Seattle Theatre Group, the non-profit that operates the Moore Theatre and Paramount Theatre, announced yesterday that it signed a multi-year lease on the Neptune Theatre and plans to turn it into a venue for live music, comedy, theater and fine arts performances. The Neptune, which was opened in 1921, was in danger of being shuttered for good in February when the lease held by Landmark Theaters, the company that currently operates the theatre, expires.
The Neptune will still close in February when the lease with Landmark runs out but it will reopen in the spring ready to serve new purposes under new management. STG plans to spend $500,000 to transform the building into a live performance venue. The work will include remodeling the bathrooms, installing a new sprinkler system, removing half of the main floor seating and restoring cosmetic details of the historic venue. Keeping the theater’s tradition there will also be films shown at the Neptune but screening movies will not be its primary purpose.
The arrival of the Neptune as a music venue adds a much needed option outside of the city’s downtown core and will likely become an economic driver in the University District, especially when Sound Transit’s light rail begins running through the area. The light rail plans include a stop outside of the Neptune.
When work on the Neptune is complete it is expected to house between 700 and 1,000 people. This makes it a good middle ground option for medium-sized artists that can pack clubs like Neumos and the Crocodile, which each have capacities of around 500, but can’t quite fill all of the seats of the Paramount and Moore which respectively house around 3,000 and 1,500. The Neptune might also bring a bit of competition for AEG Live, the company that operates both Showboxes which each have capacities around the size of the Neptune. STG currently rents out all of those aforementioned venues when it books artists that can’t fill the venues it operates, which is a common practice in the concert industry. It will likely continue to do so but on a less regular basis when the Neptune reopens.
According to Amanda Bedell, a spokeswoman for STG, there are also plans for partnerships with the University of Washington that will incorporate UW programming and students. She said details of the partnerships will be announced closer to the reopening of the venue.
The news of the possible closure of the Neptune broke last week and follows a trend that’s seen several of the city’s older movie houses face financial difficulties. Earlier this week the 84-year-old Uptown Cinemas in Queen Anne closed its doors for good and owners of the Columbia City Theatre asked the public for help with raising $50,000 to keep that theatre open. The deal with STG, which involves a long-term lease for more than 10 years, allows the Neptune to remain in business.
“Teri White and all the folks at Landmark Theatres have been great tenants for many years, but The Neptune could have been another casualty in the declining single-screen theater industry if it weren’t for our partnership with Seattle Theatre Group,” said Craig Thompson, in a news release announcing the deal. Thompson is the current owner of the Neptune and relative of the theatre’s original owners.
“My family’s theater has been a fixture in the University District since 1921 and expanding the artistic programming beyond film will help keep it a vital part of this community,” he said. “If not for this partnership, we’d be considering numerous non-arts related property uses.”
