Garland Theater’s new owner and operators plan to maintain and preserve the beloved venue

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The Garland enters a new era.

Nine months after a feared closure and a plea for community support, Spokane’s historic Garland Theater is starting a new chapter.

Come Jan. 1, longtime owner Katherine Fritchie, who’s operated the 78-year-old theater since 1999, will hand over the keys to Jordan Tampien, a local real estate developer who bought the theater last week for $1.8 million.

The sale includes both the business and the historic theater building, along with adjacent properties that house Mark’s Guitar Shop and Vintage Print + Neon, as well as the theater’s north parking lot.

Tampien, who co-owns 4 Degrees Real Estate, is planning improvements to the property and its adjacent parcels, though he’s passed on operations of the Garland as a movie theater to Chris Bovey and Tyler Arnold. The duo have been working toward that goal for most of the year, and under Tampien’s ownership have signed a 10-year lease for the theater and attached Bon Bon bar, with options to extend the lease for an additional 10 years.

“I grew up going to the dollar theaters, it was the only theater we could afford to go to,” Tampien says. “So I feel like now, we’re in a position that we should save the Garland. We have plans to revitalize and make sure we maintain this asset for another hundred years.”

The Garland sale closes after months of uncertainty about the theater’s future, which became apparent in March when Bovey, a local artist and nostalgia enthusiast who owns Vintage Print + Neon (he’s also former art director of the Inlander), launched the “Save the Garland” crowdfunding campaign, raising more than $49,000 to date.

Bovey and his wife, Liz, had at the time agreed to partner with Fritchie to take over the theater as its operators, with Fritchie acting as more of a silent partner and landlord. Soon after, the Boveys teamed up with Arnold, who owns Jedi Alliance, a retro arcade and pop culture museum in Spokane Valley. Arnold and the Boveys hoped to make the theater profitable again by reigniting locals’ interest in seeing movies in person at a theater with themed screenings and events.

All summer long, however, that partnership failed to materialize, with a handover date that was continually pushed forward. By late September, the deal for Bovey and Arnold to take over the business had fizzled.

But it wasn’t over yet, and Fritchie began negotiating with Tampien in October.

Tampien says he first expressed interest in buying the Garland about a year ago. Fritchie has been seeking to pass on the theater for several years now.

“I’m at a point where, you know, I feel like I’ve really given it a good foundation and I’ve done what I can for it,” Fritchie says. “I feel honored to have done it, but I think it needs somebody younger to take over.”

Tampien also co-owns Brick West Brewing Co. and is responsible for restoring the west downtown building where it’s located, the historic former Watts Automotive. Another of his current projects involves renovating the Peyton Building downtown on North Post Street into affordable apartments along with a group of fellow investors. Tampien was recently recognized with a Spokane Preservation Advocates’ 2023 Historic Preservation Award for his rehab of the Lolo Lofts downtown.

After weathering the pandemic shutdown, and people’s slow return to in-person movie watching, Fritchie says the Garland’s books were in the red, despite receiving federal funding during the COVID years for hard-hit businesses. In March, she was nearly ready to close the theater if it couldn’t turn a profit again.

Bovey and Arnold are reevaluating the theater’s entire operations, from when it’s open to how many second-run movies it’ll bring in alongside throwback screenings of older films. They hope to bring back weekly $1 movies geared toward families.

Jasmine Barnes, Garland’s current general manager, will also partner with the duo and take over the attached Bon Bon bar.

Bovey says they’ve earmarked the $49,000 raised on GoFundMe to buy a backup projector and a new popcorn maker, along with other essential equipment to run the theater.

Fritchie and current Garland staff will continue to operate the theater, which originally opened in 1945, and Bon Bon for the final weeks of the year. Due to a delay in acquiring business permits, Tampien and Bovey expect the theater will be closed for six to eight weeks at the start of the year.

Bovey says the new Garland team envisions throwing a big grand reopening celebration, and that everyone involved is excited to finally start seeing their dreams for the theater become a reality.

“You know, this isn’t just good for me,” Bovey says, “but for Spokane.”♦