On March 15, 2010, three teenagers vandalized and set fire to equipment stored in the largely abandoned and derelict Idaho National Guard Armory on Reserve St. The fire was noticed almost immediately and extinguished before harm came to the building itself, but a much larger question needs to be asked: what were the teenagers doing in the building in the first place?
The answer goes back a couple of years. The Armory, as many know, had been derelict before. When the state moved its offices from the building and the deed was given over to the City of Boise, a number of options were explored for its future use. The city tried to sell the building at one point, which spawned a Save the Armory campaign that resulted in the sale being called off due to public outcry. After that, seemingly stuck with the place, the city approached a number of individuals and businesses, including, at one point, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, to gauge their interest in taking over the Armory.
None had any interest whatsoever.
Meanwhile, the building sank into decay, and the city took to using it as a junk closet, storing everything from battered office equipment to a huge number of yellow bicycles. Many windows were gone, interior walls were vandalized, spray paint tags and bursts were everywhere, and a vast quantity of feral cats occupied space from one end of the hulk to the other.
At this point, a new arts organization called the New Heritage Theatre Company (NHTC), began working with the city council and Mayor Brent Coles on a partnership that would turn the Armory into a theatre complex. A lease was negotiated, signed, and NHTC assumed responsibility for the building.
While fundraising efforts were slow initially, several things occurred relatively quickly. The building was emptied of the accumulated garbage, the second hand office equipment was removed and disposed of, the cats were rounded up and taken to animal control, and the vagrants, who had been using the building as a dorm of sorts, were evicted. Windows were repaired, a damaged and leaking roof was mended, new cargo doors were installed in the back of the building, replacing doors badly decayed by time, and a security system was installed.
Then the real work began. An assortment of local volunteers, as well as donated labor and equipment from Anderson Construction and Apex Enterprises, cleared the drill hall of decayed rooms and timber, removed heavily damaged non-load bearing walls from the front of the building, and prepared the structure for renovation.
None of these things cost the city, or its taxpayers, a single dollar. Further, NHTC broke ground on the site after receiving a donation that allowed for the construction of a parking lot adjacent to the building. This lot, which also cost the taxpayers nothing, transformed a neighborhood weed patch into a park and ride location for St. Luke’s and other downtown workers while construction inside the building proceeded.
NHTC had excellent relations with Mayor Coles, the council throughout that time, and Mayor Terteling, and fundraising was moving sharply upward. The interior drawings and the site plan were finalized, a renovation in stages was ready to begin, and the theatre began making preparations to move into offices in the front of the building once they were finished.
At which point, there was a change in administration. Mayor Bieter took office, and, suddenly, NHTC couldn’t get phone calls to city hall returned. At first, NHTC assumed that the new administration was busy getting up and running, but after a time, it became obvious that the mayor’s office was simply ducking the calls. After numerous meetings and congenial relations with both Mayor Coles and Terteling, NHTC was apparently seen by Mayor Bieter and his staff as part of the enemy camp, and they began acting accordingly.
Fundraising and planning continued. NHTC had paid the lease fee agreed upon when groundbreaking on the parking lot took place, and the company was in compliance with the stated terms. At this point, Councilmembers Alan Shealy and Maryanne Jordan, along with the head of Boise’s Arts council, Julie Numbers-Smith, met with members of the NHTC board to discuss progress on the building. They were told where things stood, that a move into the building was in the works and fundraising was on schedule. The meeting ended with the city representatives asking to be kept apprised of developments, which NHTC agreed to immediately.
During the meeting, NHTC did not know and was not made aware of an order, pending in district court, asking that the city be reinstated as controlling authority for the building. NHTC discovered the changed circumstances when the building was abruptly broken into and rekeyed by city employees. It took nearly a week before NHTC was given new keys, regaining access to the building and their stored properties, but the damage was already done.
Funders quickly learned that there was a dispute in occupancy, and pledged money began to dry up. An undercurrent of voices, ranging from Numbers-Smith to developer Rick Clark (whose own theatre project received a significant chunk of redevelopment money while he sat on the Arts Commission), began talking down the viability of the project to other potential funders or partners.
NHTC continued moving forward, certain that their lease agreement had been triggered by the start of construction and the payment of the agree-upon lease price. Abruptly, after significantly over a year had elapsed, the city cut a check to NHTC, insisting that the lease money had been accepted in error. This was the beginning of the end. The city ultimately went to court to break the lease and evict NHTC. There was much in dispute, and while the city’s case had numerous holes, they ultimately had the money to continue in court as long as necessary. NHTC had no such ability to mount a defense, and eventually settled. Each side maintained its court costs, and NHTC agreed to vacate.
Almost immediately, the city and the East End Neighborhood Association began tossing around ideas for uses of the building, but enthusiasm has died out, and while conversations about the building continue, no change in circumstances is remotely imminent.
Once the city regained control, the building resumed its slump into decay and disuse. City police use it as a training area and the fire department stores equipment there. But the security system is gone, as are the windows, and there is little to no effort given to stop the vandals, who have resumed their incremental damage. Feral cats are once again in residence. The parking lot is falling into disrepair.
The Mayor’s Office thought it terribly important to get NHTC out of the building, and went about cutting legal corners and bullying a small theatre company to do it, but what is the net result? The building is once again a hulk, in danger of burning down or simple decay. The neighborhood is no better off. And the city, which had a chance to have a living, breathing, working theatre on that site, has nothing to show for its belligerence but shattered glass, spray painted walls, and the smell of cats.
