When the building’s tenant, the Civic Theatre, didn’t have the funds to make repairs, the building was turned over to the city in 2017.
The city finished a project in 2018 that stabilized the roof truss with temporary columns, repaired major leaks and covered the windows and stained glass. The building is no longer listed as condemned, but is still considered unsafe.
No one bid last year in a month-long auction for the building where the minimum bid was $67,000.
