NW Children's Theater & School Ends Effort To Purchase Historic Home

As of Thursday, February 15th, 2018, the Board of NW Children's Theater & School has reluctantly decided that NWCT will no longer pursue a plan to purchase and restore the historic NW Neighborhood Cultural Center. Effectively immediately, NWCT is ceasing all efforts to negotiate a purchase of the building and is halting all work on a rehabilitation plan. The Board will immediately turn its attention to finding and securing a new home for the Children's Theater.

The decision by NWCT's Board to leave marks the close of a multi-year effort to secure a permanent home at the Cultural Center. Proposals on the table had centered on a plan for NWCT to purchase the 108-year-old church for a nominal fee, plus a commitment to fundraise and execute building improvements in excess of $10 million.

However, competing interests, and deep divisions within the board of the NW Neighborhood Cultural Center (Seller's Board), complicated negotiations to the point where NWCT's Board decided to walk away from the project. The Children's Theater has decided to use the remaining two years on the current lease to identify and secure a new home.

This move will have no immediate impact on current or upcoming productions (NWCT is in the middle of its 25th Anniversary Season); performances and class programs will continue as normal through the end of the lease in 2020. While mourning the loss of NWCT's birthplace, the Children's Theater is optimistic about the future, and will immediately launch an aggressive effort to locate a new building. NWCT appreciates the hard work and long hours all sides have put into this process and hopes the work done so far will be helpful to the NNCC as it moves forward with its mission to preserve this iconic building.

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