The historic Chehalis Theater in the Mint City’s downtown district will soon be allowed to reopen, as its owners have obtained a new certificate of occupancy from the City of Chehalis, according to a news release on the Chehalis Theater’s official website.
The City of Chehalis revoked the theater’s previous certificate of occupancy on Aug. 11 after alleging it had been operating as a “nightclub,” stating that since the 1923 building lacked a sprinkler system, it posed an “immediate threat to public health and safety.”
The Chehalis Theater has an ownership group, which, led by Tim Filer, challenged the city’s determination. Their challenge appears to have been successful.
“We operate a theater and restaurant that hosts movies, live performances and other events. Our customers attend movies, concerts, comedy and other entertainment, often while seated at tables and chairs with food and beverage service,” the owners said in the news release. “After attempts to resolve the disagreement were unsuccessful, we retained legal counsel and formally appealed the city's decision. We were prepared to have an independent hearing examiner review the city's determination. One day after our appeal was filed, the city offered a resolution that would allow us to reopen in exchange for withdrawing the appeal.”
That resolution “expressly authorizes theater use, including live performances, as well as restaurant use with unconcentrated tables and chairs with food service,” but lowers the theater’s allowable occupancy from 299 patrons to 200.
“For perspective, since purchasing the Chehalis Theater in 2020, we have never sold 200 tickets to a single event. The event the city relied upon as evidence leading to our closure sold just 57 tickets,” the release added.
The release also claimed that as a result of the nearly month-long closure, five employees lost their jobs and the Chehalis Theater lost an estimated $20,000 in revenue on top of $10,000 in food that “went to waste.”
While the theater is officially reopened, no immediate events or movies are being scheduled as they have to now rehire staff to work in both the theater’s bar and kitchen.
Refunds for tickets and events which were cancelled are still being processed for customers who had previously requested them.
“If you are still waiting for a refund related to an event canceled as a result of the closure, please know that we have not forgotten about you. Any remaining refunds should be completed soon,” the release added.
The Chehalis Theater is located at 558 N. Market Blvd. in downtown Chehalis. For more information, call the Chehalis Theater at 360-948-2682, or visit its website at https://chehalistheater.com/.
