The Belfast Opera House has new owners, and they are hoping to revive the performance space that has sat dormant for decades.
Alex and Kendra Brigham, who have been buying and redeveloping downtown Belfast properties for the past several years, closed on their purchase of the opera house building last week, according to Earl MacKenzie, their property manager. MacKenzie declined to disclose the sale price for the property, which also is known as the Hayford Block.
The Brighams have few changes planned for the four-story building, which stands downtown at the corner of Beaver, Church and Main streets, MacKenzie said. The building currently has 17 tenants, including Left Bank Books, Belfast Barber Shop and Opera House Video, and the Brighams have no plans to have them move out.
“That will all remain the same,” MacKenzie said. “We don’t anticipate any change on that.”
The new owners’ main objective in buying the building is to make sure it stays part of the downtown cityscape, MacKenzie said. The 33,000-square-foot building was built in the 1860s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, he said.
“It’s a beautiful building and worth preserving,” he said. “We want to tread carefully with the changes we make.”
In 2014, the nonprofit group Maine Preservation listed the property among the most endangered in the state.
“The more challenging Opera House is waiting in the wings and will require community support and funding to bring it back to its original use as an events venue and performing arts center,” the group said at the time about the performance space.
Restoring the performance venue in the upper stories of the building is among their chief goals, MacKenzie said, but that is a process that will take some time. There have been many interior upgrades made to the building over the years, but the theater space does not meet modern building safety codes, he said.
Before the performance venue can be reused, a sprinkler fire suppression system will have to be installed and it will have to be accessible to people with disabilities, which may mean installing a modern elevator. The space originally had seating for 1,300 people, but that number likely will be reduced after renovations are made, whenever that may be.
“The actual Opera House [space] has not been used for many, many years,” MacKenzie said. “It is in disrepair.”
The assessed value of the property, which includes the building and the 0.23-acre lot it sits on, is $800,000, according to the city’s property tax records.
Other Belfast properties the Brighams have bought since 2018 include a vacant lot at the corner of Main and Cross streets, the former Logos building at Main and Church streets, the former Em Bee Cleaners on Church Street and 132 Church St., where Edward Jones is located.