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But bring it under rein

The Bijou Theatre, a downtown landmark for most of the 20th century, must be preserved and reopened, and we’re confident that it will survive in one form or another through the rest of this 21st.

Whether it will thrive, and under what terms, and in whose hands, and for what purposes are the questions of the moment.

It’s closed; it’s well over three quarters of a million dollars in debt, including a $607,000 note (at 10.5 percent interest) held by an Oregon mortgage acceptance company; its oversized board of directors is campaigning to reduce and restructure its membership, and its future management is in some doubt. Yet, we believe it has a long and fruitful future.

The Bijou is just too good to let go. Chuck Morris, its board chairman, and Brad Hill, its vice chairman, have embarked on a fund-raising effort, with the hope of raising $1 million to preserve it, protect it from being put on the auction block, and get it going as a theatrical and concert venue, maybe even as a moviehouse. It’s been all those before, and could be again, whether the revamped board succeeds in reviving it, or it is sold to the highest bidder.

It, its older adjacent building known as the Lamar House and its separate Bistro at Bijou restaurant and bar are not going to be torn down. They are not going to be converted to loft apartments or anything else. They are a theater with great audio and visual characteristics, a building that is almost 200 years old and filled with history, and a thriving drinking and dining spot.

If the property were to be sold at auction, the Bijou would retain those features, and their advantages would be taken up by either a private or not-for-profit buyer, with local or outside interests. It’s a poor joke, but the Bijou has been operated on “non-profit” status for far too long. But there is little doubt that it will be put back into its highest and best uses.

If the board’s campaign succeeds in stimulating enough contributions in the next couple of months to assure that the mortgage will not be foreclosed, so much the better, although the interest rate borders on piracy in today’s market. If not, and the highest bidder takes possession, it will remain such an important community asset that its new owner, from wherever, will be compelled to use it right. Again, that’s our belief. In some ways, an absolute auction to rid the place of its usurious mortgage holder would be gratifying.

There are lots of possibilities, not excluding bringing it under one board of directors, along with the Tennessee Theater down the street. The Tennessee is currently closed for a different reason. It’s undergoing a $23 million renovation and expansion program and is to reopen next season. Brining both theaters under a single management team is an idea that’s been kicked around, and it’s not such a bad one. A major donor to the Bijou could dictate it as a condition of the donation, for instance.

There should also be some interest in putting the Bijou and Bistro businesses together into a theater/dining or concert/dining combination, with refreshments as part of the experience. It has potentially profitable possibilities as a concert hall, a movie theater and a venue for theatrical productions on different dates if scheduling is carefully handled, a movie screen and projection equipment are obtained, and the stage shows are infrequent—four or so each year to allow for their tying up the stage for sets, rehearsal times, etc.

The Bijou must be better managed than it has been in the recent past in order to live up to its image as a Knoxville treasure. There’s more than just image involved there. It is a treasure, and it’s about time somebody took it and ran it as such.

There are imaginative and, at the same time, practical ways in the entertainment realm to fill its 750 seats at least a hundred times a year, if it is managed correctly. We at Metro Pulse, which once occupied some of its office space, firmly believe that it will.

A new board may do it; the Tennessee’s board may do it; a new owner may do it. But the Bijou is far too historically significant and way too appealing to be left idle.

June 24, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 26 © 2004 Metro Pulse