Lander's Historic Grand Theater For Sale, But Locals Worried It May Be Torn Down

The Grand Theater will turn 100 years old in 2029, but whether it will still be standing when that rolls around is up in the air.

The historic building is for sale, and that has some locals concerned that the historic theater will have its final curtain call before it reaches its centennial. 

Home Source Realty has listed The Grand Theater at 250 Main St. for sale at $1 million. It's described as "a local entertainment venue with multiple suites and revenue opportunities in the central heart of Main Street blocks of Lander," with several upgrades within the last five years. 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but value varies in the eye of potential buyers who may see more value in the land the Grand sits on than the theater itself.

That makes the future of the Grand Theater uncertain, which is concerning to locals who don't want to lose the Lander landmark.

"I love that theater," said Lander resident and professional performer Oakley Boycott. "It means so much to so many people across all walks of life in the community, and I hope it gets bought in time to keep the history of it preserved before it's too late."

Grander Than Grand

The Grand Theater is a relic of several bygone eras. It's been Lander's only movie theater for decades, but it's also the last of three theaters built in the community in the early 1900s.

"The fact that Lander had three theaters seems a little surprising," said Greg Wise, director of the Fremont County Pioneer Museum. "You've got to understand that Lander was really the only community of any size in Fremont County at the time, so it was the place where everybody was." 

The historic Grand Theater isn't the original Grand Theater. The original was in the Bossert Building, built in 1893, which still stands across the street from the current Grand Theater.

Lander's three original theaters were built for live performances and the earliest silent films. When the Grand Theater opened in 1929, Wise said it had a state-of-the-art design that enabled it to "pull double duty" as Lander's premiere entertainment venue. 

"It was built to host movies and live performances," he said. "There's still a backstage and dressing rooms, and there was an orchestra pit that has since been filled in with seats. It was an actual theater, not just a movie theater." 

The Grand Theater has spent most of its existence as Lander's only movie theater, an industry that many believe has passed its prime. It's undergone several renovations to make it a suitable venue for modern movies in the decades since, while retaining its historic charm. 

Wise said the building's Spanish Revival architecture, with Art Deco flourishes, made the Grand Theater a uniquely beautiful structure in Fremont County. It immediately became one of Lander's landmark structures and retains that status today.

"It was a very popular, prominent, and significant building from the get-go," Wise said. "I hope it finds an owner that's going to keep it open as a theater. God forbid they tear it down." 

The Most Value

The Grand Theater has been owned by Barry Cinemas since 2012, the company that also owns the Gem and Acme Theaters in Riverton. The Barrys were not available to comment on this story or to confirm whether there were any offers or parties interested in acquiring the Grand. 

The property listing touts the theater's 200-plus capacity, 8,000 square feet of finished space, flexible commercial zoning, and its office and apartment spaces.

It also leans into the building's history, highlighting "the handwritten notes from performers scribed on the walls and beams of the structure dating back to the 1930s" behind the modern-day movie screen. 

As much as he loves the Grand Theater, Wise sees it as a potentially hard sell. Historic buildings, particularly those built for such a specific purpose, have a propensity to become "money pits." 

"It's a big old building, and old is one of the things it is," he said. "It's showing its age a bit, and movie theaters are an increasingly hard business these days." 

The concern Wise and many other Lander locals have is that a potential buyer might see more value in the land than the structure. The land has much more potential as an 8,000-square-foot lot than as a historic theater. 

Historic structures in Wyoming have often become casualties of modernity. Two structures on Cody's main street, which dated back to the 1920s, were torn down to make way for a massive three-story structure that will open as an art gallery and luxury apartments. 

If someone wanted to buy and bulldoze the Grand Theater, they'd only need a demolition permit from the City of Lander. Wise wasn't aware of any covenants protecting historic structures or requiring a special process before demolition approval. 

"They've torn down a number of significant historic buildings in Lander over my lifetime, but nobody could stop them because there is no mechanism to stop them," he said. "There is a quasi-county agency called the Fremont County Historic Preservation Commission, but that's more or less defunct, at this point."

Wise hopes the Grand Theater won't be demolished simply so its next owner can do something different with the land. Unfortunately, he doesn't see an avenue to prevent it should it occur. 

"Wyoming is one of those states where you can pretty much do anything you want, anywhere you want, anytime you want, whether people like it or not," he said. "As far as historical preservation, Wyoming's laws are woefully inadequate to the point of essentially nonexistent. Economics drives those decisions."

A Sad Sign

Boycott was walking past the Grand Theater when she noticed one of the signs on its façade was being taken down. Her immediate concern was what was going to happen to it. 

"It's been missing an 'A' for forever and a half, but I know so many people in Lander who would have wanted to save it," she said. "I would keep it in my living room. I was just curious about where it ended up." 

Tiffany Hartpence, the real estate agent managing the listing, told Boycott that a new sign was being installed on the façade, while the old one was taken to Billings, Montana. When Boycott called about acquiring the old sign, she was informed it had been "broken up into unsalvageable pieces" and taken to a landfill. 

Boycott hasn't read too much into this auspicious sign, but she's still concerned about the future of the Grand Theater. She knows many people in the community will be holding their breath until it's sold.

"I hope someone amazing buys it," she said. "I hope it's someone who cares about theatre, community, and theaters as community gathering spaces. It should be a community space for all people with live performances, movies of all kinds, and conferences." 

Encore Or Final Curtain? 

If there aren't any laws that will save the Grand Theater from demolition, the structure itself might have a built-in defense. Wise has a hard time imagining how anyone could take down such a solidly built structure.

"There are buildings on either side of it that probably don't want to be torn down, so they'd have to be stabilized," he said. "I think it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to tear the thing down, and that's after you've paid $1 million to acquire it. I'm no real estate person, but I think that's pretty expensive for what would become 50 yards of street front." 

Community consensus is that the Grand Theater still has enormous potential for the right buyer. The movie theater industry isn't what it used to be, but the Grand Theater retains its infrastructure and theatrical charm, making it a potentially versatile community space for Lander and Fremont County. 

As of Dec. 19, the Grand Theater is still for sale, and there's no confirmation of whether there are or have been any serious buyers. Boycott, Wise, and many others are aware that the historic theater's future is beyond their control, but they're hoping for the best. 

"I hope it remains an important part of the fabric of downtown Lander," Wise said. "It's been sold before, and it's still there. It's old, but it's charming. We all hope it'll stay open as a theater, but there's not much we can do until we know what's going to happen."  

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.