[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=39915.43

Canterbury Theatre sold for $275,000

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - One of the oldest buildings in Michigan City was sold Wednesday to three developers for $275,000.

The former Canterbury Summer Theatre at Ninth and Franklin streets will be renovated and reopened as a place to hold special events like weddings and live music, according to Mike Conner, owner of Coastal Properties.

Conner listed the property for several years and said the key to the sale was the buyers' vision.

"We needed somebody who could figure out an economical way of making it operational," Conner said. "Nobody quite knew what to do with it."

Conner said potential buyers tended to be overwhelmed when they viewed the structure. He credits Pearl Mort, one of the investors, with creating a renovation plan that will get the property operating as quickly as possible.

Mort, a general contractor from Monterey, Ind., gutted and renovated the space at 622-624 Franklin St. and transformed it into the Free Artisans Gallery, an attractive space featuring work by area artists. He said the newly purchased property will be easier to restore than the gallery.

Conner said the Canterbury will become a first-class venue for a mixture of events, including weddings, independent films, poetry jams and live music. The development team intends to have a soft opening with a few events scheduled by the end of this year.

Mort said the important thing is to make the building usable so funds can be generated for additional restorations.

"We're going to restore the building," Mort said. "It will take some time. Down the road some, we may consider making it what it used to be."

Mort said city building and electrical inspectors have been on site and his team of workers has begun the cleanup process.

"The city has been very cooperative and is thrilled to see this building back on line," Mort said.

Some 20 people have stopped by the building and talked with Mort about times they spent there at weddings, proms and other events.

"Some of them had tears in their eyes," Mort said.

As of now, the former Canterbury Theatre is now known as "The Pearl Theater."

The theater, at 903 and 907 Franklin St., is actually two buildings dating to 1856, when the St. John's German United Evangelical Lutheran Church and parsonage were established. The church opened a school in 1882 in the building behind the church now used by El Nopal restaurant.

The church has about 8,000 square feet and was connected to the parsonage in the 1970s during the transformation into the theater. The structure has been closed for 15 years.

Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.

[Tim]

Read this yesterday - great news for our downtown. Now if the Warren Building could just come back to life.... but the Canturbury is such a beautiful piece of Our Fair City's history - it will be great to be able to experience it again.

[Homey]

We can't wait to see the renovations...it could be spectacular again!

[CSchwanke]

I am new to this forum but had to comment on this topic.

I heard about this deal a week or so ago and was I ever excited with the plans that were shared with me. I am on the Historic Review Board and they are planning a very complete and authentic restoration of the building. Even restoring all of the original doorways and archways. The interior is in remarkable condition with no major damage from sitting so long. This is a monumental undertaking and I applaude the developers involved.

This is a great stride in the North End Development and a win win for everyone in Michigan City.

Chris Schwanke

[Dave]

Welcome to the board, CSchwanke! Look around at some of the other threads and toss in your opinions there too -- I'd be interested on your take on the South Shore plans $65 million project thread in particular.

I'm really pleased to hear someone is going to fix up the Canterbury. It's a lovely building, and a restored Canterbury will be a great addition to the Historic District.

This post has been edited by Dave: Sep 2 2009, 11:57 AM

[Southsider2k12]

The exterior looked to be in pretty bad shape, so hopefully the reports are true that it is structurally fine.