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DDA outlines plans for former Royal Knight

Courtesy Photo This photo above from the Alpena County Library Special Collections shows the J.C. Penny store at the corner of Chisholm Street and 2nd Avenue, which became the Royal Knight Theater and is now vacant. The Alpena Downtown Authority is trying to acquire the building in the downtown and would completely redo the facility to resemble the original building.

ALPENA — The Alpena Downtown Development Authority continues its attempt to purchase the former Royal Knight Theater with grant money that would also be used to completely renovate the theater to make it appear as it did in the 1930s, when it was a J.C Penny store.

The DDA’s plans for the building at the corner of Chisholm Street and 2nd Avenue are still being finalized, but officials said it would serve as a market/business incubator which could also feature public restroom facilities.

The DDA is still waiting for the owner of the property — AMC Theatres Royal Knight Cinema, according to city property records available online — to return a signed options agreement, which could come soon and lead to a purchase agreement.

DDA Executive Director Anne Gentry said that, when that options agreement is submitted and reviewed, a special DDA board meeting could be held for a vote.

After that, it will become a waiting game with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the Michigan Strategic Fund Board, who will make a final determination for the grant funding.

Alpena Planning and Development Director Adam Poll told the Alpena Municipal Council during a meeting in October that the DDA has already received a letter of intent from the MEDC for the funding, which could be from $50,000 and up.

Officials believe the grant would cover the purchase of the building and the planned renovations.

DDA President Mike Mahler said the DDA has a vision for the building, and it is to make it as close to original as possible. The building needs work and the exterior doesn’t fit in with the aesthetics of the downtown as it is, he said.

“One of the motivations here is to return it to its glory from the 1930s and redo the entire exterior and make it look just like it did decades ago, with all of the brick and stone,” Mahler said. “That is a marquee corner, and it would dramatically improve the appearance of the downtown, and we want it to look as it should look.”

As far as what the use of the building will be, Mahler said he didn’t want to share too much at this time, because plans can change, but he did describe a few possibilities that he believes would be a good fit for growth downtown and the fit of the area.

“We need a public restroom downtown, so we’ll probably make sure we have that,” he said. “We have some other ideas where we can offer entrepreneurs space — to people who want to get into business downtown — a place to set up shop. We would make it affordable for people who sort of want to tip their toes into business downtown and not dive in too deep.”

Malhler said more information about the project will be released as it moved forward.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.

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