Lear Theater Has Possible Private Purchase Option Back in Play

In a tight 4-3 vote today, the Reno City Council voted to direct staff to look at a Request for Proposals (RFP) process for the Lear Theater, possibly opening up the historic property to be sold to an outside entity.

Council member Kathleen Taylor, who is running for mayor, has been leading this push with the city showing no urgency or abilities yet in being able to restore the deteriorating structure.

The Lear Theater was completed in 1938 by architect Paul R. Williams, the first Black member of the American Institute of Architects, for the First Church of Christ, Scientist.

According to Reno historians, Luella Garvey, the wealthy widow of a Cincinnati steel magnate, provided most of the money to build the church. Anna Loomis, another prominent local citizen, served as chairperson of the congregation’s building committee, selecting the architect.

The structure was recognized on the Nevada State Historic Register in 1982. Seventeen years later, in 1999, the Lear Theater was added to the City of Reno’s Historic Register and the National Register of Historic Places.

In this century it has repeatedly been changing hands with less and less to no public use whatsoever, even with the City now its owner, and repeated excuses it needs to be fixed but that the necessary money to do so hasn’t been found.

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