LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Several valley nonprofit organizations could call the Huntridge Theater home after renovations are complete.
On Wednesday, developer J Dapper gave an update on the future of the property.
"I've been in discussion with the city to put together a public-private partnership where I would sell the Huntridge Theater to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that would ultimately run and operate the Huntridge long-term," Dapper explained. "The purpose for this, and it's part of the proposal, is in order for community theater and different groups in the arts community to be able to utilize the space. It truly has to be a type of structure that works for nonprofits."
This isn't the first time Dapper and his team have thought of this idea. It's been in the works for months.
"When I first started this project, I found out how there's a lot of really great nonprofit organizations that are here in our community that are essentially couch surfing. They either have a semi-permanent or even a temporary space or, in some cases, they don't have a space at all," Dapper said. "The idea behind this partnership is not only just renovating a historic building but it's actually creating a really great place for all these groups and organizations to kind of call home."
Dapper said his goal to to have a nonprofit complete the transaction to own the theater by the end of the year. Then, they'll look at funding the restoration and construction.
"I really believe in order to move this forward as quickly as possible, it would be great to phase the project so that the main Huntridge Theater is renovated and completed and activated and that the rest of the improvements happen at a later date."
So which nonprofit would operate the theater?
"We formed [the Huntridge Conservancy] in order to be the ultimate owner of the theater. It's been formed, initially funded, and we are starting to accept donations," Dapper said. "The last thing is securing all the program partners so all the local groups that are going to be potentially occupying the space, identifying those groups and then, really getting to know what they need and baking that into how we build this project."
No renovation work has been done to the theater yet due to seeing what those needs are but Dapper said the set of plans they have are 90% complete.
Since this is could be a public-private partnership, commissioners asked Dapper if there was a backup plan for the building in case the theater fails and taxpayers are on the hook for any additional costs.
"The whole reason that we're shifting to this is so that it's sustainable long-term and that it will work. I don't want to say that there's not a Plan B," Dapper said. "I realized that in order for this to be able to be successful, we had to kind of shift gears and do this a little bit differently."
Another commissioner questioned if the Huntridge Theater would be too similar to The Beverly Theater and if there would be any overlap.
"It's very different than what we're proposing here so I don't think that they are the same," Dapper said. "I believe it is open to community use but it's the size of the theater and what type of production works there."
Dapper said he believes The Beverly has about 200 seats while the Huntridge would have 800 to 1,200 seats.
As for a project timeline, back in December, Dapper said there was a possibility they could break ground on the project sometime in 2026. However, on Wednesday, he didn't say if the new plans would affect that timeline.