Since 2003, the historical Harding Theater located on Divisadero Street has been vacant and has fallen into a state of disrepair. The Harding has survived several attempts in recent years by developers to turn the space into condominiums or to tear it down entirely — in large part due to the efforts of the community to preserve the historic building.
Currently, the Harding Theater Revitalization Project — HTRP — is being led by Divisadero community activist Amy Weiss, who is seeking to renovate the building into a location in which the neighborhood can take pride.
Now HTRP seeks to raise funds in order to purchase the Harding at the asking price of $3.6 million.
“It’s really important that we be proactive in saying what we want to see happen in our neighborhood, so that development happens with the community and not to the community,” said Weiss. “The Harding Theater is a really important piece to that, because in the past the community has said ‘No’ to demolishing the Harding and ‘No’ to making condos there and building retail. What are you saying ‘Yes’ to then? When you say No to something, you are saying ‘Yes’ to something more profound and value-driven.”
According to Weiss, HTRP plans to raise all of the money to purchase the theater, instead of putting a down payment and getting a loan for the rest. They seek to raise the $3.6 million to buy the building by January 2013.
“The real problem with a project of this size is that most people would not purchase the building for cash,” said the general manager of the nearby Inde-pendent Theater, Glenn Hartman. “They wouldn’t have all the money to buy the building, so they would put down a down payment and then have a huge debt service on this loan while they’re doing the renovation. If you can buy the building for cash, and there is no loan, you are so ahead of the game.”
The fundraising effort to renovate the Harding kicked off on July 1, when HTRP launched its website and hosted a “Party Hard(ing)” event at the Westerfield Mansion — where a variety show, food, drinks, and local design helped raise money for the renovations.
“It’s going to be a really innovative crowd-funding strategy that we really think will end up going national,” said Weiss. “We’re having a bunch of local designers create designs for T-shirts and postcards and stickers and things like that that say “YIMBY,” or “Yes, in My Backyard.” Or — you can decide you want to invest in the future of the neighborhood and buy a Harding pass, and the passes are going to be designed by a local illustrator and be really cool.”
Those seeking to contribute to the Harding restoration can also purchase “Harding Passes,” which are essentially down payments towards future pro-gramming at the renovated Harding, available in increments of $100, $200, $300, $400 and $500. All proceeds will be refundable if HTRP is unable to raise the funds to purchase the theater in time.
Another fundraising idea is to rent out the billboard above the Harding to larger companies who pledge a certain amount of money.“The way that we’re approaching this, we’re trying to create a model that other communities can use when they want to purchase a theater in their town,” said Weiss. “One thing that most communities have across the nation is an old movie theater that is not being used.”
Once they have purchased the property, then they can start courting the city for money for renovations, as well as attracting larger business partners to help pay for the costs of the improvements. “We’re estimating that the seismic upgrade, and the ADA compliance upgrades will be in the neighborhood of $2 million,” said Weiss. “We want to reduce the seating to a 450 seat theater because we’re going to build the ADA-compliant bathrooms underneath one side of the balcony, and then on the other we’re going to have another programming space, as well as the sound stage for the auditorium.”
HTRP plans to take out much of the seating in the balcony of the Harding as well, making it a co-working space where the seating below the aisle will be permanent for the auditorium, and the seating above can be taken out. The upper section, to be dubbed “The Projection Lounge,” will be a work lounge during the day, and then at night it can transform into a more traditional lounge, with a bar featuring microbrews and homebrews from local entrepreneurs.
“Some of the ideas she has are things that the community needs, and that the theater will fill,” said Hartman. “We’re talking about a beautiful historic abandoned building, so it will be great to have some life in there.”
Instead of the eyesore it has become, the new and improved Harding could play a major role in bringing the neighborhood together, according to HTRP.
“This is too valuable of a space,” said Weiss. “We care about our neighborhood too much, and this is such a pivotal location for our neighborhood that would support sustainability, that we’re not just going to give up because it’s $3.6 million. We’re going to earn this property and put it into public trust. I won’t own it, none of the board of directors will own it, and no businesses will own it … it’ll be in the public trust.”
More information about the Harding Theater renovation can be found at http://nddivis.org/the-harding-theater-a-center-of-community-recreational-life.
