Plans to demolish Wilson building delayed

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The Capitol Theatre Committee has shelved plans to demolish the Wilson building -- future site of a pavilion and box office -- because of a drought in corporate giving.

"Investment-based giving has just about dried up our ability to raise money," Steve Caffery, chief executive of the Capitol Theatre, said Tuesday.

But the scenario isn't bleak enough to stop a July groundbreaking for another part of the theater's expansion -- a $7.5 million production center on the east side of the building. Utility work has been proceeding on that phase for several months.

The theater's total expansion is priced at $12 million, including a plaza in front of the building.

Caffery said the theater withdrew its environmental application for demolition of the Wilson pending an evaluation of all the options.

Putting the Wilson phase of the expansion on ice was a relatively painless adjustment at this point, Caffery said. "It was easier to take a big hunk like Wilson and hold it until the economy turns around," he said.

The sour climate for charitable donations has been hitting various nonprofits around the Yakima Valley, including the Red Cross, which is consolidating with the Kittitas chapter, and the Yakima Valley Memorial Foundation, which is trying to expand Children's Village.

"It's an industry-wide predicament we're all in," Caffery said.

Caffery wouldn't say exactly how short the fundraising effort has been, but he has said at least $1.4 million of an estimated $10.2 million for the pavilion and production center would come from private funds.

As an example of the decline in charitable giving, Caffery said the theater had applied for a $500,000 grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. But the foundation, funded by Microsoft co-founder-turned-philanthropist Paul Allen, recently notified grant hopefuls that tough economic times are forcing a retrenchment in giving.

It's not clear whether the latest development might turn into a permanent reprieve for the Wilson building, constructed in 1902.

Historic preservationists had wanted to save it -- or at least find out what's under the metal facade -- but theater backers pushed ahead with demolition. The building, at the corner of Yakima Avenue and Third Street, had been slated to come down this summer.

Scott Irons, chairman of the city's Historic Preservation Commission, said there is "some hope" that preservationists can make their case again to save the building. He said he recently received a bid of $2,500 from a local contractor to peel back part of the siding.

"We just want to peek underneath and see what's there," he said.

But Irons said he hasn't heard from the theater about proceeding with such a plan.

The theater purchased the Wilson building in 2006 for $425,000. The parking lot behind the theater -- where the production facility will go -- was purchased from the Yakima YMCA in 2005 for $288,000.