JASPER -- A "closed" sign is up in the window of the Buffalo Theater arts center. And there are no plans to reopen it anytime soon.
The nonprofit organization that owned the 99-year-old building gave it back to Bank of the Ozarks in lieu of foreclosure.
"Great stuff was happening, and all of a sudden it's gone," said Pam Fowler, president of Buffalo Theater Inc. "We kept thinking they would reach some sort of deal with us. We really thought we were going to be able to continue."
The Buffalo Theater was advertised as a performing arts development center and events center.
Fowler said it was the only facility of its kind in Newton County, which is in the Ozark Mountains and contains much of the Buffalo National River.
"The theater, for the past six months, was alive with dance, art exhibits and demonstrations, exercise classes, yoga, after-school dance programs and live music on weekends," she said.
"Newton County is an underserved community when it comes to access to arts programs due to geographic isolation and economic conditions. There are no after-school programs, no movies or recreation centers."
Jasper, population 453, is the Newton County seat. The county is a haven for artists and musicians, Fowler said, so Jasper seemed like a good location for an arts center.
But after a few years of giving it a go, Fowler said she signed over the deed Monday and left the keys with the bank.
A three-year, interest-only loan agreement expired in April, and the monthly payments more than doubled -- from $323 to $693, Fowler said.
"We could not make that $693 mortgage payment," she said.
Buffalo Theater Inc. was given three options: making interest-only payments for another two years, foreclosure or deeding the theater back to the bank.
The organization's six-member board decided not to make another two years of interest-only payments because it wasn't getting any equity in the building that way.
The board had made about $13,000 in payments since 2012, Fowler said. When the deal was done three years ago, board members thought more contributions would be forthcoming, she said.
Fowler added that the building was overpriced at $125,000. Janet Morgan, a former president of Buffalo Theater Inc., contracted for the corporation to buy the building for that price in 2012.
The building appraised for $54,100 in 2012, but that was less than market value, said Desiray McCutcheon, chief deputy assessor for Newton County.
"We're typically lower than the bank appraisal," she said.
Fowler said Bank of the Ozarks recently put the theater building value at $89,000, but that's after Buffalo Theater Inc. spent $25,000 on renovations. And more work is needed on the building, she said.
Since the 2012 purchase, Buffalo Theater Inc. became a nonprofit organization. And Morgan, a chef and hotelier, died Feb. 17.
"She died and left us without any leadership so to speak," said Katherine Nance, a Buffalo Theater Inc. board member who resigned after Morgan's death. "We had great plans, and it all fell apart when she died."
Other board members also resigned after Morgan's death, and new ones joined the board.
So, with Morgan gone and four new members on the nonprofit's board, Buffalo Theater Inc. asked the bank for a break.
Fowler said the board thought the bank should assume some liability for loaning so much money on an overvalued building, especially since Morgan was no longer living.
Susan Blair, executive vice president for the bank, wouldn't discuss the finances but said the bank will be looking for a new owner for the building.
"It's a historic building in Jasper's town square, and we are confident there will be interested buyers," she said.
Bank of the Ozarks was founded in Jasper in 1903 but is now headquartered in Little Rock. The Jasper bank branch joins the Buffalo Theater as features on the Jasper downtown square.
The Buffalo Theater was a single-screen movie theater from 1948 until the late 1970s. After that, the theater seats were removed, the floor was leveled, and for a while, the building housed a bakery.
The Buffalo Theater is also called the Buffalo River Theater. That way, it's easier to find through Internet searches, said Nancy Haller Young, one of the organization's board members.
Charles Raulston said the building hasn't housed a movie theater in such a long time that sentimentality on that account had probably waned among the townsfolk.
Raulston's father, Roy Raulston, owned the theater for a while. He was a former county judge, sheriff and assessor who would let children in for free if they couldn't pay.
"He'd give them candy, and when they got voting age, they voted for him," Raulston said. "That's how he stayed in there so long."
Charles Raulston was Newton County sheriff from 2001-06.
"What really closed the theater was you couldn't get the movies anymore," he said. "They wanted so much money for the movies, a little theater couldn't operate anymore."
Fowler said Buffalo Theater Inc. continues to schedule events in Jasper, with hopes of eventually getting the theater building back or perhaps finding another location for its programs.
On Oct. 3, it plans to host Beatles in the Park at Bradley Park in Jasper, where local musicians will perform Beatles songs.
Metro on 08/09/2015